U.S. Route 74

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U.S. Route 74
Length:	524 mi[1] (843 km)
Formed:	1927[1]
West end:	I-75 at Chattanooga, TN
Major junctions:	US 23/441 at Dillsboro, NC I-40 near Asheville, NC I-26 at Columbus, NC I-85 at Kings Mountain, NC I-77/US 21 at Charlotte, NC US 1 in Rockingham, NC US 15-401-501 at Laurinburg, NC I-95/US 301 at Lumberton, NC US 17 at Wilmington, NC
East end:	Wrightsville Beach, NC
United States Numbered Highways List - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

U.S. Route 74 is an east-west United States highway that runs for 524 miles (843 km) from Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. See also The Great Smoky Mountains Expressway, the name of the highway as it traverses southwestern North Carolina as a divided, partially-restricted highway. From west of Shelby to Wilmington, U.S. 74 is known as the Andrew Jackson Highway, named in honor of the seventh President of the United States.

Between Chadbourn and Wilmington, U.S. 74 runs concurrent with U.S. 76.

Part of this highway (from Rockingham to Chadbourn) will be an extension of Interstate 74, which is expected to connect the Carolinas to the Midwest. When completed, this will be one of only two instances (along with proposed I-41 in Wisconsin) of similarly-numbered U.S. and Interstate routes being designated on the same road.

Between Asheville, North Carolina and Forest City, North Carolina, U.S. 74 is entirely a limited access freeway, fully completed in 1994, and partially shared with Interstate 40 and Interstate 26. U.S. 74's previous alignment, which varies greatly from its current alignment, has been given the designation of U.S. Route 74 Alternate.

U.S. Route 74 provides the inspiration for the song "Distraction #74" by the North Carolina band The Avett Brothers.

Contents 1 Route description 1.1 Tennessee 1.2 North Carolina 2 Future 3 Exit list 4 References

[edit] Route description

Major cities
Chattanooga, Tennessee Murphy, North Carolina Asheville, North Carolina Shelby, North Carolina Gastonia, North Carolina Charlotte, North Carolina Matthews, North Carolina Monroe, North Carolina Rockingham, North Carolina Laurinburg, North Carolina Lumberton, North Carolina Wilmington, North Carolina

[edit] Tennessee

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

[edit] North Carolina

From the eastern terminus of Wrightsville Beach, U.S. 74 follows Eastwood Road and Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway in Wilmington. It merges with U.S. 17 and U.S. 421 across the Isabel S. Holmes Bridge before continuing west with U.S. 76. With the completion of a major section of the Wilmington Bypass in 2006, U.S. 74 was rerouted along Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway in Wilmington (a four-lane road), bypassing the city center^[2]. U.S. 74 formerly crossed the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge with U.S. 76.

The highway is four lanes divided with both at-grade and controlled intersections between Wilmington and Charlotte. The speed limit varies from 55 mph (89 km/h) to 70 mph (110 km/h). The concurrency with U.S. 76 exists between Wilmington and Chadbourn.

Parts of this highway east of Rockingham are slowly being upgraded to Interstate standards, including a section between Laurinburg and Lumberton currently under construction. "Future I-74" markers have been placed along this route east of Lumberton.

By-pass routes already exist around Laurinburg (junction with U.S. 15, U.S. 401 and U.S. 501) and Rockingham (junction with U.S. 1 and U.S. 220). These freeways are already built to Interstate standards.

Between Rockingham and Charlotte, the highway travels through Wadesboro, Polkton, Marshville, Wingate, Monroe and Indian Trail. The speed limit decreases to 35 mph (56 km/h) in some of these areas.

In Charlotte, U.S. 74 bears the street name Independence Boulevard east of Uptown. Independence Boulevard is an expressway six lanes wide at its widest non-interchange segment. U.S. 74 shares the lower half of the Uptown loop with I-277 (John Belk Freeway), and later downgrades to a surface street once again, as Wilkinson Boulevard.

Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

[edit] Future

This article contains information about a planned or expected future road. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the road's construction or completion approaches and more information becomes available.

In addition to the expected concurrency with I-74 east of Rockingham, another controlled-access facility, called the Monroe Connector / Bypass, is also in the plans for U.S. 74. The bypass will run from Charlotte to Marshville, North Carolina, relieving traffic on the current alignment between these two cities. Several environmental issues have delayed this project for a number of years and it is currently being re-studied by the North Carolina Turnpike Authority.^[3]

Also, there are plans to build three new interchanges on Independence Boulevard. They will be located at Sharon-Amity Road, Idlewild Road and Conference Drive. Currently, all three junctions are signalized at-grade intersections.^[4]

[edit] Exit list

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Mecklenburg	Charlotte	Wilkinson Boulevard continues eastward as John Belk Freeway
			1A	To NC 27/To U.S. 29 - Freedom Drive	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance only.
			1B	I-77 South/U.S. 21 South - Rock Hill, Columbia	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance.
			1C	I-77 North/U.S. 21 North - Statesville	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance.
			1D	Carson Boulevard	Northbound exit. Southbound entrance from Tryon Street.
			1E	College Street, South Boulevard, Caldwell Street
			2A	NC 16 South (Kenilworth Avenue) - 3rd Street, 4th Street	NC 16 exits southbound and enters northbound.
				I-277 North/NC 16 North - Brookshire Freeway	Exit 2B on I-277. A westbound exit leads to the intersection of Sixth and McDowell Streets, on the eastern edge of Uptown, and an eastbound entrance leaves the intersection of Fifth and McDowell Streets.
			243	NC 27 West - Independence Boulevard	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance. This stretch of Independence Boulevard was renamed Charlottetowne Avenue on June 18, 2007, but the original name is still displayed on guide signs for the exit.
			245	Briar Creek Road	Exit for Cricket Arena and Ovens Auditorium. Here, Independence Boulevard transitions from a fully-controlled access freeway to a partially-controlled access expressway with at-grade intersections.
			246	Wendover Road/Eastway Drive
			247	NC 27 East - Albemarle Road	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance.
				Sharon-Amity Road	Expressway ends at a traffic signal.

[edit] References

		edit Main U.S. Routes
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
40	41	42	43	44	45	46		48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59
60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79
80	81	82	83	84	85		87		89	90	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99
101		400				412				425
Lists		U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Bypassed - Portal

v • d • e Major highways of Metro Charlotte I-77 • I-277 (Belk/Brookshire) • I-85 • I-485 (Outerbelt) • US 74 (Wilkinson/Independence) • US 321 • NC 16 (Brookshire) • NC 24 (Harris) • Route 4 (Billy Graham)