US 70/Slocum Road Interchange

Description

The NCDOT will begin constructing roadway modifications and a “flyover” interchange on a roughly 1.7-mile area at US 70 and Slocum Road at the back gate of Cherry Point Military Base in Havelock, NC.

Flyover Ramp

The flyover ramp, which will include a 250-foot bridge over US 70, will be constructed at Slocomb Road to serve traffic moving from eastbound US 70 onto Slocum Road. This flyover is designed to reduce traffic congestion and decrease the number of accidents near the back gate at Cherry Point, which is double that of similar area roads, according to a 2009 Military Growth Task Force Study. Havelock Commissioner, Danny Walsh, said in an interview with the Havelock News, “This came about because we had so many accidents at the back gate at Slocum Road. We were averaging one every eight days there.”

“Left-out” Superstreet Design

Additionally, the intersection of US 70 and Pine Grove Road/Hickman Hill Loop Road (SR 1772/1759) will be converted to a “left-out” superstreet in order to reduce traffic congestion and improve traffic flow and access to the MacDonald Downs and Tucker Creek subdivisions. This design will enable traffic to exit Tucker Creek and Hickman Hills, and turn either right or left onto U.S. 70, but not drive straight across US 70.

Eastbound traffic on US 70 headed into the Tucker Creek subdivision will be routed past the current traffic light, make a U-turn onto US 70 West at the new light, and then turn right. Westbound drivers turning left into the Hickman Hills subdivision will face similar re-routing, except there won’t be a light where they make a U-turn.

The current entrance to MacDonald Downs subdivision on US 70 will close, and traffic will be re-routed along the new Marsha’s Way Connector to Pine Grove Road.

The service road adjacent to the US 70 and Pine Grove Road intersection will also be removed as part of this overall effort.

While the NCDOT selected this design based primarily on safety, some residents who live in these subdivisions voiced opposition to the new plan. Hickman Hills resident, Rita Ferguson, commented during a public workshop early in 2013, “My main issue is that it’s jamming us up, blocking us in where we’ve been coming out for years and we want it to stay like it is.”

The superstreet design was finalized in 2014 and construction is scheduled to begin in 2017.