I-73 Segment 11/I-74 Segment 12

Segment 11 / Thumbnail image of NC Interstate 74 shield

Segment 12

Where: Open I-73/I-74 and US 220 Freeway,

Future Rockingham Bypass Freeway

Length: Approx. 10.5 Miles

Needed: Upgrade Current Highway to Interstate Standards and Construct New Highway

Completed Route Signed as:

Completion Dates:
Reconstruct US 220-COMPLETE as of June 2018 (approved by FHWA on Sept. 27, 2018)

Freeway Bypass-Construction Started Nov. 25, 2019

Completion Date: Fall 2025 (Originally Fall 2023)

Jump to Photos (New 1/21/24)

Jump to Videos (Updated 12/14/22)

Segment Information

[NCDOT released sign plans for the I-73/I-74 Rockingham Bypass Project on August 20, 2019. Jump to the Sign Plan Images.]

NCDOT contractors started to build the first phase of the a freeway bypass west of Rockingham, listed as STIP Project R-3421C, and Contract 202962 on March 3, 2014. I-73 and I-74 will be routed from an upgraded US 220 onto a bypass of Rockingham which is to be constructed during phase two. The first phase is 3.7 miles of the total project length of 10.5 miles, US 220 south of Ellerbe was upgraded to interstate standards along with new frontage roads on either side to allow access to current businesses. This section includes a new exit (23) at Dockery and Haywood Cemetery Roads. The completion date was April 9, 2018, delayed a month from March 2018 but at the end of April 2018 the work was listed as 94.4% complete (signifying the reason for the opening delay, the anticipated progress was 100%).¹ At that time the route could have been open, but there were no reports about the work being completed by NCDOT or local media.Traffic is at least using the completed freeway lanes north from the Haywood Road exit, which is open according to Google Maps. On or before June 25, 2018 NCDOT removed the project from its project listings, indicating work on Phase 1 has been completed.²In response to an e-mail sent to the NCDOT division overseeing the project on July 10, an NCDOT spokesman told Site contributor Strider that while there was still work to be done, all the lanes were open and traffic was using the final configuration along the new route.³NCDOT sent a letter to the Raleigh office of the FHWA on August 1, 2018 asking that the upgraded US 220 between the former end of I-73/74 in Ellerbe to US 220 about 1/4 mile south of the interchange with Dockery Road/Haywood Cemetery Road, a total of 2.91 miles, be added to the Interstate System. The FHWA approved the request on September 27, 2018.⁴ Work was confirmed complete by a trip along the route by site contributer Ben Thurkill in September, his photos are below.

This project had already been delayed from a start date of January 2013, due to unresolved issues involving utility relocation along the current US 220 highway.⁵ For this part $14.4 million was allotted for Right-of-Way acquisition, which occurred in 2010 and 2011 and total costs are estimated at $59.7 million.⁶

Remainder of Bypass Work Accelerated After Funding Announced

Work on the remaining part of the Bypass originally was to start in 2018, but it received low marks under the new NCDOT strategic allocation formula which made its debut in December 2014. Due to this, the project became unfunded, meaning, it was not included in the Final 2016-2025 STIP document released June 2015, and that meant that the earliest work could start is 2026.⁸ However, new funding for road construction announced by NC Governor McCrory in December 2015 became available finance unfunded projects, which included the plan to upgrade US 74 to the east of Rockingham (see I-74 Segment 14) to interstate standards by 2025. The funding of this project probably accelerated the proposal to complete the Bypass, since it would be the only gap in I-74 between Winston-Salem and Laurinburg. An updated February 2016 TIP document showed the project funded as two contracts, R-3421A from the US 74 Bypass near SR 1109, Zion Church Road to South of SR 1140, Old Charlotte Highway, 1.3 miles, with a construction cost of $65.5 million and R-3421B from SR 1140 to southwest of SR 1304, Harrington Road, 4.6 miles, costing $62.8 million lasting between 2022 to 2025.⁹ It would have include an interchange at Blewitt Falls Rd (Exit 17) and Cartledge Creek Rd (Exit 20), the US 74 interchange (Exit 15) would include a ramp to East Business 74 as well as to West US 74.⁷ About 1.5 miles of US 74 east of the new Bypass would also be reconstructed as part of the project (to add additional lanes). However, when the Draft 2017-2027 STIP was released in January 2017, the Rockingham Bypass work was put off to 'Post Years', meaning after 2027.¹⁰ Apparently the project received low marks in the new set of project scores, which also canceled the funding for the planned work to upgrade US 74 further east. Then in late June 2017, NCDOT announced that the project would be added to STIP whose formal approval came in August. Right of way work would continue while actual construction would start in 2026 continuing at least through 2028, the construction cost for R-3421A being $35.1 million and for R-3421B $37.3 million.¹¹In August 2018, NCDOT announced, as part of its 2020-2029 STIP development process, that the contract to build the Bypass was to be included in the funded projects for Region 8. At that time it was thought construction most likely would start at the end of the period, 2028 or 2029.¹²However, in December 2018, NCDOT added the R-3421A and B Bypass projects to its tentative list of lettings for October 2019. According to the Final STIP released in September 2019, the project will cost $278 million (including the previously built Section C), with the state contributing $100 million in "Build NC Bonds" to be paid off between 2020 and 2034, will start in early 2020 and be completed in 2023.¹³ In April 2019, the project let date was moved from October to December 2019, however in July 2019, it was moved back to October 15, 2019.¹⁴When project plans were released (see below) in August 2019, 8 weeks prior to the letting date, there was no longer an interchange included for Blewitt Falls Rd, only Cartledge Creek Road, perhaps the Blewitt Falls exit was seen as too close to the US 74/Business 74 exit.The contract was awarded to the firm of Vecellio & Grogan, Inc. of Beckley, WV with a bid of $146,176,682.77 on October 17, 2019.¹⁵Work started November 25, 2019 and over 4 years later, on March 31, 2024, was over 4/5 (80.6%) complete.¹⁶In the spring of 2020 work was started to clear the future interchange area along US 74 east of Rockingham, see photos below.¹⁷ Work then moved to clear the land between the southern and northern ends of the bypass. In March 2023 traffic on US 74 West was moved onto its permanent alignment going under the future Bypass roadway (see photos just prior to this below showing the completed realignment). The anticipated completion date is now September 1, 2025, now nearly 2 years later than the original date in the fall of 2023.¹⁸

Changes in Plans over the past Decade

In 2002, then NCDOT Secretary Lyndo Tippett indicated that NCDOT planned to lobby the Federal Highway Administration to have the existing four-lane section of US 220 designated Business I-74 when the bypass is complete.¹⁹ However, sign plans released for the project in December 2013 (see below) indicate that the current US 220 will keep its designation when the Bypass opens and there were no indications of any Business interstate designation(s).²⁰ In 2000, a couple Future I-73/74 corridor signs were put up along existing US 220 in this area (see below). In July 2002 a Formal Design Public Hearing was held on the campus of Richmond Community College to discuss the project.²¹ Several more public hearings have been held since to keep local citizens updated.

Take a "Drive" on this Segment Using Google Maps Street View from September 2021 (Updated)

US 220 North approaching future I-73/I-74 interchange: North of Harrington Road

Videos (New 12/14/22)

Driving I-73 South/I-74 East to the current end, then US 220 through Rockingham from Tarheel Travels, June 2022 (New)

Driving I-73 South/I-74 East or I-73 North/I-74 West by RoadwayWiz, Summer 2021(Includes some of Segment 10)

Rockingham Bypass Construction Tour (Gregarious Drivers of Greensboro), October 2021: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Photos from this Segment (Hover over for Larger View)

[NEWEST PHOTOS From June/July 2023 Google Street View are 8 photos further down the page.]

Photos at the future US 74 West exit from I-74 West by David Gallo, September 2023:

Sign plans for the remainder of the Bypass^22,23

The sign plans published by NCDOT on August 20, 2019 indicate that I-73 will end at the southern end of the Bypass, and not continue along with I-74 along the US 74 Rockingham Bypass until any construction occurs in South Carolina. There have also been changes to the sign plans since the last set was published in January 2014: