The Monroe Expressway, designated U.S. Route 74 Bypass (US 74 Byp.), is a

controlled-access A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically ...

in Union County in the U.S. state of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

, the first in the

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

area. It serves as a bypass of the communities of Indian Trail, Monroe, and

Wingate Wingate may refer to: Places New Zealand * Wingate, New Zealand, a suburb of Lower Hutt United Kingdom * Wingate, County Durham * Wingate Quarry, a Site of Special Scientific Interest in County Durham * Old Wingate, County Durham * Wingat ...

for

U.S. Route 74 U.S. Route 74 (US 74) is an east–west United States highway that runs for from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Primarily in North Carolina, it serves as an important highway from the mountains to the ...

(US 74), running generally parallel to the route.

Route description

The Monroe Expressway begins at a partial interchange which only provides access from eastbound and to westbound US 74 as well as Stallings Road and Marie Garris Drive. It heads northeast through a mixed-use suburban area, turning to the southeast around Lake Park at a

folded diamond interchange A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange. The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also be ...

with Indian Trail Fairview Road. This interchange allows westbound Monroe Expressway traffic to indirectly access US 74 eastbound. Continuing further southeast into a rural area, the freeway runs parallel to Secrest Short Cut Road, meeting Unionville Indian Trail Road and Rocky River Road. The freeway and Secrest Short Cut Road diverge as the former meets US 601 at a partial cloverleaf interchange north of Monroe. The road then intersects North Carolina Highway 200 (NC 200) at a folded diamond interchange, turning east-southeast away from Monroe and then due east. The town of

is served by an interchange with Austin Chaney Road before the Monroe Expressway turns south-southeast to its eastern terminus at another partial interchange with US 74 just west of Marshville, only allowing access to eastbound and from westbound US 74. The entire freeway has a posted

speed limit Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed - expre ...

of , except for a reduction to approaching its termini, and it has a grass

median strip The median strip, central reservation, roadway median, or traffic median is the reserved area that separates opposing lanes of traffic on divided roadways such as divided highways, dual carriageways, freeways, and motorways. The term also a ...

History

The Monroe Expressway was initially proposed as two separate projects: the Monroe Bypass and Monroe Connector. The original environmental planning process for the Monroe Bypass concluded in 1997, including a preferred alternative. The road would have begun near the intersection of US 74 and Rocky River Road, running northeast to the current location of the Monroe Expressway near Secrest Short Cut Road. From here, it would have followed the current alignment of the road to its terminus at US 74 between Wingate and Marshville. The project was divided into three sections: Section A from US 74 (western terminus) to US 601, Section B from US 601 to Richardson Creek, and Section C from Richardson Creek to US 74 (eastern terminus). After a public meeting, planning for Section A was suspended and the Monroe Connector was proposed to directly connect the bypass to I-485. Planning for the Monroe Connector began in 1999, with a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) issued on October 17, 2003. Among the alternatives considered were simply upgrading US 74 to a freeway or building the road on a new alignment, as well as various locations to connect to I-485, including the existing interchange with US 74. In 2005, the

North Carolina Turnpike Authority The North Carolina Turnpike Authority was created in 2002 to speed the implementation of needed transportation improvements by funding some projects with tolls. Governed by a nine-member authority board, it is located within the Department of Tra ...

considered building the Connector as a toll road at the request of the Mecklenburg–Union Metropolitan Planning Organization (MUMPO). Meanwhile, NCDOT continued to develop the Monroe Bypass project separately. With the original environmental studies for the Monroe Bypass almost 10 years old, the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...

required NCDOT to reevaluate the documents before starting construction. All three sections would need to be included in the reevaluation in order for the road to function as a stand-alone bypass. However, MUMPO's 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) omitted Section A in favor of the Monroe Connector. With inclusion in the LRTP required for FHWA approval, and the Monroe Connector and Sections B and C of the Monroe Bypass requiring the other in order to function as a single road, the reevaluation was discontinued so that the two projects could be combined. The final EIS for the combined project issued in August 2010, including the selected alternative of a controlled-access toll road. By 2015, the proposed toll road was officially renamed the Monroe Expressway. Construction on the Monroe Expressway began in May 2015, with the road finally opening on November 27, 2018.

Tolls

Like the

Triangle Expressway The Triangle Expressway (TriEx) is the first modern toll road built in North Carolina, and one of the first toll roads in the United States built to use only electronic toll collection instead of toll booths. The overall freeway consists of two ...

in the

Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non- colline ...

area, the Monroe Expressway uses

open road tolling Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of toll booths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The ma ...

along its entire length. Electronic toll gantries are located on the freeway mainline between each interchange so that all motorists will pass through at least one. Motorists without an

NC Quick Pass The North Carolina Turnpike Authority was created in 2002 to speed the implementation of needed transportation improvements by funding some projects with tolls. Governed by a nine-member authority board, it is located within the Department of Tra ...

transponder will have their license plate scanned and receive a bill in the mail. Motorists with an NC Quick Pass transponder have the toll automatically deducted from their account and pay a reduced toll rate: approximately 14 cents per mile (8 ¢/km) with a transponder compared to 21 cents (13 ¢/km) without for two-axle vehicles. , the total toll rate for two-axle vehicles on the length of the freeway is $2.54 for NC Quick Pass users (or compatible electronic tolling systems) and $3.92 for bill-by-mail. Three-axle rates are twice the two-axle rates; four-or-more-axle rates are four times the two-axle rates.

Exit list

References

{{reflist, refs= {{Cite web , url = https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/channel-9-tests-monroe-expressway/878868992 , title = Monroe Expressway, Charlotte area's first toll road, now open , last1 = Leigh , last2 = Esposito , first1 = Kristin , first2 = Gina , date = November 27, 2018 , location = Charlotte, North Carolina , publisher =

WSOC-TV WSOC-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with ABC and Telemundo. It is owned by Cox Media Group alongside Kannapolis-licensed independent station WAXN-TV (channel 64). Both stations s ...

, access-date = January 25, 2019 {{Cite web , url = https://www.wfae.org/post/monroe-expressway-opens-tuesday-areas-first-tolls#stream/0 , title = Monroe Expressway Opens Tuesday, With Area's First Tolls , last = Boraks , first = David , date = November 26, 2018 , location = Charlotte, North Carolina , publisher =

WFAE WFAE (90.7 MHz) is a non-commercial public radio station in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is the main NPR news and information member in the Charlotte region. The station's main studios and offices are at One University Place in the University ...

, access-date = January 25, 2019 {{Cite web , url = https://www.ncdot.gov/projects/monroe-expressway/Documents/Monroe_FSFEIS_Text_Figures_051514.pdf , title = Final Supplemental Final Environmental Impact Statement , date = May 2014 , publisher =

, access-date = January 24, 2019 {{Cite web , url = https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/community/south-charlotte/article31539566.html , title = Monroe Expressway construction underway , last = Johnston , first = Melinda , date = August 19, 2015 , work =

The Charlotte Observer ''The Charlotte Observer'' is an American English-language newspaper serving Charlotte, North Carolina, and its metro area. The Observer was founded in 1886. As of 2020, it has the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in the Carolinas. I ...

, access-date = January 25, 2019 {{Cite web , url = https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article220852185.html , title = When does the Monroe Expressway open near Charlotte? , last = Portillo , first = Ely , date = October 30, 2018 , work = The Charlotte Observer , access-date = January 25, 2019 {{Cite web , url = http://businessnc.com/800m-monroe-expressway-kicks-off-after-decades-of-debate/ , title = $800M Monroe Expressway kicks off after decades of debate , last = Mildenberg , first = David , date = December 5, 2018 , publisher = Business North Carolina , access-date = January 25, 2019 {{Cite web , url = https://www.ncquickpass.com/rates-facilities/Pages/monroe-expressway.aspx , title = Monroe Expressway , publisher =

, access-date = February 10, 2019

External links