North Carolina Highway 51
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| NC 51 |
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| Length: | 23 mi (37 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1934 | ||||||||
| North end: |   NC 24/27 near Mint Hill, NC |
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| Major junctions: |
 I-485 in Pineville; NC 16 in Charlotte; US 74 in Matthews; NC 218 in Mint Hill; I-485 in Mint Hill |
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| South end: |  US 21 near Fort Mill, SC (officially ends one mile east at NC/SC border) |
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| Counties: | York (SC), Mecklenburg | ||||||||
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NC 51 is a 23-mile North Carolina state highway. It connects the southern suburbs of Charlotte.
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[edit] Route description
[edit] Western terminus
Although being a north-south highway, NC 51 in reality is east to west. It enters North Carolina from the South Carolina border in Mecklenburg County as SC 51.
[edit] Route behavior
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The road is two lanes until reaching Pineville, North Carolina. From there, the road is a four-lane divided highway and is known as Pineville-Matthews Road. The road crosses over I-485. The road "undivides" when it reaches southern Charlotte and Park Drive. The road divides again shortly after that as the road heads to NC 16 and the community of Ballantyne Commons. From there, NC 51 enters Matthews. The bypass (explained later) in 1994 allowed NC 51 to avoid downtown Matthews. With that, NC 51 has a clear shot to Presbyterian Hospital and US 74.
From Pineville to this US 74 intersection, the road has left rural land and is deep in the heart of suburbia. Both towns are clogged and NC 51 often resembles a parking lot. Many malls and strip malls line the side of NC 51. After crossing 74, NC 51 is by no means out of suburbia, but only a few tie-ups and strip malls dot the landscape.
One mile after US 74, the road narrows to just a two-lane highway. One more mile later, after crossing Idlewild Road, NC 51 enters Mint Hill. The road winds through 5 miles of countryside before heading straight into downtown Mint Hill at Lawyers Rd. Up the hill NC 51 goes and it goes to the western terminus of terminus of NC 218. After being four lanes through Mint Hill, NC 51 becomes two lanes again.
[edit] Street names
- Rock Hill - Pineville Road
- Main Street (Pineville only)
- Pineville - Matthews Road (from Polk Street in Pineville to Matthews)
- Matthews Township Parkway
- Matthews - Mint Hill Road
- Blair Road
[edit] Eastern terminus
Three miles after crossing I-485 again, NC 51 ends at NC 24/27, six miles north of Mint Hill. Also, this is considered near the center of the unincorporated town of Allen, North Carolina.
[edit] History
- 1920s: NC 51 is a state highway going from Rockingham to Ellerbe.
- 1935: NC 51 is renumbered NC 73 and NC 109 and a new NC 51 forms at US 521 in Pineville going to NC 24/27 north of Mint Hill. This used to be NC 276, which was decommissioned after the introduction of US 276 in North Carolina.
- 1968: US 21 is moved onto I-77 allowing NC 51 to be expanded two miles to the South Carolina border, from where it goes on to the new US 21.
- 1988: For the first time ever, a segment of NC 51 becomes a four-lane highway. It is widened near the NC 16 interchange.
- 1989: With congestion bumper-to-bumper, NC 51 gets its own grill license plates. "I HATE 51" debuts on Charlotte Roadways.
- 1990: More widening makes NC 51 a four-lane road from Pineville to Matthews.
- 1991: Head-on parking in west Pineville is changed to parallel parking, allowing for NC 51 to be four lanes through that section of town.
- 1992-1994: With the last true center of congestion being downtown Matthews, Matthews Township Parkway is built, creating a bypass north of the city. NC 51 has not been rerouted or widened since, although many construction jobs have added turn lanes on the route. Old NC 51, after zigzagging through downtown, crosses US 74 and ends at NC 51 where 51 becomes two lanes.
- 1998: I-485 opens. With this, small state highways such as NC 16 and NC 51 have little purpose other than local shopping transportation. Admittedly, NC 51 is not as widely utilized as it used to be, but traffic on NC 51 and I-485 are now evenly spread thanks to the two split highways.
