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What You Need to Know about North Carolina for June 30, 2015

What You Need to Know About North Carolina for June 30, 2015

Here in Kansas City and so far things are well. Despite the gremlins that kept this from posting on WordPress and via email yesterday, I’m ok. Meanwhile, I continue my series on highways in the state for my new e-book Get Around North Carolina.

Why write another e-book and one like this? If you know me in real life, you know how much I love transportation systems, especially ones that are self or publicly propelled. Plus, what better thing for the peak travel season in North Carolina but a guide to tell you what to expect when you get to North Carolina (or us a mode you don’t know much about).

Right now, you can pre-order the guide here for $5. Then, on July 22 (or sooner) it will pop up in your inbox! Save it to your phone and you can navigate the state without Google Maps, but not quite back to the days of the paper map.

In the meantime, an excerpt of what to expect when you drive on I-77

I-77 was not part of the original interstate highway plan for North Carolina. Not that that matters much, it was still planned for in the 1950s and then built in various pieces in the 1960s. If you are coming in using I-77, you may have started in South Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, or West Virginia. This is the only highway in the state that can take you from an amusement park at one end, a bonus glance at the Charlotte skyline just a few miles north, and then at the end of the highway in the state (at least on the northern end), you are couched into the wonderful Blue Ridge Mountain range.

For now, riding on I-77 is free. However, in Charlotte, if you use the high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, you could be paying a toll, the first such thing in North Carolina. Nothing to worry about really, unless you have more than one person in your car, you’re in the notoriously bad Charlotte rush hours or you’re on a motorcycle and want to get by everyone else.

Lastly, you can use I-77 to connect to both I-40 and I-85, giving you a choice on how you want to travel further east or west in the state. If I were you, I’d do I-40 to Asheville (or US 70, more on that in a another section), but I-85 to get anywhere else. With I-85 becoming merged with I-40 in the Triad, after it does the northeastern climb to the area for you, you can then figure out how you want to split off to Wilmington (I-40 East) or to further points north outside the state  like Washington, DC or New York (I-85), or even further east, either interstate and then connect with the many US and state highways that serve the region.

Again, pre-order Get Around North Carolina for $5 and this will be right in your pocket on your phone, accessible through a scroll or a pushbutton. No need to search Wikipedia or Google Maps with no data access.

And with that, your news for today:

This Greensboro church wants to create solar energy and have installed panels on their roof, but are having issues with the state allowing them to flip the switch.

Meanwhile, Duke Energy’s CEO is getting another raise.

Environmental reasons for the recent shark attacks off the coast.

Details on the issues surrounding a solid-waste collection provider in the Asheville area.

There’s a push to make all DWI offenders install ignition interlocks, which require them to blow into a tube to insure no alcohol is in their system before driving.

The Choose Life license plate court battle has resumed.

The director of the Pender County DSS, near Wilmington, has been put on paid administrative leave.

And finally, there’s no state budget, but instead a continuing resolution until August 14.

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