GREENSBORO, N.C. — Update: We talked to NCDOT on August 19, 2022, after our own Tim Buckley snapped some photos of the Urban Loop's final stretch between N. Elm Street and N. Church Street. They said the Urban Loop is still slated to be completed in Spring 2023.
Work continues on the last leg of the Greensboro Urban Loop. The final stretch of highway, between Elm Street and U.S. 29, is expected to open in spring 2023.
North Carolina Division of Transportation officials shared the new completion date with WFMY News 2 back in December. Before then, crews were hopeful to have the project done sometime in 2022.
NCDOT Construction Engineer for Highway Division 7, Patty Eason, said the change in the timeline is mostly due to added work for contractors. For example, she said NCDOT wanted concrete barriers instead of asphalt because concrete lasts longer and requires less maintenance over time.
She also noted that the project requires a massive amount of dirt to be moved, which NCDOT officials explained to News 2 in December. Here's what NCDOT's Aaron Moody told us then:
“We are still looking at a spring 2023 date to open the final remaining stretch of the Urban Loop, between Elm Street and U.S. 29. This stretch will open all at one time, rather than in sections, much due to the massive amount of earth that has been moved in this area - much of it for the bridges over the railroad track near Lees Chapel Road. To give you some perspective, we will be moving 6,000,000 cubic yards of earth for the work done between Lawndale Drive and U.S. 29," Moody said.
Eason said recent winter weather events have inconvenienced some work on the highway, but it's been minimal.
Here's what NCDOT is still working on to complete the highway:
- Build a six-lane freeway from U.S. 29 north of Greensboro to Lawndale Drive.
- Complete the Greensboro Loop/U.S. 29 interchange.
- Complete the Greensboro Loop/Lawndale Drive interchange.
- Build bridges on the Greensboro Loop over Lees Chapel Road and Norfolk Southern Railroad.
- Build bridges on Summit Avenue, North Church Street and Lake Jeanette Road over the Greensboro Loop.
- Build an interchange at the intersection of the Greensboro Loop and Yanceyville Road.
- Build an interchange at the intersection of the Greensboro Loop and North Elm Street.
- Build a cul-de-sac at the end of Watlington Road.
- Connect Pindals Road to Candlenut Road and eliminate the intersection of Pindals Road and Summit Avenue.
Some of our previous reporting on the Urban Loop: