Greensboro Urban Loop
The Greensboro Urban Loop is a partially completed beltway around Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. The loop carries Interstate 73, I-85, I-785, I-840, and U.S. Route 421. It is primarily located within Greensboro city limits, though it crisscrosses the city line many times. The right-of-way of the Urban Loop and its interchanges between Elm-Eugene Street and Huffine Mill Road was annexed by the city of Greensboro in 2005., of the loop is open, with under construction between Lawndale Drive and US 29.
Route description
The current terminus of the route is an interchange with US 29, from which the Urban Loop heads southeast as I-785/Future I-840. Turning south at an interchange with Huffine Mill Road, the road intersects US 70 shortly after. later, the Urban Loop comes to an interchange with I-40, I-85, and Business 85, at which point I-785 and Future I-840 both end and I-85 enters the Urban Loop as it heads southwest.The road winds its way southwest as I-85, intersecting Youngs Mill Road and Alamance Church Road before joining with US 421 and turning west. After meeting Elm-Eugene Street, the Urban Loop comes to an interchange complex with I-73/US 220 and Business 85/US 29/US 70. Here, I-73 joins the Urban Loop from the south as I-85 leaves it to the southwest. The two interstates officially share a wrong-way concurrency for approximately, though the collector-distributor roads of the interchanges cause the two routes to not share the same roadbed in either direction.
Winding its way northwest, the Urban Loop intersects Gate City Boulevard with a diverging diamond interchange and Wendover Avenue with a partial cloverleaf interchange before reaching another interchange with I-40. US 421 leaves the Urban Loop as I-840 begins, and the road continues due north as I-73/I-840. After a single-point urban interchange with Friendly Avenue, the road curves north-northeast before coming to an interchange with Bryan Boulevard. Here, I-73 leaves the Urban Loop to the west, and the road continues as I-840, running northeast and east for. The loop intersects US 220 before terminating at Lawndale Drive.
A section currently under construction runs between Lawndale Drive and US 29, intersecting North Elm Street and Yanceyville Street.
History
Early development
A June 1948 document from the city Planning & Zoning Commission described the loop as part of "a comprehensive thoroughfare system for Greensboro." At one time, the road was a parkway similar to Wendover Avenue and named Painter Boulevard, but the city did not have enough money to build it, and federal help would require a road like an Interstate Highway. It was named for Pennell Churchman Painter, the first city manager of Greensboro, serving from 1921 to 1929.Painter Boulevard appeared as a freeway loop in the 1967 City of Greensboro Transportation Plan. In June 1977, a thoroughfare plan was adopted by the City of Greensboro, Guilford County and the North Carolina Board of Transportation. In July 1989, North Carolina Highway Trust Fund Law was enacted, which provides a trust fund for designated urban loops. By November 1989, an updated thoroughfare plan was approved by the city, county and state. Planning and environmental impact studies of the Urban Loop began in 1989-1990. In 1995, a Record of Decision was made approving the Greensboro Urban Loop; finalizing its routing and approval of an I-85 bypass. By this point, the Painter Boulevard name was no longer used.
Initial construction
In 2002, the first segment of the urban loop opened, a four-lane connector, today a part of I-785/Future I-840, between I-40/I-85 and US 70; it was unsigned and internally designated SR 3269. By 2006, Future I-840 trailblazers were added, though from I-40/I-85 it was only signed "To US 70." On February 21, 2004, the southeast segment of the urban loop opened. On completion, I-85 was rerouted onto it, leaving its old alignment through Greensboro as Business 85. The southwest section between the present day I-73/US 220 interchange and the I-73/Bryan Boulevard interchanges opened in March 2008. I-73 was signed south of I-40, though north of I-40, I-73 and I-840 were unsigned. At the time, signs for each direction simply read "To I-40" and "To Bryan Boulevard."Interstate 40 relocation
Upon completion of the southwest section, I-40 was rerouted onto the southern portion of the loop, sharing the route with I-73 to the west and I-85 to the east. The existing I-40 through Greensboro was redesignated Interstate 40 Business. On September 12, 2008, after complaints by local residents about traffic noise and motorists on the confusion between I-40 and Business 40 through Greensboro, NCDOT officials received permission from the Federal Highway Administration to reroute I-40 back through the city of Greensboro and decommission Business 40. This left I-40 on its original route, while US 421 was rerouted onto the Urban Loop where it remains today.Later construction
On July 31, 2013, NCDOT got approval from the FHWA to co-sign the eastern section of the Urban Loop with I-785, establishing the new route in North Carolina, though I-785 would not be signed until the completion of the segment of the loop between US 29 and US 70.The next section to go to construction was part of the northwest section between I-73/Bryan Boulevard and US 220 in October 2013. Next was the northeast section from US 29 to US 70 in 2014. In October 2017, ahead of the completion of the northwest section and as a new section of I-73 opened, both I-73 and I-840 were signed on the portion of the Urban Loop between I-40 and Bryan Boulevard, marking the first time I-840 was signed as a proper route.
The northeast section was completed in December 2017, signed solely as I-785, at which point the designation was also signed on the eastern section of the loop between US 70 and I-40/I-85. The northwest section opened in March 2018, extending I-840 to US 220. The next section, between US 220 and Lawndale Drive, opened on December 30, 2019.
Future
The last section of the Greensboro Urban Loop under construction is the segment between Lawndale Drive and US 29, featuring interchanges with North Elm Street and Yanceyville Street. Construction began in May 2018 and will be opened in two sections. The first, from Lawndale Drive to North Elm Street, is expected to open by the end of 2020, with the last segment to US 29 opening in 2021 or 2022. Upon completion of this last segment, I-840 will be posted along its entire length, including the concurrency with I-785.After the Greensboro Urban Loop is completed, NCDOT and Greensboro DOT plan to add two additional interchanges: Fleming–Lewiston Road, and Cone Boulevard. Plans for these additional interchanges have existed since 2004; however, because they are to be constructed after the loop's completion, there is no current time table or funding for these projects at this time.