U.S. Route 117

U.S. Route 117 is an north–south United States highway that runs for 114 miles (183 km) from Wilmington to Wilson, entirely in the U.S. state of North Carolina.

1 Route description
2 History
- 2.1 Previous designation
3 Junction list
4 Bannered routes
5 See also
6 References

Route description

US 117 begins at the Port of Wilmington. Going east, it overlaps with NC 132 at college street, then proceeds north. At the intersection of Kings Grant Road, I-40 begins; it has a brief concurrency before exiting off at exit 420. From this point, US 117 parallels I-40 on a mostly 2-lane road, going through the towns of Burgaw, Wallace and Warsaw. At Calypso, it highway expands to 4-lane; this is also where a rare connector route is located going back to I-40.

In Goldsboro, US 117 overlaps with US 13 and NC 581; it then splits from NC 581, which connects to I-795. With a brief concurrency with US 70, US 117 splits from both US 13 and US 70 to continue north towards Wilson. US 117 ends at US 301 in Wilson, near exits to both I-795 and US 264.

History

US 117, established in 1932, was a renumber of NC 40 between Wilmington and Wilson; it also continued south of Wilmington into South Carolina. By 1939, US 17 replaced US 117 south of Wilmington. In the 1950s, bypasses were established in Burgaw and Goldsboro. In the early 1960s, US 117 bypassed Calypso to Mount Olive; which was later extended in 1988 to Brogden.^[2]

In 2006, US 117 was moved onto a new freeway between Goldsboro and Wilson, its northern terminus ending at I-95. However, because of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act specifying that trucks over 48 feet (15 m) in length can utilize only Interstate and specific routes approved by the state; larger trucks were not legally allowed to use the new route. As a result, NCDOT decided to get it approved as an interstate as oppose to the longer process of adding it on the STAA system. AASHTO conditionally agreed to this on September 28, 2007; which gave birth to Interstate 795 and moved US 117 back to its original route (briefly renumbered as US 117 Alternate), ending at US 301 near Wilson.^[3]^[4]

Previous designation

U.S. Route 117
Location:	Norlina, North Carolina – Virginia
Length:	159 mi^[5] (256 km)
Existed:	1927–1933

U.S. Route 117 was a north–south US Highway that ran for 159 miles (256 km) from Norlina, North Carolina to Virginia. Established in 1927, US 117 traveled from Norlina, through the towns of Warrenton, Roanoke Rapids, and Murfreesboro; from there it went north into Virginia. In 1932, US 117 was removed from this routing, replaced by US 158 and US 258.^[2]

Junction list

County	Location	Mile^[1]	Exit	Destinations	Notes
New Hanover	Wilmington	0		Shipyard Boulevard/River Road – Port of Wilmington	US 117 begins
		0.8		US 421 (Carolina Beach Road) – Carolina Beach, Clinton
		3.5		NC 132 south (College Road) – Carolina Beach, Wilmington	South end of NC 132 overlap
		4		US 76 (Oleander Drive) – Wrightsville Beach, Wilmington, Whiteville
		7		US 17 Bus. to US 74 east (Market Street) – Wrightsville Beach, Jacksonville
		7.5		US 74 (Martin Luther King Jr Parkway) – Wrightsville Beach, Wilmington (Downtown)
		9	420	I-40 west – Benson, Raleigh	Brief concurrency with I-40, uses I-40's exit numbers
	Castle Hayne	12.7		I-140 / US 17 – Leland, Hampstead, Topsail Island	I-140/US 17 exit 19 interchange
	Castle Hayne	14.5		NC 133 south (Castle Hayne Road) – Wilmington	North end of NC 132 overlap, south end of NC 133 overlap
Pender		17.5		NC 133 north – Currie	North end of NC 133 overlap, to Moores Creek National Battlefield
	Rocky Point	21		NC 210 (Oleander Drive) – Currie
	Burgaw	28.5		US 117 Bus. north (Walker Street)
		29.5		NC 53 (Jacksonville Highway) – Jacksonville
		30		US 117 Bus. south (Timberly Lane)
		35		Camp Kirkwood Road – Watha
		39		I-40 – Wilmington, Benson, Raleigh
		39.5		NC 11 south – Willard	South end of NC 11 overlap
Duplin	Wallace	42		NC 11 north – Kenansville	North end of NC 11 overlap
	Wallace	43.5		NC 41 (Main Street) – Harrells, Chinquapin
	Rose Hill	50		Charity Road – Greenevers
	Magnolia	55		NC 903 (Main Street) – Delway, Kenansville
		59		I-40 / NC 24 – Wilmington, Benson, Raleigh
	Warsaw	62.5		NC 24 Bus. (College Street) – Clinton, Kenansville
	Warsaw	63		NC 50 south (Memorial Drive) – Kenansville	South end of NC 50 overlap
	Bowdens	67		Bowdens Road	To Duplin County Airport
	Faison	71		NC 50 north / NC 403 (Main Street) – Clinton	North end of NC 50 overlap
	Calypso	74		US 117 Alt. north (Fourth Street)
	Calypso	74.5		US 117 Conn. south to I-40 – Clinton
Wayne	Mount Olive	79		NC 55 – Newton Grove, Kinston
		81		Country Club Road
		83		Oberry Road
		87		US 117 Alt. south – Brogden
		87.5		US 13 south – Newton Grove	South end of US 13 overlap
	Goldsboro	89.5		NC 581 south (Arlington Bridge Road)	South end of NC 581 overlap
		90		US 117 Bus. north (George Street)
		92		NC 581 north to I-795 north to US 70 west – Wilson, Raleigh	North end of NC 581 overlap
		92.5		To NC 581 / Ash Street
		93		US 70 west / US 70 Bus. east (Grantham Street) – Raleigh	West end of US 70 overlap
		93.5		US 13 north / US 70 east – Kinston, Greenville	North end of US 13 overlap, east end of US 70 overlap
		95		US 117 Bus. north to NC 111 (William Street)
		96		NC 44 (Goldsboro Bypass) – Wilson
	Fremont	105		NC 222 (Main Street/Carolina Street)	Brief concurrency with NC 222
Wilson		114		US 301 to I-795 to US 264 – Wilson, Smithfield	US 117 ends
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus • Closed/Former • Incomplete access • Unopened

Bannered routes

Alternates

Currently, there is one U.S. Route 117 Alternate route in North Carolina:

Calypso to Brogden – Established in 1988, the 12.6-mile (20.3 km) alternate route follows the old US 117 Business route (early 1960s-1988) between Calypso and Mount Olive; north of NC 55 it replaced mainline US 117 when it was moved onto new freeway just west of it.^[2]^[6]

Historically, another US 117 Alternate route existed briefly between Goldsboro-Wilson (2006-2007).

Business loops

Currently, there are two U.S. Route 117 Business loops in North Carolina:

Burgaw – Established in the mid-1950s, the 2-mile (3.2 km) route that goes through downtown Burgaw, via Walker Street, Bridgers Street, and Timberly Lane.^[2]^[7]

Goldsboro – Established in the mid-1950s, the 2.8-mile (4.5 km) route that goes through downtown Goldsboro via Ash Street and William Street.^[2]^[8]

Historically, one additional business loop existed between Calypso-Mount Olive (early 1960s-1988).^[2]

Connectors

There is one U.S. Route 117 Connector in North Carolina:

Calypso – This rare 5-mile (8.0 km) spur route connects I-40/NC 403 to US 117 in Calypso. What makes it unique is that this connector route is signed and traverses for several miles; it is also the only confirmed signed connector route in North Carolina.^[9]^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b Google, Inc. Google Maps – US 117 (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Shipyard+Blvd&daddr=34.30319,-77.8767+to:34.51199,-77.90401+to:34.79175,-78.01058+to:35.41638,-77.98224+to:35.50997,-77.98147+to:US-301+N&hl=en&geocode=FVq4CQIdIJla-w%3BFdZsCwIdJLJb-yndetJRB4upiTFychRI9Dkggg%3BFXacDgIddkdb-ymTwpDrOIepiTGnE7i1CDXNXw%3BFUbhEgIdLKdZ-ynNSMeLUNeriTEaEVs2wsWqSQ%3BFTxpHAId4BVa-ylNj2cdzwOsiTHdjaLGraqIuQ%3BFdLWHQId4hha-ynD4Ytl5xysiTGMTR34yWV7Tw%3BFUxaIAIdnn9a-w&mra=mrv&via=1,2,3,4,5&sll=35.38821,-77.978897&sspn=0.05227,0.111494&ie=UTF8&ll=34.978252,-77.634888&spn=1.681044,3.56781&z=9. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "NCRoads.com: U.S. 117 and 217". http://www.members.cox.net/ncroads/ushwys/us117217.html. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
^ "I-795 Goldsboro-Wilson Freeway". http://www.duke.edu/~rmalme/fut795.html. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
^ "Big trucks could be banned from new U.S. 117 bypass". http://www.newsargus.com/news/archives/2007/09/16/big_trucks_could_be_banned_from_new_us_117_bypass/index.shtml. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
^ http://www.us-highways.com/usbt.htm
^ Google, Inc. Google Maps – US 117 Alt - Calypso to Brogden (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=State+Rd+1783&daddr=Unknown+road&hl=en&geocode=FUjaFwIdvghX-w%3BFUJ2GAId3h5Y-w&mra=me&mrsp=1,0&sz=18&sll=35.158144,-78.109784&sspn=0.003276,0.006968&ie=UTF8&ll=35.137669,-78.144894&spn=0.052432,0.111494&z=14. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
^ Google, Inc. Google Maps – US 117 Bus - Burgaw (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=US-117+N&daddr=34.552315,-77.92562+to:US-117+N&hl=en&geocode=FbwQDwIdrjJb-w%3BFfs5DwIdDPNa-ymJ8ZJjnoCpiTHccxF7I4c41A%3BFUBeDwIdYANb-w&mra=me&mrsp=1,0&sz=17&sll=34.561248,-77.920157&sspn=0.0066,0.013937&ie=UTF8&ll=34.552236,-77.914224&spn=0.026403,0.055747&z=15&via=1. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
^ Google, Inc. Google Maps – US 117 Bus - Goldsboro (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Unknown+road&daddr=35.38471,-77.99257+to:US-117+Alt+N&hl=en&geocode=Fdr9GwIdsLRZ-w%3BFYbtGwIdhu1Z-ym3F4zRawGsiTFedboPdbf-Yw%3BFdZRHAIdmBJa-w&mra=dpe&mrsp=1&sz=14&via=1&sll=35.393948,-77.972631&sspn=0.052266,0.111494&ie=UTF8&ll=35.397796,-77.986536&spn=0.052264,0.111494&z=14. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
^ "Flickr - US117 Connector". http://www.flickr.com/photos/15530177@N05/4794824805/. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
^ Google, Inc. Google Maps – US 117 Conn - Calypso (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=State+Rd+1783&daddr=Unknown+road&hl=en&geocode=FUjaFwIdvghX-w%3BFUJ2GAId3h5Y-w&mra=me&mrsp=1,0&sz=18&sll=35.158144,-78.109784&sspn=0.003276,0.006968&ie=UTF8&ll=35.137669,-78.144894&spn=0.052432,0.111494&z=14. Retrieved 2011-02-24.