East–West Expressway

Sunrise over the old Broad Street bridge

In 1954, Winston-Salem gave the state $1 million to buy right-of-way for what was called the East–West Expressway; construction began that same year. Though it was planned to become a new routing of US 158, that changed two years later, when the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 was passed and North Carolina was allocated 714 miles (1,149 km) for their share of the Interstate Highway System; 219 miles (352 km) was subsequently allocated for a route from the Tennessee state line, through Asheville and Winston-Salem, to Greensboro. With the designation of I-40, the East–West Expressway would become the first completed section of Interstate in the state.^[8][9]

On January 6, 1958, the first 1.2-mile-long (1.9 km) section of the East–West Expressway was opened between Cloverdale Avenue and Main Street.^[10][11] Because of the novelty, local newspapers ran a series of stories and diagrams on how to use the expressway, educating the public on how on-ramps and off-ramps work.^[8] Designated as I-40, the expressway soon ran concurrently with US 158 in 1959, from Stratford Road to Marshall (westbound) and Cherry (eastbound) streets.^[12] In 1960, the expressway was extended west into Yadkin County, at NC 801, and east to Reidsville Road.^[13] In 1961, US 421 was rerouted from Pfafftown and downtown Winston-Salem onto new freeway that connected directly with the expressway, then continued easterly running concurrently with I-40.^[14] In 1962, US 158 was realigned to continue along the expressway to Reidsville Road, its former alignment became US 158 Business (decommissioned in 1970). East of Reidsville Road, I-40/US 421 was extended onto new freeway to Kernersville, where it then linked with second built section of I-40 (late 1958) and continued towards Greensboro.^[15]

Interstate 40 Business

After 1958, the East–West Expressway segment of I-40 changed little while Interstate standards have changed considerably in regards to safety and faster speeds. In the 1980s, a study with the city and state concluded that construction of a new route was preferable to widening and modernizing the freeway through Winston-Salem. The state therefore lobbied the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), arguing that since this section predated the 1956 Act, it never received federal highway dollars for its development and construction, thus I-40 was incomplete in Winston-Salem. In October 1988, they were able to convince the FHWA, and Governor James G. Martin announced federal approval of $114.1 million for I-40 to be relocated onto new bypass south of Winston-Salem.^[16][17] In November 1992, the 20.89-mile (33.62 km) Winston-Salem Bypass was completed and opened; I-40 was officially rerouted at that time and a new designation was given to the East–West Expressway, Interstate 40 Business.^{[18][19][20][21]}

Salem Parkway was originally designated as a business loop of Interstate 40. Once the name of the parkway was announced in 2016 and the downtown stretch was renovated in 2020, I-40 Business was decommissioned and the Salem Parkway replaced it.

Salem Parkway

In 2006, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) decided to rebuild the freeway between Fourth Street and Church Street, which covers most of the original 1.2-mile-long (1.9 km) section of the East–West Expressway from 1958. For the next ten years, NCDOT made several studies and a series of public meetings before awarding a design-build contract with Flatiron Constructors, Inc./Blythe Development Company Joint Venture and HDR Engineering, Inc., in September 2016, to complete the final design and construct the project. Considered as a $100 million do-over, the project included: replacing the existing roadway pavement, modernizing entrance and exit ramps, replacing nine vehicular bridges, adding two pedestrian bridges, lengthening the acceleration and deceleration lanes between ramps and widening existing roadway shoulders and adding new ones. When Salem Parkway opens, contractors will still be working on final touches. The opening speed limit will be 45 mph (72 km/h). Once the project is totally completed, the speed may increase to 55 mph (89 km/h).^[30]

Salem Parkway unveiling

NCDOT had also decided that once construction was completed, that I-40 Business would be decommissioned and a new name would be given to the freeway alongside the existing US 421 designation. The rationale was the continued confusion locals and travelers have between I-40 and I-40 Business. In November 2015, the residents of Winston-Salem metro area were allowed to submit a nomination for a new name, with a January 30, 2016, deadline. A selection committee, which included appointments from Winston-Salem and Kernersville, whittled the list to just four for another public vote.^[31] The eventual four finalist names were: Golden Leaf Parkway, alluding to the region's tobacco-growing and processing heritage; Innovation Highway, showing the high-tech aspirations of the area; Piedmont Corridor, identifying geographic location in a highly developed part of the state, and Salem Parkway, which refers to the Moravian settlement founded in 1766.^[32] On October 21, 2016, Governor Pat McCrory announced, at the project's ground breaking event, the new name of the freeway as the Salem Parkway; which was the overwhelming favorite, receiving 53% of the vote.^[33] This name change took place when the highway reopened on February 2, 2020,^[4][5] though new signs will show the Salem Parkway name once they are installed.^[7]

Downtown reconstruction

On the first day of close, work began on the Broad Street bridge

First phase of construction was focused on and around Peters Creek Parkway (NC 150), which included lowering the freeway to establish a minimum vertical clearance of 17 feet (5.2 m) at the new Fourth Street two-lane bridge and 17.5 feet (5.3 m) at the new seven-lane Peters Creek Parkway bridge. After two years of intermittent closures, the new Peters Creek Parkway bridge was opened on November 12, 2018.^[34][35] On November 17, the second phase began with the complete shutdown of Business 40 between Peters Creek Parkway and John Gold Memorial Expressway (US 52/US 311/NC 8); three alternate routes were set up through the downtown area for locals while travelers are encouraged to remain on mainline I-40.^[36]

During construction, Business 40 was lowered to establish a minimum vertical clearance of 17 feet (5.2 m) for the new Marshall, Cherry, Main and Church Street bridges; Spruce Street bridge was removed and Liberty Street changed from an underpass to an overpass as a result. The Broad Street interchange was permanently closed and removed, the Cherry Street interchange will be modified with Marshall Street, and the Main Street interchange was modified to have only a southbound on-ramp and a northbound off-ramp. Two pedestrian bridges will also be completed, one of which will replace Green Street Bridge, and a Strollway Bridge adjacent to Liberty Street.^{[34][37][38][39]}

On August 30, 2019, the section east of Main Street was opened.^[3] Reconstruction of the downtown segment was completed February 2, 2020.^[6]