North Carolina Highway System

{{Short description|Network of state-managed highways and roads}} {{Use American English|date=April 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{infobox state highway system |title= North Carolina Highway System |shields={{infobox road/shieldmain/USA|state=NC|type=I|route=40}}{{infobox road/shieldmain/USA|state=NC|type=US|route=64}}{{infobox road/shieldmain/USA|state=NC|type=NC|route=24}} |caption=[[Highway shield|Highway markers]] for [[Interstate Highway]]s, [[United States Highway|U.S. Highways]] and State Highways |length_mi=80483 |length_ref=<ref>{{cite web |author= Meghan Bragg |publisher= WCNC |date= January 12, 2023 |url= https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/verify/ncdot-roads-tax-dollars-repair-travel-transportation/275-1536993f-16cb-4d7a-8589-04bff2471ab1 |title= Yes, North Carolina has more miles of state-supported roads than every other state except for Texas |access-date= April 17, 2024}}</ref> |statehwy=North Carolina Highway X (NC X) |interstate=Interstate X (I-X) |us=U.S. Highway X (US X) |notes=Second largest state-maintained highway network in the United States;<ref name=2nd>{{cite web |url=http://www.nc.gov/agency/highways-division |title=State of North Carolina Highway Division |publisher=NC.gov |access-date=August 15, 2016}}</ref><ref name="Hartgen">{{cite report |url= http://www.reason.org/ps360.pdf |title= 16th Annual Report on the Performance of State Highway Systems |access-date= October 20, 2007 |last1= Hartgen |first1= David T. |first2= Ravi K. |last2= Karanam |name-list-style= amp |publisher= Reason Foundation |page= 8 |year= 2007 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071025064914/http://www.reason.org/ps360.pdf |archive-date= October 25, 2007 }}</ref> state roads maintained by the [[North Carolina Department of Transportation|NCDOT]]. |links=NC }} The '''North Carolina Highway System''' consists of a vast network of [[Interstate Highway|Interstate]], [[U.S. Highway|United States]], and [[state highway]]s, managed by the [[North Carolina Department of Transportation]]. North Carolina has the second largest state maintained highway network in the United States because all roads in [[North Carolina]] are maintained by either municipalities or the state. Since counties do not maintain roads, there is no such thing as a "[[county road]]" within the state.<ref name=2nd/><ref name="Hartgen"/>

== Numbering == {{Main|List of Interstate Highways in North Carolina|List of U.S. Highways in North Carolina|List of state highways in North Carolina}} [[File:NC 67.svg|thumbnail|right|100px|Current North Carolina [[highway shield|highway marker]] design]] North Carolina routes may be referred to as "North Carolina Highway x", "N.C. Highway x", "NC Route x", or just "NC x", where x is the route number. North Carolina state highways numbered under 1000 are primary [[state highways]],<ref>{{cite web |author= North Carolina General Assembly |url= http://ncrules.state.nc.us/ncac/title%2019a%20-%20transportation/chapter%2002%20-%20division%20of%20highways/subchapter%20b/19a%20ncac%2002b%20.0242.html |title= Chapter 19A: Transportation |access-date= December 18, 2006 |publisher= State of North Carolina |date= August 1, 1998 |work= North Carolina Administrative Code }}</ref> and numbers greater than or equal to 1000 are secondary. Nearly all secondary highways also have other names, and many primary routes are also signed with other titles.

=== Signage === Primary highways are marked by a black square sign in which is a white [[Equilateral polygon|equilateral]] [[Lozenge (shape)|diamond]] shape with rounded corners that contains the [[route number]]. The diamond shape does not alter to accommodate larger route numbers; the numbers are reduced in size to fit within the diamond. [[Michigan State Trunkline Highway System|Michigan]] is the only other state, aside from North Carolina, to have a near-identical route shield, but with pointed corners and an M in Michigan's shield. Secondary highways are not signed with route markers; small green or white signs are most commonly used to designate secondary roads. On these signs, the prefix "SR" for "secondary road" sometimes precedes the road number.

=== Rules and exceptions === Typically, North Carolina highway route numbers do not share numbers with any [[U.S. Highway]] or [[Interstate Highway]] in the state. If a new highway is established that would have the same number as a state highway, the state highway number usually changes. North Carolina grants exceptions to this rule in limited cases. Sometimes, as in NC 540/[[Interstate 540 (North Carolina)|I-540]]; the two routes are given the same number because they are seen as a continuous route. Other times, as in [[Interstate 295 (North Carolina)|NC 295]], the number is a place holder for when the highway is eventually upgraded to an Interstate route when it meets certain standards. Finally, as in [[North Carolina Highway 73|NC 73]], sometimes the state, for whatever reason, does not remove a former state route designation when the Interstate is signed.

=== Secondary roads === According to NCDOT, the secondary road (SR) system of the state "consists of those roads maintained by the Department of Transportation that do not carry 'NC' or 'US' numbers and are outside the boundary of any incorporated municipality."<ref>{{Cite web| title=Secondary roads section | url=http://reports.oah.state.nc.us/ncac/title%2019a%20-%20transportation/chapter%2002%20-%20division%20of%20highways/subchapter%20c/19a%20ncac%2002c%20.0101.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060501015519/http://reports.oah.state.nc.us/ncac/title%2019a%20-%20transportation/chapter%2002%20-%20division%20of%20highways/subchapter%20c/19a%20ncac%2002c%20.0101.pdf | archive-date=2006-05-01}}</ref>

Unlike highways in the primary system, secondary road numbers may be repeated multiple times throughout the system, provided that they are not repeated within the same [[County (United States)|county]]. For example, SR 2000 may refer to the physical roadway signed as Wake Forest Road or Falls of Neuse Road in [[Wake County, North Carolina|Wake County]], or it may refer to the physical roadway signed as Hickory Grove Road in [[Gaston County, North Carolina|Gaston County]]. Some road numbers are quite common. In fact, the designation SR1101 is currently used, or has in the past, been used nearly 100 times by almost every county in the state.

Secondary roads that cross a [[county line]] are generally given a new number in the new county. For example, while Morrisville Parkway ({{convert|9.11|mi|km|disp=sqbr}} in length) crosses the [[Chatham County, North Carolina|Chatham]]—[[Wake County, North Carolina|Wake]] county line, the name also changes at the line to Lewter Shop Road. Morrisville Parkway in Wake County ({{convert|7.08|mi|km|disp=sqbr}} in length) is designated SR 3060 while Lewter Shop Road in Chatham County ({{convert|2.03|mi|km|disp=sqbr}} in length) is designated SR 1740. The exception to this rule applies to roads designated SR10xx, which are generally given to regionally significant roads or roads crossing one or more county lines, but which are not part of the primary system. For example, SR 1006 (Old Stage Road) is located both in Wake and Harnett counties.

The significance of secondary road numbers is almost exclusive to NCDOT operations, generally maintenance, rather than for navigational purposes by the driving public. Certainly, the secondary road numbering system is not organized to help unfamiliar motorists find their way. Rather, this is the job of the [[road name]]s, which are generally established at the local level, but which often share a sign with an SR designation for convenience. In some [[rural]] areas of the state, including parts of the [[Western North Carolina|Mountain]] and [[Atlantic Coastal Plain|Coastal Plain]] regions, roads may lack a road name, in which case they are known by the SR designation.

It is not uncommon for maintenance responsibility of secondary roads to transfer from NCDOT to particular municipalities as they increase in size due to annexation. When this occurs, the SR designations are eliminated. The SR road designation is also eliminated from physical roadways that are elevated into the primary system. For example, [[North Carolina Highway 157|NC 157]] (Guess Road) in Durham and [[Person County, North Carolina|Person]] counties was once a secondary road designated SR 1008. Although it ascended into the primary system years ago, some of the old signs identifying Guess Road as SR 1008 remain.

== Bicycle routes == {{main|List of bicycle routes in North Carolina}} * [[U.S. Bicycle Route 1]]: Carolina Connection * [[North Carolina Bicycle Route 2]]: Mountains to Sea * [[North Carolina Bicycle Route 3]]: Ports of Call * [[North Carolina Bicycle Route 4]]: North Line Trace * [[North Carolina Bicycle Route 5]]: Cape Fear Run * [[North Carolina Bicycle Route 6]]: Piedmont Spur * [[North Carolina Bicycle Route 7]]: Ocracoke Option * [[North Carolina Bicycle Route 8]]: Southern Highlands * [[Sandhills Sector (North Carolina Highway Bike Route)|Sandhills Sector]]

== Toll roads and bridges == {{main|North Carolina Turnpike Authority}}  * [[U.S. Route 74 Bypass (Monroe, North Carolina)|Monroe Expressway]]: toll road in [[Union County, North Carolina|Union County]] designated as a bypass route for U.S. Route 74 in Union County. * [[Triangle Expressway]]: first modern toll road in North Carolina, located in [[Durham County, North Carolina|Durham]] and [[Wake County, North Carolina|Wake]] counties.

== Other routes and highways == * [[All American Freeway]]: a secondary road freeway connecting [[Fort Bragg]] with central [[Fayetteville, North Carolina|Fayetteville]]. * [[Blue Ridge Parkway]]: a two-lane [[National Parkway]] and [[National Scenic Byway|All-American Road]], that traverses {{convert|252.1|mi|km}} from the [[Great Smoky Mountains National Park]] to the [[Virginia]] state line. * [[Bryan Boulevard]]: a freeway spur from [[I-73 (NC)|I-73]] to downtown [[Greensboro, North Carolina|Greensboro]]. * [[Cary Parkway]]: a partial ring road that travels northern, western and central portions of [[Cary, North Carolina|Cary]] and giving west Cary residents easy access to US 1. * [[Charlotte Route 4]]: a partial ring road that is signed by [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte DOT]]. * [[Cherohala Skyway]]: a [[National Scenic Byway]], located west of [[Robbinsville, North Carolina|Robbinsville]]. * [[Great Smoky Mountains Expressway]]: a four-lane divided highway in southwestern North Carolina; broken in three section along US 74, between [[Bryson City, North Carolina|Bryson City]] and [[Clyde, North Carolina|Clyde]]. * [[Kernersville Loop Road|Kernersville Loop]]: under construction route which would loop around the centeral areas of Kernersville, with the south section being to boulevard and street standards, while the north section would be expressway grade. Salem Parkway (US 421) would be used to connect the center inside the loop, while currently carrying [[North Carolina Highway 150|NC 150]] to connect with the east leg of the loop. * [[Salem Parkway (North Carolina)|Salem Parkway]]: an artery which carries US 421, while being divided under I-74 ([[Winston-Salem Northern Beltway|Winston-Salem Beltway]]). The parkway serves Downtown Winston-Salem and Downtown Kernersville, with access to I-40 on both termini of the parkway. * [[Silas Creek Parkway (Winston-Salem)|Silas Creek Parkway]]: a partial loop that travels through western [[Winston-Salem]]. It uses the expressway grade to connect Salem Parkway to the northern areas of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, alongside when inside the Greater [[Hanes Mall#Statistical Combined Area|Hanes Mall district]]. While the section southeast of the district is boulevard-grade. * [[Wade Avenue]]: a corridor which uses a freeway grade to connect I-40 to I-440/US 1, and [[boulevard]] grade to connect to U.S. 401 in [[Raleigh, North Carolina|Raleigh]].

== History == [[File:NC 209 1957.svg|thumbnail|right|100px|North Carolina [[highway shield|highway marker]] design utilized from 1949 to 1969]] The original highway numbering system for [[North Carolina]] was established in the 1920s. Major routes were multiples of 10, with [[North Carolina Highway 10|10]], [[North Carolina Highway 20|20]], and [[North Carolina Highway 90|90]] running east–west, [[North Carolina Highway 30|30]], [[North Carolina Highway 40|40]], [[North Carolina Highway 50|50]], [[North Carolina Highway 70|70]], and [[North Carolina Highway 80|80]] running north–south, and [[North Carolina Highway 60|60]] running as a diagonal route.<ref>{{cite web|title=State Highway System of North Carolina|url=http://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/collections/nc/maps/highways/Cm912_1921n1.jpg|publisher=The Virginia Engraving Company|access-date=20 April 2013|date=1921|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031340/xhttp://www.learnnc.org/lp/media/collections/nc/maps/highways/Cm912_1921n1.jpg|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref> These cross-state routes were used as a basis for numbering the two-digit roads that served as the major city-city connectors. For example, [[North Carolina Highway 90|NC 90]] used to run along modern US 64, which explains the multiple "90s" that branch off US 64 today (NC 9, NC 97 and NC 98).

Three-digit numbered roads were less important spurs off the two-digit roads and often served as rural connectors. These were numbered in a scheme opposite of the U.S. and Interstate auxiliary routes; the spur routes received an extra "ones" digit instead of an extra "hundreds" digit. The first spur received the number "xx1" and the second received "xx2", where xx is the parent route number. This explains the predomination of such routes as [[North Carolina Highway 751|751]], [[North Carolina Highway 191|191]], [[North Carolina Highway 561|561]], and the relatively few "xx0" routes (which would be the 10th assigned spur route ... few parent routes would have spurs numbered this high).

In 1933-34 many roads were renumbered to eliminate conflicts with the [[United States Numbered Highways|U.S. highways]] now crisscrossing the state. Some numbers ([[North Carolina Highway 50|50]], [[North Carolina Highway 90|90]]), which had become effectively U.S. routes ([[U.S. Route 1 in North Carolina|1]] and [[U.S. Route 64|64]] respectively) were moved or eliminated while others that conflicted with established U.S. route numbers in the state were changed to non-conflicting numbers. This seems to have been done without regard to the earlier numbering system, as were all future additions to the state highway system, which is where the modern "lack of any system" system came to be.

In 1937, several routes were renumbered to be contiguous with [[South Carolina]] routes, and in 1940 the same happened with [[Virginia]]. No effort has ever been made to match up with [[Tennessee]] or [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] routes, but most cross-border numbered roads along this area are already U.S. highways anyway.{{Citation needed|reason=I do not doubt this, but it's a strong enough claim that a cite is needed.|date=September 2011}}

In 1961, the routes that conflicted with Interstates were renumbered.

Highway renumbering has since been sporadic, with most being place-holders for a future Interstate route (i.e. NC 752 and NC 295). One exception being a state law passed in 2002 swapping the highway numbers of NC 136 and NC 3; the reason was in tribute to [[Dale Earnhardt]] who died in the [[2001 Daytona 500]], who drove the number #3 [[Goodwrench]] [[Chevrolet]] and lived in [[Kannapolis, North Carolina|Kannapolis]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/SessionLaws/PDF/2001-2002/SL2002-170.pdf|publisher=General Assembly of North Carolina|title=Session Law 2002-170 House Bill 1516|access-date=January 5, 2010}}</ref>

== See also == {{Portal|U.S. Roads}} * [[North Carolina State Ports Authority]] * [[North Carolina Department of Transportation Ferry Division|North Carolina Ferry System]] * [[List of North Carolina Scenic Byways|North Carolina Scenic Byways]]

== References == {{reflist|2}}

== External links == {{commons category}} * [http://www.ncdot.org/ North Carolina Department of Transportation] * [http://www.vahighways.com/ncannex/route-log/index.html NCRoads.com Annex: More Highways of North Carolina]

[[Category:State highways in North Carolina]] [[Category:U.S. Highways in North Carolina]] [[Category:Freeways in North Carolina| ]] [[Category:Transportation in North Carolina|Highway System]]