New freeway around Kinston will get you to the beach faster – eventually

The N.C. Department of Transportation wants to make it possible to go around Kinston on your way to and from the coast, but it doesn't know yet where it wants to build a new bypass road.

NCDOT is weighing 12 options for a four-lane divided freeway that would pass to the south of Kinston, from east of LaGrange to Dover. The road would carry traffic at up to 70 mph and avoid the hotels, restaurants and gas stations that have grown up along a stretch of U.S. 70 that was built in the 1950s to bypass downtown Kinston.

The department is seeking the public's opinion through an online survey, at kinstonbypass.metroquest.com, as part of an environmental study. In addition to the 12 alternatives, the environmental study will also look at upgrading U.S. 70 on its current path or doing nothing at all.

“This is a very important time in the life of the project,” Preston Hunter, the NCDOT division engineer, said in a statement. “People’s opinions are crucial in determining how the project is shaped and whether we move forward at all.”

The city of Kinston has been seeking a new bypass route for U.S. 70 for more than a decade. Not only would it help people driving to and from the coast, but the diversion of through traffic would make it easier for Kinston residents and visitors to get around as well.

Even if all goes as planned, NCDOT doesn't anticipate starting construction until 2025. The bypass would extend 21 to 25 miles, depending on the route, and cost an estimated $379.1 million.

The bypass around Kinston is part of a broader plan to turn U.S. 70 into an interstate highway from I-40 near Garner to Morehead City. The American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials declared two years ago that the highway will eventually be known as I-42.

For more information about the Kinston Bypass, including links to maps showing the 12 possible routes, go to www.ncdot.gov/projects/kinstonbypass/. Besides the survey, the public can comment through the website, by calling the project hotline at 800-203-6315 or by writing a letter to: NCDOT c/o AECOM, Attention: Kory Wilmot, 701 Corporate Center Drive, Suite 475, Raleigh, N.C., 27607.

This story was originally published April 18, 2018 at 9:37 AM with the headline "New freeway around Kinston will get you to the beach faster – eventually."