U.S. Route 311
Route information | ||
---|---|---|
Length | 62 mi[1] (100 km) | |
Existed | 1927–present | |
Major junctions | ||
South end | US 52 / NC 8 in Winston-Salem, NC | |
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North end | US 58 Bus. in Bachelors Hall, VA | |
Location | ||
Country | United States | |
States | North Carolina, Virginia | |
Counties | NC: Forsyth, Stokes, Rockingham VA: Pittsylvania | |
Highway system | ||
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U.S. Route 311 is a
US 311 begins in Winston-Salem, at
In May 2018, North Carolina applied for, and received, permission from
Route description
US 311 begins at exit 110B from the US 52/NC 8 freeway in Winston-Salem, NC and leads into the downtown area. It follows N Martin Luther King Jr Dr for a short time before continuing northeast along New Walkertown Road. It travels northeast and intersects NC 66 at the edge of Walkertown, which motorists can use to connect to nearby shopping centers situated along US 158 (Reidsville Road). Shortly after, US 311 then turns to follow Harley Drive and turns again to follow Main Street through town. North of Walkertown, the road takes the local name of Walnut Cove Road. At the southern edge of the town of Walnut Cove NC 65 joins for a short 0.7 miles (1.1 km) concurrency. At the northern boundary of Walnut Cove, NC 89 has its terminus at US 311, and the highway turns northeast. North Carolina Highway 772 terminates at US 311 near Pine Hall and entering the town of Madison, US 311 takes an easterly route as Academy Street, meeting up with NC 704 along the way. East of Madison, it leaves NC 704 and joins with the Future Interstate 73/US 220 by-pass, both routes traveling due north in a short concurrency to Mayodan. In Mayodan, US 311 then leaves the US 220 freeway, and proceeds easterly again, along NC 135 towards Eden. Three other NC routes join with 311 in Eden in short succession: NC 770, NC 87 and NC 14, then the 4 joined routes cross the Dan River along Van Buren Street in Eden. NC 14/NC 87 continue north on Van Buren, while US 311 exits Van Buren Street on a grade-separated interchange onto Meadow Road near the Eden Mall, heading northeast into a rural area before crossing into Virginia.
After the passing through the small communities of
The J.J. Webster Highway is the official North Carolina name of US 311/NC 135 from Mayodan to Eden.[2]
History
Established as an original U.S. Route in 1927, it originally traversed from
In 1933, US 311 was extended south through
By 1952, US 311 was rerouted west of downtown Winston-Salem, following Waughtown Road, Stadium Drive, Claremont Avenue and 7th Street, to New Walkertown Road. In the mid-1980s, US 311 was moved onto new freeway through southeast Forsyth County. Part of the freeway shortly became a stretch of Interstate 40, eventually running concurrent with the interstate . In 1996, the route through Winston-Salem changed again, this time also going north along US 52/NC 8 to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive then east onto New Walkertown Road.[4]
In 1997, the first section of the East Belt was opened in High Point, rerouting US 311 onto the new freeway to Eastchester Drive then back into downtown High Point with concurrency with North Carolina Highway 68. The old alignment along North Main Street became US 311 Business. On November 20, 2004, the second section of the "East Belt" was opened, rerouting US 311 to I-85 Bus./US 29/US 70. On November 22, 2010, the third and final section of the "East Belt" was completed, linking Interstate 85; Also Interstate 74 was established as an concurrency of US 311 from Cedar Square Road to North Main Street.[5][6]
In September 2003, US 311 was extended north from
Since 2003, a project called the "US 311 Connector" has been planned by NCDOT and the city of Winston-Salem. Estimated at $23.5 million (2003 dollars), the 2.8-mile (4.5 km) four-lane partial controlled-access highway would connect between I-40 (exit 196) and I-40 Business (exit 8) (now US 421, exit 230), linking US 311 with US 158 (Reidsville Road); it also included a landscaped medium with walking/bicycle trails parallel to it. By 2016, the project has ceased appearing in the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), though still part of the Winston-Salem 2035 Transportation Plan.[10][11]
In May 2018, AASHTO approved a request by NCDOT to eliminate 37.03 miles (59.59 km) between Randleman and Winston-Salem, moving the southern terminus from I-73/US 220 in Randleman to Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard in Winston-Salem, as all but 7.27 miles (11.70 km) of this section is freeway which already has other primary designations; those non-redundant sections would be reassigned secondary North Carolina routes.[12] In January 2019, NCDOT officially eliminated the section.[13] Despite this, signage for US 311 from along I-74 southeast of High Point to its former southern terminus at I-73/US 220 in Randleman remains as of June 2023.
North Carolina Highway 897
Location | Winston-Salem–VA State Line |
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Length | 43.3 mi[14] (69.7 km) |
Existed | 1921–1925 |
North Carolina Highway 897 (NC 897) was an original state highway that traversed from
Junction list
This section needs to be updated.(November 2023) |
State | County | Location | mi[1][16] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
North Carolina | Forsyth | Winston-Salem | 37.5 | 60.4 | US 52 / NC 8 (John Gold Memorial Expressway) – Lexington, Mount Airy | Southern terminus | |
NC 74 (Winston-Salem Northern Beltway) | Opened to traffic on December 23, 2020[17] | ||||||
44.0 | 70.8 | NC 66 (Old Hollow Road) – Stanleyville, Kernersville | |||||
Stokes | Walnut Cove | 52.8 | 85.0 | NC 65 west – Germanton | West end of NC 65 overlap | ||
53.5 | 86.1 | NC 65 east – Stokesdale | East end of NC 65 overlap | ||||
55.2 | 88.8 | NC 89 west – Danbury | |||||
Pine Hall | 60.8 | 97.8 | NC 772 north – Sandy Ridge | ||||
US 220 Bus. north / NC 704 west (Market Street) | North end of US 220 Business overlap, west end of NC 704 overlap | ||||||
69.0 | 111.0 | US 220 south / NC 704 east – Greensboro, Wentworth | South end of US 220/US 220 Business overlap, east end of NC 704 overlap | ||||
Mayodan | 72.0 | 115.9 | US 220 north / NC 135 west – Stoneville, Mayodan | North end of US 220 overlap, west end of NC 135 overlap | |||
Eden | 81.0 | 130.4 | NC 770 west – Stoneville | East end of NC 135 overlap, west end of NC 770 overlap | |||
83.6 | 134.5 | NC 87 south – Reidsville | South end of NC 87 overlap | ||||
85.2 | 137.1 | NC 14 south (Van Buren Road) – Reidsville | South end of NC 14 overlap | ||||
87.7 | 141.1 | NC 14 north / NC 87 north / NC 770 east (Van Buren Road) – Martinsville | North end of NC 14/NC 87 overlap, east end of NC 770 overlap | ||||
89.0 | 143.2 | NC 700 east (Fieldcrest Road) – Pelham | |||||
94.8 0.0 | 152.6 0.0 | North Carolina–Virginia state line | |||||
US 58 – Martinsville, Danville | Northern terminus | ||||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Special routes
High Point business loop
Location | High Point, North Carolina |
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Length | 6.0 mi[18] (9.7 km) |
Existed | 1997–2009 |
Established in 1997, when mainline US 311 was placed on new freeway east of High Point, it was 2 miles (3.2 km) long following North Main Street from US 311 to Eastchester Drive. In December 2005, US 311 Business was extended south, through the downtown area, to I-85 Bus./US 29/US 70. However, on November 23, 2009, US 311 Business was decommissioned, a couple of years before the completion of the "East Belt."[5][19][20]
References
- ^ a b Google (July 2, 2011). "US 311" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
- ^ "North Carolina Memorial Highways and other Named Facilities" (PDF). Retrieved August 26, 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b "End of US Highway 311". Retrieved August 25, 2012.
- ^ "NCRoads.com: U.S. 311". Retrieved August 25, 2012.
- ^ a b "I-74 Segment 6". Archived from the original on August 13, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
- ^ Johnson, Paul (November 2010). "High Point Enterprise - BYPASS READINESS: Ceremony to mark opening of new section of U.S. 311". The High Point Enterprise. Archived from the original on December 13, 2011. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
- ^ Payne, Latala (January 29, 2012). "Preliminary plans begin for U.S. 311 extension". The Reidsville Review. Retrieved February 8, 2012.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Crane, John (July 28, 2012). "Officials hope highway change will benefit mega park". GoDanRiver. Archived from the original on July 29, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
- ^ "US 311 Route Change (2013-01-22)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. January 22, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ Staff. "2003 Transportation Needs Document" (PDF). Project Details. Winston-Salem Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 6, 2012. Retrieved August 28, 2012.
- ^ Staff. "Project List and Map of 2008-2035 Network" (PDF). City of Winston-Salem. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
- ^ Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering (May 22, 2018). "2018 Spring Meeting Report to the Council on Highways and Streets" (PDF) (Report). Washington, DC: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 3, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
- ^ "Route Change (2019-01-17)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. January 17, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
- ^ Google (May 19, 2014). "North Carolina Highway 897" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
- ^ State Highway System of North Carolina (PDF) (Map). Cartography by NCDOT. North Carolina Department of Transportation. 1930. Retrieved May 19, 2014.
- ^ Google (February 16, 2013). "U.S. Route 311 in Virginia" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
- ^ Young, Wesley (December 22, 2020). "New stretch of highway opens Wednesday in Winston-Salem". News & Record. Greensboro, NC. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
- ^ Google (August 25, 2012). "US 311 Bus - High Point" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
- ^ "US 311Bus Route Change (2005-12-30)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. December 30, 2005. Retrieved February 22, 2013.
- ^ "US 311Bus Route Change (2009-11-23)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. November 23, 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
External links
- Media related to U.S. Route 311 at Wikimedia Commons
- Endpoints of U.S. Highway 311