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|direction_b=East |terminus_b= in Wilmington |counties=Haywood, Buncombe, McDowell, Burke, Catawba, Iredell, Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Alamance, Orange, Durham, Wake, Johnston, Sampson, Duplin, Pender, New Hanover |previous_type=NC |previous_route=39 |next_type=NC |next_route=41 }} Interstate 40 (I-40) runs through the state of North Carolina from the Tennessee state line in the west to its eastern terminus in Wilmington. I-40 begins at the Tennessee state line in Haywood County and runs through the state until it reaches its eastern terminus at U.S. Highway 117/North Carolina Highway 132 (US 117/NC 132) in Wilmington. The Interstate runs through the cities of Asheville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Durham, Raleigh, and ends in Wilmington. The unofficial name for I-40 is the Blue Star Memorial Highway, which is to pay tribute to the U.S. Armed Forces. The road a various other names along its routing. I-40 began in 1956 with construction in the Pigeon River Gorge. This section of the highway was the first part of I-40 in the entire nation and was completed in 1968. Construction continued through the 1950s and 1960s. In 1971 the North Carolina State Highway Commission approved a plan to extend I-40 to I-95 near Benson. In 1988 the final section of I-40 between Tennessee and Raleigh opened. The last portion of I-40 from Raleigh to Wilmington opened on June 29, 1990. ==Route description== I-40 enters North Carolina at the state line near Waterville. The freeway immediately starts winding through the Pigeon River Gorge. I-40 goes through a set of tunnels. When the tunnels opened in 1968 they were the first Interstate tunnels east of Mississippi River. I-40 then goes down a steep grade for the next . Just south of exit 7, I-40 uses another tunnel, for eastbound traffic only, through Hurricane Mountain. The westbound lanes use a rock cut through Hurricane Mountain. A short distance after the tunnel is the North Carolina Welcome Center. Interstate 40 continues toward Asheville. Interstate 40 then merges with US 74 (Great Smoky Mountains Expressway). I-40 and US 74 encounters the Interstate 26, Interstate 240 interchange in the southwestern part of the city. The interchange is the current western terminus of Interstate 240 and the historic terminus of Interstate 26. Interstate 40 then goes along the south side of Asheville, north of the Biltmore Estate towards Hickory. I-240 and I-40 have another interchange before I-40 leaves the Asheville area. Interstate 40 goes south of Black Mountain and Marion, and north of Conover. When I-40 enters Hickory it has a clover interchange with US 321. Interstate 40 then heads south of Hickory and crosses Catawba River. I-40 enters Statesville north of the city. It has major interchanges with US 64 and US 21 before utilizing a clover interchange with Interstate 77. I-40 heads northeast towards Winston-Salem passing Mocksville and Clemmons. When Interstate 40 enters Winston-Salem it has another major interchange this time with US 421 and Interstate 40 Business. I-40 Business/US 421 head north to go through downtown Winston-Salem while I-40 goes just south of the city. Interstate 40 has another clover interchange with US 52/US 311/NC 8. US 311 run a concurrency with Interstate 40 for . Interstate 74/US 311 exit off to the south while I-40 heads back northeast to meet up with US 421 and Interstate 40 Business. US 421 runs a concurrency with I-40 into Greensboro. Interstate 40 enters the Greensboro area at the I-73/US 421/I-840 interchange. This interchange is the east end of the US 421 concurrency with I-40 and is also the planned western terminus of Interstate 840. From there Interstate 40 heads through southwestern Greensboro. Interstate 40 passes Wendover Place and Four Seasons Town Centre before having another large interchange with US 220. 1 mile after the interchange with US 220 I-85 Business/US 29/US 70 all merge into I-40/US 220 for one large concurrency. The road is generally a six-lane freeway through the entire concurrency between Interstate 40 and Interstate 85 Business. This corridor with concurrent routes ends in the east at the US 29/US 70/US 220/Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard junction. Both the beginning and ending interchanges of this corridor are quite unusual in design and are often operating at above full capacity, leading to frequent traffic jams and traffic incidents. I-40 through Greensboro officially bears the name Preddy Boulevard. The nickname "Death Valley" has been given to the area of Interstate 40 where Interstate 40 and Business Interstate 85 splits. The locals have given that area that name because of the high number of deaths due to car crashes in that area. One major problem with the highway is that the U.S. 29/220/70 southbound lanes merge from the right, and exit to the left. Thus, through traffic on I-40 west and US 29 south (a major route from Virginia to Charlotte) must all merge to the other side of the freeway. A study conducted by state traffic engineers from May 1, 2006 to April 30, 2008 (the period between the I-85 relocation and I-40's relocation) concluded that "the Death Valley area" had an accident rate "higher than average for urban interstates ... but the () was safe anyway." There were no fatalities during the study period, but a large number of rear-end collisions.〔 I-40 merges with I-85 east of Greensboro ending the I-85 concurrency. I-40 and I-85 have a concurrency through Guilford, Alamance, and Orange Counties. The concurrency section uses I-85 exit numbers instead of I-40 exit numbers. The section goes south of Elon, Burlington, Graham, and Mebane. Interstate 40 breaks ways from Interstate 85 at exit 163, south of Hillsborough. After I-40 breaks away from I-85 it heads in a very southeasterly direction towards Chapel Hill. I-40 parallels NC 86 until NC 86 crosses I-40 at exit 266. I-40 is routed along northern Chapel Hill and then through southern Durham. I-40 enters the Research Triangle area after an interchange with NC 147. The Interstate varies in width, from four-lane to eight-lane depending on the location. It serves as a major route between Raleigh, Cary and Durham (the other being US 70). After leaving the Research Triangle area Interstate 40 has an interchange with Interstate 540 near the Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Several Interstate 40 exits serve Raleigh-Durham including, Aviation Parkway, Airport Blvd, and Interstate 540. I-40 continues to head southeast towards Downtown Raleigh. Interstate 40 is routed north of Cary and south of Umstead State Park. At Wade Avenue Interstate 40 bears right to head south. US 1, US 64, Interstate 440, and I-40. I-40 then runs a concurrency with US 64 along the south side of Raleigh before merging to the right to head toward Benson.〔 Interstate 40 heads in a very southern direction until the interchange with Interstate 95. Within 5 miles from Raleigh, Interstate 40 has another concurrency with US 70. US 70 follows I-40 until the Clayton Bypass (exit 309). Interstate 40 continues south with exits at NC 42, NC 210, and NC 242. Interstate 40 then has an interchange with Interstate 95 near Benson, North Carolina. Interstate 40 then runs south towards Clinton and Warsaw. Starting near Faison Interstate 40 runs parallel with US 117 and this continues through the rest of the route. Most of the surrounding area of I-40 in Eastern North Carolina are rural so traffic is somewhat down on this section of I-40. A rest area exists off NC 24 in Warsaw. The median of I-40 widens to put the rest area between the eastbound and westbound lanes. I-40 passes the Duplin Winery in Duplin County. As Interstate 40 nears Wilmington it passes Burgaw and then crosses the NE Cape Fear River. Interstate 40 has an interchange with Interstate 140/US 17. As I-40 nears its terminus the speed limit is set down to 55, instead of 70 which is in place from Garner on. Exit 420 is the last exit on I-40 before its terminus on US 117/NC 132〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Interstate 40 in North Carolina」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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