North Carolina Highway 417

Currently under construction, the first section of NC 417 will begin at an interchange between US 17 (Military Cutoff Road/Market Street) and US 17 Business (Market Street) near Ogden. It will continue northwest as a six-lane at-grade expressway with a 45-mile-per-hour (72 km/h) speed limit[3] through a wooded area, passing over Ogden Park Drive near Ogden Park. The road will then come to a large residential development in Murraysville, turning northeast and meeting three streets at signalized superstreet intersections. Moving into another wooded area, NC 417 will intersect a connector to Plantation Road, becoming a freeway immediately after. Military Cutoff Road will then end at an interchange with NC 140, while NC 417 will eventually continue northeast as the Hampstead Bypass.[1]

NC 417 will continue from the end of the Military Cutoff Road extension onto the Hampstead Bypass, a four-lane freeway running through a wooded rural area. It will run further northeast for roughly seven miles (11 km), passing under Sidbury Road and Harrison Creek Road without interchanges, before meeting NC 210 at a diamond interchange northwest of Hampstead. Shortly after, the freeway will come to another interchange with Hoover Road. Northeast of Hampstead, NC 417 will turn east toward US 17, ending at an interchange with that road.[1]

Both the Military Cutoff Road extension and the Hampstead Bypass were first studied by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) in the 1990s as separate projects. A feasibility study was drafted in 1999 for the Hampstead Bypass, but the final study was never published.[4] In 2004, the study was reinstated and the study for the Military Cutoff Road extension was published as well.[4] At some point, the two projects were merged into a single major project because they end at the same point and function as a single road.[4] The record of decision was completed in September 2014 after the final environmental impact statement was published the previous July.[4][5]

Construction on the extension of Military Cutoff Road began in late 2017 starting with the interchanges at Market Street and NC 140.[1][2]

Signing plans released in November 2017 indicated that the Military Cutoff Road extension would temporarily receive a state route designation which had not yet been determined.[3] Local officials in March of that year had requested the US 17 Bypass designation for the entire corridor once complete, with US 17 to remain on its existing route. This was opposed by NCDOT on the grounds that the entire length of the road does not serve as a bypass of the greater Wilmington area, instead ending in the city. Additionally, this would result in three routes numbered 17 meeting at the same location—US 17, US 17 Business, and US 17 Bypass—which could cause driver confusion.[6] It was considered to reroute US 17 onto the new road, but local feedback from a public meeting in May 2018 showed that it would be costly and confusing for residents and businesses on US 17 to change their addresses.[6] Because NC 217 already exists elsewhere in the state, the NC 417 designation was chosen.[6]

Traffic shifts will take place at the southern terminus of the Military Cutoff Road extension, with traffic on the existing Military Cutoff Road (US 17) temporarily diverted onto the future ramps around Prospect Cemetery to allow construction of the bridge over Market Street (US 17/US 17 Business). The extension to NC 140 is expected to open to traffic in spring of 2022.[2]

The Hampstead Bypass portion of the project is divided into two parts. The first to begin will be the section of the road between NC 210 and US 17 north of Hampstead and includes upgrading 5.5 miles (8.9 km) of US 17 in Hampstead to feature superstreet intersections. The second will complete the bypass between NC 140 and NC 210, completing the project overall.[1] Though initial plans called for the US 17 upgrades to begin in 2021 and for the bypass to begin in 2025, funding was accelerated to allow both the US 17 upgrades and the northern section of the bypass to begin in 2020, with overall completion of the project expected in 2025.[7][8][9]

Listed below are the major junctions of the Military Cutoff Road extension, currently under construction. Exits will be unnumbered until the Hampstead Bypass is completed.[3] 

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
New Hanover	Wilmington	0.00	0.00	US 17 north (Market Street) US 17 south to US 74 east / US 76 – Wrightsville Beach US 17 Bus. south (Market Street) – Downtown	Interchange; southern terminus of NC 417; US 17 (Military Cutoff Road) continues south
	Murraysville	1.02	1.64	Bradfield Court / Putnam Drive	Superstreet intersection
		1.39	2.24	Brittany Lakes Drive / Lendire Drive	Superstreet intersection
		1.69	2.72	Torchwood Boulevard / Bayshore Drive	Superstreet intersection
		2.72	4.38	Begin freeway
	Kirkland	3.55	5.71	NC 140 west to I-40 – Shallotte, Raleigh NC 140 east to US 17 north – Jacksonville, New Bern	Military Cutoff Road ends; temporary northern terminus of NC 417
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Unopened

Future Hampstead Bypass

Listed below are the major junctions of the proposed Hampstead Bypass, not yet under construction. Exits will be numbered, but numbering is unknown. 

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
New Hanover	Kirkland	3.55	5.71	NC 140 west to I-40 – Shallotte, Raleigh NC 140 east	Hampstead bypass begins
Pender	​	10.75	17.30	NC 210 – Hampstead
		13.13	21.13	Hoover Road
		15.52	24.98	US 17 north – Jacksonville, New Bern US 17 south – Hampstead	Ultimate northern terminus of NC 417 and Hampstead Bypass
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Wikimedia Commons has media related to North Carolina Highway 417.

• NCDOT: U.S. 17 Hampstead Bypass and Military Cutoff Road Extension