as it leaves the town. As the Interstate continues through the rural area between Wilson and Goldsboro, it has an interchange with County Road 1643 (Alton Road) near milemarker 9. The highway continues north for about before having another interchange with US 301. Shortly after the US 301 interchange, I-795 merges with I-587 and US 264 heading west. The four-lane highway runs along the southern parts of Wilson which is very rural. The joint highway has an interchange with Downing Street (exit 42) west of the Downing Village neighborhood. As it continues west, it crosses over Mill branch before having an interchange with NC 42 (exit 40) south of the Planters Trail neighborhood in the very rural south west area of Wilson. The road turns to the northwest to meet I-95 just to the west. I-795 (along with I-587) ends at I-95 at a cloverleaf interchange. The freeway continues to the west of the interchange as US 264. History Beginnings as US 117 freeway I-795 began as a new freeway alignment for US 117 completed in 2006, splitting from the old Goldsboro bypass (which still carries US 13) and paralleling the old two-lane US 117 roadway to the US 264 bypass south of Wilson. AASHTO approved an extension of US 117, overlapping US 264 to I-95, at their October 11, 2002, meeting. However, the 1982 Surface Transportation Assistance Act (STAA) specifies that trucks over in length, including the industry-standard trailers, can only use Interstates and other routes approved by the state, which included US 70 but not US 117. Push for Interstate designation Rather than go through the time-consuming process to add the route to the STAA system, the state decided to get it approved as an Interstate. The FHWA informed the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) that it would not approve the addition until a construction contract to correct a "high accident wet weather location" on the US 264 portion was underway. Immediately after the response from the FHWA, NCDOT added the project (W-5007) to the state Transportation Improvement Plan, but AASHTO denied the I-795 numbering at their May 4, 2007, meeting, citing concerns about the south end not being at another Interstate and the lack of FHWA approval. However, AASHTO decided at their September 28 meeting to give conditional approval, pending FHWA concurrence. The North Carolina State Highway Patrol, which had begun ticketing overlength truckers on US