Final Study Published
The final report of the U.S. 17 feasibility study was released in December 2018.
The report concluded the proposed project would require the acquisition of property along the existing roadway as well as in new locations where the proposed road alignment may diverge from the existing U.S. 17 alignment.
As an interstate, U.S. 17 would be accessible only through interchanges. While this would promote traffic flow, it would also impact residential and commercial establishments that directly connect to U.S. 17. The proposed project would also come into contact with wetlands in multiple areas along the study area.
AECOM, a private engineering firm that gathered information for the study, examined forecast traffic volumes, level-of-service, traffic flow, crash analysis, right-of-way impacts, utility impacts and environmental impacts as it prepared conceptual designs for the proposed improvements. Cost estimates were prepared for construction, utilities, and right of way for each segment and alternate.
NCDOT will now determine if any segments of the study area should be funded and scheduled for development and/or construction in the draft State Transportation Improvement Program. Once a segment is funded, it will begin the National Environmental Policy Act process.
Study Segments
Because the U.S. 17 feasibility study spans approximately 80 miles in seven counties, NCDOT broke the study into various segments.