Gribblenation

Penn State's WPSU-TV has a great little story on The Church on the Turnpike. It's from the "Where's Charlie?" segment of Pennsylvania Inside Out. http://streams.wpsx.psu.edu/Turnpike_Church09182.html

Nothing like a day off to catch up with the blog... Earlier this month, the final approval of the $750,000 deal between SCDOT and the SC Department of Natural Resources was pushed back to December 11. The reason? The paperwork from the deal was not received by the State Budget and Control Board on time. It appears the delay in paperwork is from a final appraisal of the land. The appraisal is required by state law. The land in question is 30 acres of the Little Pee Dee River Heritage Preserve at SC 917. Interstate 73 is planned cross the river at this point. The DNR agreed that this crossing would have the least a mount of damage to the environment. The DNR plans to use $750,000, which will come out of I-73 funding, to purchase land with a similar habitat to replace the 30 acres lost by the Interstate. Story: DNR deal for I-73 delayed --Myrtle Beach Sun News

South Carolina has recently received approval from the federal government to add tolls to Interstate 95 and appears to be considering the same for Interstate 26. However, the state has no current plans to go forward with the tolling on either highway. The approval which comes after an August request by SCDOT to gain permission to toll the Interstate. The request was part of the "Corridors to the Future" program. South Carolina was not the only state to request tolling Interstate 95. It appears that Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida made similar requests as well. Rumors of when, how, and where Interstate 95 will be tolled seem to be widespread throughout the state. A November 15th story in the Greenville News said that the tolling of I-95 could begin in the Spring of 2008. Quoting SC Secretary of Transportation Buck Limehouse the article stated that the tolls would be placed on newly constructed 'hot lanes', which are added tolled express lanes. ...

This time it is U.S. Representative Sue Myrick. Myrick, a former mayor of Charlotte, wrote a letter to NC Governor Mike Easley and the NC Department of Transportation voicing her displeasure with the additional delays in completing Interstate 485. "Why didn't these same rising costs delay the loops in Fayetteville and Wilmington? Why are we building loops in Fayetteville and Wilmington before we complete the one in Charlotte?" Myrick also commented on what she perceives as Charlotte's needs being ignored by legislators in Raleigh. "Last I looked, Charlotte was the largest city in the state. There seems to be no recognition of that fact in Raleigh, no recognition that we are at a standstill with traffic.” She pointed to how Raleigh already has one loop built (The Raleigh Beltline) and is now constructing a second loop (Interstate/NC 540) while Charlotte does not have one. Note to Myrick: What is I-277 then? It's a loop albeit around Uptown but serves a simi...

Joe's got two new video's. The Southern End of US 117 in Wilmington. and US 74/76 East entering Wilmington including the Cape Fear River Draw Bridge.

Took a small trip this afternoon around the area. Part of which was to get photos of Old NC 21 for Mike Roberson. Route: NC 50, Old Creedmoor Road, NC 50, NC 56, NC 39, NC 42, US 264, US 117, US 264, I-540. Accomplishments: New mileage on NC 42. The leaves came out later than normal this year...and the past few days have been brilliant color. However, on Thursday we had a rain and windstorm come through and knocked down a good amount of the leaves. Still, there are plenty of great fall scenes out there. Like this one off of Old Creedmoor Road. Just north of here and back on NC 50 is an old alignment of NC 21. This old alignment, still gravel, is decades old from when NC 50 was NC 21. The gravel road winds about a half mile or so before returning to pavement when it reaches Beaver Dam Road. In Franklinton, NC 56 meets US 1-A. What's interesting is the design of the hyphen. The ends are slanted...and you can see it clearly in the photo below. I am gonna go forward with the Ca...

A new twist to the blog tonight...videos. An old friend of mine Joe Babyak took some road videos recently down in Wilmington. First, the entire signed length of I-140: And finally, the Eastern End of US 76: Joe plans on taking more videos so keep an eye out for them.

So you have an unused four lane highway just sitting there empty and in some cases for nearly eight years. You know, it's just waiting for a few bridges and a big interchange to be built. So what can you do with it. Use it for movies! And that's exactly what the WV Film Office wants to do. The WV Film Office is actively pursuing various video production outfits to use the empty freeway in their films, television shows, or music videos. The WVDOH has no issue with the freeway being used for video shoots as long as the proper permits were acquired and the filming would not interfere with the ongoing construction of the highway. So it is quite possible that you will actually see the West Virginia portion of the Mon-Fayette Expressway on TV or the big screen before anyone will be able to drive it. Story & Video: WBOY-TV

Right on cue, various Charlotte and Mecklenburg County officials have voiced their displeasure over the proposed funding delays to Interstate 485 and other highway projects. The responses vary from blaming poor politics to calls to reform NCDOT, but the common theme was disappointment in construction delays for badly needed highway projects in a growing city. Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory said that the delays "... smells of bad politics ." McCrory who sent a highly critical letter to Governor Mike Easily pointing out that instead of completing freeway loops that have been underway for years, more loops get added to the list. McCrory was especially displeased that two loops, Wilmington and Fayetteville, have been added and seen construction since the Charlotte loop began in the 1990s. He was also unhappy that the Fayetteville loop did not see the amount of delays that Charlotte or other North Carolina cities received. McCrory told the Charlotte Observer , "Fayetteville an...