RANDOLPH COUNTY, NC -- Work is underway to make US Highway 421 an interstate.

• Randolph county commissioners put their full support behind the project when the Piedmont Triad Partnership presented the idea earlier this month
• Officials say the change will help attract new business to the “Carolina Core”
• NCDOT says in order to make it an interstate, they would have to widen lanes and shoulders, and get rid of at-grade intersections

Randolph county commissioners put their full support behind the project when the Piedmont Triad Partnership presented the idea earlier this month.

Officials say the change will help attract new businesses to the “Carolina Core.”

That’s the corridor between Winston-Salem and Fayetteville, and is home to four megasites.

Stan Kelly, President of the Piedmont Triad Partnership, said, "Our goal in the Carolina core, over the next 20 years, is to add 50,000 jobs. Converting highway 421 to an interstate is another piece of that puzzle."

"Infrastructure is one of the critical components as companies consider relocating to an area. We are blessed in the central part of North Carolina, the Carolina core, to have awesome infrastructure. And this will build on our interstate system," said Kelly.

NCDOT says in order to make it an interstate, they would have to widen lanes and shoulders, and get rid of at-grade intersections.