Salem Parkway (North Carolina)

Salem Parkway
Map
Route of Salem Parkway highlighted in red
Route information
Length18.5 mi[1] (29.8 km)
Existed2016–present
History1958–1992 as I-40/East–West Expressway
1992–2020 as I-40 Business
2016–present as Salem Parkway
Component
highways
Major junctions
West end I-40 / US 421 in Winston-Salem
Major intersections
East end I-40 / US 421 near Colfax
Location
CountryUnited States
StateNorth Carolina
CountiesForsyth, Guilford
Highway system

The Salem Parkway is an 18.5-mile-long (29.8 km) freeway in the U.S. state of North Carolina, serving the city of Winston-Salem and the town of Kernersville. It is signed as U.S. Route 421 (US 421) for its entire length, though it is also concurrent with US 158 in downtown Winston-Salem and North Carolina Highway 150 (NC 150) between Winston-Salem and Kernersville. Originally known as the East–West Expressway, it was designated as part of Interstate 40 (I-40) and opened in 1958, becoming the first section of Interstate Highway in the state. I-40 was rerouted onto a new alignment bypassing Winston-Salem and Kernersville in 1992, at which time the road was designated Interstate 40 Business, nicknamed Business 40.

Beginning in November 2018, a 1.2-mile-long (1.9 km) section of the freeway in downtown Winston-Salem between Peters Creek Parkway (NC 150) and the John Gold Memorial Expressway (US 52) was closed for reconstruction to rebuild the substandard roadway, exit and entrance ramps, and bridges.[2] The section east of Main Street reopened August 30, 2019.[3] As part of the project, the Business 40 designation was decommissioned and replaced with the name Salem Parkway, which had been chosen by popular vote in 2016. This included changing guide signs to include the new name, as well as renumbering exits to follow the mileage of US 421. The name change went into effect on February 2, 2020, when the road reopened,[4][5][6] though signage outside of the project area had been changed in late December 2019.[7]

  1. ^ "I-40 Bus in NC" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
  2. ^ Lane, Mallory (November 17, 2018). "Portions of Business 40 officially shutdown until 2020". Winston-Salem, NC: WXII-TV. Retrieved November 17, 2018.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Time was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Young, Wesley (December 8, 2019). "New exit numbers going up on Business 40". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  5. ^ Young, Wesley (November 16, 2019). "One year down - just months to go". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  6. ^ Young, Wesley; O'Donnell, Lisa (February 2, 2020). "Business 40 is now open as Salem Parkway". Winston-Salem Journal. Winston-Salem, NC. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference signs was invoked but never defined (see the help page).