Salem Parkway
Route of Salem Parkway highlighted in red
Route information
Length	18.5 mi[1] (29.8 km)
Existed	2020–present
History	1958–1992 as I-40/East–West Expressway 1992–2020 as I-40 Business 2016–present as Salem Parkway
Component highways	US 421 (entire length) US 158 from Stratford Road to Reidsville Road in Winston-Salem NC 150 from Winston-Salem to Kernersville
Major junctions
West end	I-40 / US 421 in Winston-Salem
Major intersections	US 158 in Winston-Salem US 52 / NC 8 in Winston-Salem
East end	I-40 / US 421 near Colfax
Location
Country	United States
State	North Carolina
Counties	Forsyth, Guilford
Highway system
North Carolina Highway System Interstate US State Scenic

The Salem Parkway is an artery corridor located mostly in Forsyth County in the U.S. state of North Carolina, designated U.S. Route 421 (US 421) for its entire length. Interstate 74 (Winston-Salem Northern Beltway) (exit 53) effectively divides the parkway. Between Interstate 40 (exit 188) to I-74, the parkway serves serving Downtown Winston-Salem, which also features "Twin City Trail."^[2] East of Interstate 74, the parkway serves Downtown Kernersville, before merging with I-40 west of Greensboro (exit 206). The parkway in its entirety, is 18.5-mile-long (29.8 km).

Inside the greater Hanes Mall district, the parkway begins in the vicinity of the four-level stack/cloverleaf with US 421 (exit 238) and I-40 (exit 188). US 421 merges onto Salem Parkway, upon exiting the interchange, shortly before coming to the Silas Creek Parkway (NC 67) with a cloverleaf interchange. The parkway comes to the diamond interchange with Knollwood Street and the parclo interchange with Stratford Road (US 158).

Exiting the district, the parkway turns east concurrent with US 158, continuing east and entering into Downtown Winston-Salem with NC 150 (Peters Creek Parkway). Inside downtown Winston-Salem, NC 150 joins in concurrency with US 421 and US 158, with the Salem Parkway comin gto Marshall Street and Cherry Street before traversing under the Strollway. The half-interchange allows access with the one-way northbound Main Street, with only the westbound off-ramp and eastbound on-ramp. The Twin-City Trail is also located inside this area.

The parkway comes to the cloverleaf interchange with the John Gold Memorial Expressway (US 52/NC 8, though NC 8 is not signed at this interchange) and comes to the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive junction. Leaving downtown Winston-Salem, US 158 exits the Salem Parkway onto Reidsville Road with the partial interchange, in which the parkway continues east, in concurrency with US 421 and NC 150. East of the city limits, the parkway comes to the junction with the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway (soon to carry I-74), in which the south section of the beltway will lead to I-40.^[3]

Salem Parkway continues inside central Kernersville, with the exit to South Main Street giving access to the overall developed areas of the town, and is the west access to downtown. The parkway traverses southern downtown area for one mile, coming to the exit with NC 66.^[4] Exiting the central district, the route comes to the interchange with Macy Grove Road (the under-construction Kernersville Loop) with NC 150 exiting the parkway. The Salem Parkway exits Forsyth County, shortly before ending at the half-interchange with I-40 in Colfax, with only, eastbound entrance and westbound exit when connecting to the interstate. US 421 continues along I-40, continuing into the city of Greensboro.

Several exits, including with Stratford Road, Knollwood Street, NC 66, and most of the Downtown Winston-Salem exits, are notable short and narrow, which aligns with the "parkway" aesthetic. The NC 66 exit ramps serves Downtown Kernersville, with the specific ramp from westbound Salem Parkway (US 421 north) to NC 66, being exceptionally close to both roadways of NC 66 and Salem Parkway.

The current-day Salem Parkway, in its origins, is the consolidated of existing expressways and full freeways in central Winston-Salem and then-south of most of Kernersville.

The towns of Winston and Salem had officially formed one city in the year 1913. The newly combined city was not only a merger of local government but a joining of two different road systems. By the 1940s, Winston-Salem grew to become the largest manufacturing hub in the state, in results of companies including R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and the P.H. Hanes Knitting Company. Notable highways had connected the city, with no direct corridor connecting one area with the other without the use of "making turns," resulting in traffic congestion in the downtown area. From 1946 to 1956, various traffic pattern studies were performed and plans created that which the city for the coming decades.

By 1955, the expressway stretch for US 421 had opened in the eastern areas of Forsyth County, spanning from Linville Road to Mountain Street, then-south of Kernersville^[5] This included the cloverleaf interchange with South Main Street (which carried NC 150) and the interchange with NC 66, while the expressway was heavily rural and also featured at-grade intersections.

The previous year, Winston-Salem gave the state $1 million to buy right-of-way for what was titled as the East–West Expressway. This was built to be a fuller fledged east-west corridor for the city of Winston-Salem, with construction began that same year as the right-of-way was progressed. 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. The expressway was slightly shifted, to become fully controlled accessed highway, With the designation of I-40, the East–West Expressway would become the first completed section of Interstate in the state.^[6][7]

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.^[8][9] 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.^[6] Designated as I-40, the expressway soon ran concurrently with US 158 in 1959, from Stratford Road to Marshall (westbound) and Cherry (eastbound) streets.^[10] In 1960, the expressway was extended west to at NC 801 near the Yadkin River, and east to Reidsville Road.^[11] 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.^[12] 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 was extended to the existing Kernersville expressway, where it then linked with second built section of I-40 (late 1958) and continued towards Greensboro. The Kernersville stretch was slightly rebuilt to be up to the Interstate standards which were of the period.^[13]

Interstate 40 Business
Location	Winston-Salem–Colfax, NC
Length	18.5 mi[1] (29.8 km)
Existed	1992–2020
History	Briefly extended through Greensboro in 2008

Further information is on the I-40 page.

After the completion in 1962, the East–West Expressway segment of I-40 had received notably little changes, 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 stretch was preferable to widening and modernizing the freeway through central 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 considered "incomplete" in Winston-Salem. In October 1988, the group were able to convince the FHWA, and Governor James G. Martin announced federal approval of $114.1 million for I-40 to be relocated on the new stretch in the areas then-considered south of the city. When the new stretch opened in late 1992, the East-West Expressway was designated, Interstate 40 Business.^{[14][15][16][17][18][19]}

Since its opening in 1960, the Hawthorne Curve, a 10° S-curve overpass of Hawthorne Road, became an infamous accident-prone location; typically speed related, cars and trucks wrecking against the curve and in some cases jumping the guard rail and falling 35 feet (11 m) off the overpass. Blame for the curve mostly fell on then Winston-Salem Mayor Marshall Kurfees, who is believed to have ordered the curve to protect political allies who owned businesses on Hawthorne Road and First Street. Kurfees spent the rest of his life denying the allegation, stating that the engineers designed it while he had no input to the project. Over the years, several studies were done and various little fixes were made to improve the situation including a reduced 45-mile-per-hour (72 km/h) speed zone, better guardrails and the installation of blinking lights and flashing warning signs. In January 1998, the first major improvement in 40 years started with the realignment of Hawthorne Curve. At a cost of $26 million, construction lasted for two years building a new overpass and reshaping the sharp curve to a more gentle one. It was completed seven months early in the middle of 2000.^[20][21]

In February 2008, I-40 was rerouted south of most of the Greensboro city limits, forming the south stretch of Greensboro Urban Loop. The previous route which went miles south of Downtown Greensboro became the extension of I-40 Business. This also included the six-mile (9.7 km) hidden concurrency along I-40/US 421, between exits 206 and 212. This extended the route 20 miles (32 km), ending at a new terminus with I-85/I-40, in the vicinity of McLeansville.^[22]

However, NCDOT officials received several complaints of local residents and motorists on the confusion between the new I-40 and I-40 Business. Another issue was that funding for construction and repairs on the old route was slashed since it was no longer designated as an Interstate (Interstate business routes are not officially part of the Interstate Highway System) On September 12, 2008, with permission from the FHWA, I-40 was moved back to its old route through Greensboro, decommissioning Business 40.^[23][24]

In the mid 1990s, NC 150 was removed from South Main Street, and was routed onto Business 40 to travel inside Downtown Winston-Salem from Peters Creek Parkway and into the Kernersville town limits, where it followed north alongside NC 66, which connects to the other streets inside Downtown Kernersville. The interchange with South Main Street had since been rebuilt into the diamond interchange, completed in the early 1960s. While the Business 40 designation, had been in effect for over 20 years during this period, existed the long-term planning of the need to reconfigure one of the earliest exits on the route. In the town of Kernersville, The half interchange with Mountain Street (exit 16), was the former eastern terminus of the then new US 421 "Bypass."^[25] This junction had been notably substandard by the early 2010s and direct east from the NC 66/150 exit (exit 15). The need to address this, was aligned with another highway project nearby, the Kernersville Loop. Construction began in June 2013 on the first phase of a project to extend Macy Grove Road around the east side of Kernersville.^[26][27] Macy Grove Road, which previously passed over Business 40 with no interchange and ended with the at-grade intersection with Old Greensboro Road, was upgraded to expressway standards and extended to a temporary terminus with the one quadrant interchange with East Mountain Street, and further south, the recent-day designed diamond interchange built connecting Macy Grove Road to Business 40. This was completed and opened in May 2015, at which point the former partial interchange with East Mountain Street immediately east of what was then the NC 66/NC 150 interchange was closed and demolished^[28] and the westbound roadway through the former interchange rebuilt to be realigned closer to the eastbound roadway. In October 2020, NC 150 was removed from its concurrency with NC 66 through Downtown Kernersville, and rerouted onto the Macy Grove Road east of downtown, as the route was further extended to limited access standards, to its recent intersection with North Main Street, which allowed NC 150 to run concurrently with US 421 for around one extra mile further east.^[29]Not directly related, the Salisbury Road bridge over Business 40 was rebuilt during this period, tailoring to Downtown Kernersville.^[30]Currently, Salem Parkway is the four lane controlled-access "parkway" which serves Downtown Kernersville (in which the downtown area had since extended south to the parkway), while I-74 is the de-facto terminus of the Kernersville limits of the parkway, which will connect to I-40, which will go in the general areas of the town and surrounding areas outside of the town.

In 2006, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) commenced the rebuilding of the stretch 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.^[31]

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 route, 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.^[32] 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.^[33] On October 21, 2016, Governor Pat McCrory announced, at the project's ground breaking event, the new name, which had been chosen to be the Salem Parkway; which was the overwhelming favorite, receiving 53% of the vote.^[34] Interstate 40 Business remained the designation of the freeway during the rest of the 2010s. ^[35]Salem Parkway billing, took place when the highway reopened on February 2, 2020,^[36][37] though new signs would show the Salem Parkway name once installed, with new signage outside of the project area having had been changed in late December 2019.^[38]

First phase of construction was focused on and around Peters Creek Parkway (NC 150), which included lowering the roadway 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.^[39][40] 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 chosen to access the downtown area for locals, while travelers were essentially directed onto the then-considered I-40 Bypass.^[41]

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 would had been 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 would also be completed, one of which would replace Green Street Bridge, and a Strollway Bridge adjacent to Liberty Street.^{[39][42][43][44]}

On August 30, 2019, the section east of Main Street was opened.^[45] Reconstruction of the downtown segment was completed February 2, 2020.^[46] The name change went into effect on the day the parkway reopened.^[36][37][46]

Exit numbers follow US 421 mileage. Old exit numbers and closed exits are based on the former I-40 Business exits.^[47]

County	Location	mi	km	Old exit	New exit	Destinations	Notes
Guilford	Colfax	18.50	29.77	—	—	I-40 east / US 421 south (Fordham Boulevard) – Greensboro	Continuation as I-40 / US 421
Forsyth	Kernersville	16.56	26.65	17	221	NC 150 east (Macy Grove Road) – Oak Ridge	East end of NC 150 overlap[48]
		15.60	25.11	16	—	Mountain Street – Colfax	Permanently closed as of May 2015[28]
				15	222	NC 66 – Kernersville, Walkertown
		13.84	22.27	14	224	South Main Street – Kernersville
		11.66	18.76	—	227	NC 74 west – Wytheville	Future I-74, partially opened to traffic on September 5, 2020; I-74 east to open in 2026[49][50]
	Winston-Salem	9.66	15.55	10	228	Linville Road
		7.86	12.65	8	230	US 158 east (Reidsville Road) – Walkertown, Reidsville	East end of US 158 overlap; southbound exit and northbound entrance
		6.97	11.22	7	231	Lowery Street / Fifth Street	Northbound Fifth Street, southbound Lowery Street
		5.88	9.46	6C	232A	Martin Luther King Jr. Drive – Winston-Salem State University
		5.61	9.03	6A-B	232B-C	US 52 / NC 8 (John Gold Memorial Expressway) – Mount Airy, Airport, Lexington	To Old Salem, UNC School of the Arts; US 52 exits 109A-B
		5.00	8.05	5D	233A	Main Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		4.81	7.74	5C	233B	Cherry Street / Marshall Street – Convention Center
		4.51	7.26	5B	—	Broad Street	Permanently closed as of November 2018
		4.16	6.69	5A	234A	NC 150 west (Peters Creek Parkway) – Truist Stadium	West end of NC 150 overlap
		3.79	6.10	4B	234B	West First Street / Hawthorne Road	Northbound exit and Southbound entrance
		3.45	5.55	4A	234C	Cloverdale Avenue
		2.88	4.63	3B-C	235	US 158 west (Stratford Road)	West end of US 158 overlap; signed Exit 235A (Stratford Road north) and 235B (US 158 west/Stratford Road south) from northbound Salem Parkway
		2.42	3.89	3A	236	Knollwood Street
		1.63	2.62	2A-B	237A-B	NC 67 (Silas Creek Parkway) – Wake Forest University, LJVM Coliseum, Forsyth Tech
		0.00	0.00	1	238	I-40 – Greensboro, Statesville	Northbound left exit
				—	—	US 421 north – Yadkinville	Continuation as US 421
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

• Media related to Interstate 40 Business (North Carolina) at Wikimedia Commons
• Media related to Salem Parkway at Wikimedia Commons
• Business 40 Home Page