Transportation

The Salem Parkway reconstruction project vies for a national award

88.5 WFDD - Public Radio For The Piedmont | By Neal Charnoff

Published October 13, 2021 at 10:33 AM EDT

Image courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

The project that transformed Winston-Salem's Business 40 into Salem Parkway has been nominated for a national award.

The collaborative effort that remade U.S. 421 through downtown Winston-Salem is one of 12 finalists in the 2021 America's Transportation Awards competition.

It's the only North Carolina Department of Transportation project in the finals.

The 1.2-mile improvement project included multiple safety upgrades, highway reconstruction, the replacement of 10 bridges, and the addition of two new pedestrian bridges.

At the outset of the project in 2018, city dwellers and business owners were told to brace for the closure of the thoroughfare for at least two years.

While the effort did impact commuters and several businesses near the project zone, the highway was reopened last year six months ahead of schedule.

According to an NCDOT news release, the Salem Parkway project is eligible for two national awards, either of which would result in $10,000 toward a charity or transportation-related scholarship.

NCDOT is encouraging residents to cast a vote through its website.

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Neal Charnoff

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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The Salem Parkway reconstruction project vies for a national award

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