North Carolina Highway 49

NC 49 marker

NC 49
Route information
Maintained by NCDOT
Length: 177.8 mi[1] (286.1 km)
Existed: 1934 – present
Major junctions
South end: SC 49 at Lake Wylie, SC
  I‑485 in Charlotte
I‑77 / US 21 in Charlotte
I‑485 near Harrisburg
I‑73 / I‑74 / US 220 in Asheboro
US 421 near Liberty
I‑40 / I‑85 in Burlington
North end: SR 49 / SR 96 at Virgilina, VA
Location
Counties: Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Stanly, Rowan, Davidson, Randolph, Alamance, Orange, Caswell, Person, Granville
Highway system
← NC 48NC 50 →

North Carolina Highway 49 (NC 49) is a state highway in the North Carolina Highway System that traverses much of the Piedmont region of North Carolina.

Route description

The highway is part of a three-state highway 49 system, entering North Carolina near Lake Wylie, south of Charlotte, and exiting the state near Virgilina on the Virginia state line.

The route is an important corridor for traffic as it forms a part of the shortest route between Charlotte, the largest city in the Carolinas, and the North Carolina state capital of Raleigh. NC 49 meets US 64 in Asheboro, which forms the majority of the Charlotte-Raleigh link.

From where it enters the state, the highway passes through Charlotte and after crossing the more suburban portions of western Cabarrus County, heads north east into Stanly County. From uptown Charlotte to University City NC 49 is concurrent with US 29. After passing Mount Pleasant in eastern Cabarrus County, the road becomes a designated North Carolina Scenic Byway. The road passes close to Pfeiffer University in Stanly County before crossing the Yadkin River near the Tuckertown Reservoir. After crossing the river, the road skirts the northern foothills of the ancient Uwharrie Mountains and then drops down into the Asheboro area.

In western Asheboro, NC 49 joins US 64 for a 12-mile (19 km) stretch through Asheboro and the outskirts of Franklinville. In Ramseur, the two routes split; NC 49 voyages north through the towns of Liberty and Alamance and into Burlington, where it meets I-40/I-85. A concurrency of NC 49 and US 70 winds through Burlington and Haw River, where NC 49 splits to the north. In northern Alamance County, NC 49 meets a 4-way at-grade junction with NC 62. The two routes switch directions at this point; NC 49 darts east toward Roxboro. After passing through Roxboro and a short concurrency with US 158 and US 501, NC 49 continues on toward the Virginia state line.

One unique fact about the route is that NC 49 is one of limited number of state highways that maintain their numbers in more than two consecutive states, which in this case is Virginia (SR 49) and South Carolina (SC 49), with an entire length over 325-mile (523 km).

History

Established in late 1934 as a renumbering of NC 15, it traversed from Lake Wylie to Morehead and Tryon Street, in Charlotte, where it connected with US 21/US 29/US 74/NC 27. In 1940, NC 49 was extended northeast from Charlotte to the Virginia state line, near Virgilina; its routing went as followed: In Charlotte, it was overlapped with US 29 along Tryon Street and Old Concord Road. Traveling through Concord, via Old Charlotte Road, it then overlaps with NC 73 to Mount Pleasant. Replacing NC 62, it travels northeast, through Richfield and Farmer, to Asheboro. With a brief overlap with US 220 (Fayetteville Street), it continues its northeasterly along Old Liberty road, replacing NC 62, through Liberty, Graham, Haw River, to Pleasant Grove. Going east from Pleasant Grove, NC 49 replaced NC 144, through Roxboro, to the Virginia state line, near Virgilina.

In or by 1947, NC 49 was rerouted in Richfield, removing a concurrency with US 52. And in Asheboro, NC 49 was rerouted onto US 64 to Ramseur, then northeast to Liberty; its old alignment becoming NC 49A.

In 1949, NC 49 was rerouted in Roxboro from Main Street onto newly constructed Madison Boulevard. In 1953, NC 49 was given its modern routing bypassing Concord and a concurrency with NC 73; that same year, in the Charlotte area, it was moved from Old Concord Road to University City Boulevard. Around 1960, NC 49 was given a new alignment south of Farmer, in Randolph County. By 1962, in Roxboro, NC 49 was removed along Morgan Street and Concord Road to an overlap with US 158 on Leasburg Road.

In 1982, NC 49, in concurrency with US 29, was rerouted in Uptown Charlotte from Tryon Street onto Morehead and Graham Streets, cutting back onto Tryon Street via Dalton Avenue.[2] By 1993, NC 49 was adjusted in Pleasant Grove to intersect with NC 62; before it would turn nearby without connecting. In 2004, NC 49/NC 57 was rerouted from a section of Leasburg Road onto Long Avenue, in Roxboro.[3]

North Carolina Highway 15

NC 15
Location: SC state line-Salisbury, NC
Length: 60.3 mi[4] (97.0 km)
Existed: 1921–1934

North Carolina Highway 15 (NC 15) was an original state highway, established in 1921. It began at the intersection of Trade and Tryon Street in Charlotte, connecting with NC 20/NC 27, traversing northeast along Tryon Street and Old Concord Road to Harrisburg and Concord. From Concord, it went north through Kannapolis and Landis before ending in Salisbury at Main and Innes Street, connecting with NC 10/NC 80. In 1927, US 170 was assigned on all of NC 15. By 1930, NC 15 was extended south on Tryon Street/York Road to SC 163, at Lake Wylie. In 1932, US 170 was renumbered as an extension of US 29. In 1934, because of US 15 establishing in the state, NC 15 was removed on all sections overlapping with US 29 and the remaining section was renumbered to NC 49.

Junction list

County Location Mile Destinations Notes
South Carolina state line 0.0 SC 49 south (Charlotte Highway) – York Southern terminus
Mecklenburg Charlotte 3.5 NC 160 (Steele Creek Road)
7.7 I‑485 (Seddon Rusty Goode Jr. Freeway) to I‑85 / I‑77 – Greensboro, Columbia, SC Diamond interchange; I-485 exit 1
11.6 Charlotte Route 4 (Billy Graham Parkway) to I‑77 south / US 21 south – Columbia, SC Access to Charlotte/Douglas International Airport; Access to I-77/US 21 south
11.8 I‑77 north / US 21 north – Statesville I-77 exit 6; Partial cloverleaf interchange; northbound exit only
14.4 NC 160 south (West Boulevard) Northern terminus of NC 160
15.2 NC 27 east (Morehead Street) – Albemarle South end of concurrency with NC 27
15.3 I‑277 / US 74 east – Monroe Eastbound access only
15.4 US 29 south / NC 27 west (Morehead Street) – Gastonia, Lincolnton South end of concurrency with US 29; North end of concurrency with NC 27
16.8 I‑277 / NC 16 north (Brookshire Freeway) to I‑77 / I‑85 – Columbia, Gastonia, Greensboro, Lowesville I-277 outer loop and NC 16 northbound exit only via W. 12th Street
19.9 Charlotte Route 4 (Sugar Creek Road) to I‑85 – Gastonia, Salisbury I-85 exit 41
23.4 US 29 north (Tryon Street) – Concord North end of concurrency with US 29
24.1 NC 24 (W.T. Harris Boulevard) – Albemarle Partial cloverleaf interchange
26.4 I‑485 to I‑85 / I‑77 – Greensboro, Statesville I-485 exit 33; Partial cloverleaf interchange
Cabarrus Concord 37.0 US 601 – Monroe, Salisbury Partial cloverleaf interchange
Mt. Pleasant 42.9 NC 73 – Concord, Albemarle Full interchange
Stanly Richfield 54.7 US 52 (Church Street) – Albemarle, Lexington
58.6 NC 8 south – New London South end of concurrency with NC 8
Davidson Newsom 62.4 NC 8 north – Lexington North end of concurrency with NC 8
Handy 66.5 NC 109 – Troy, Denton Diamond interchange
Randolph 71.0 NC 47 west – Denton, Lexington Eastern terminus of NC 47
Asheboro 84.2 US 64 west (Dixie Drive) – Lexington South end of concurrency with US 64
84.4
Future I‑73 / Future I‑74 / US 220 – Rockingham, Greensboro		 Cloverleaf interchange
85.3
US 220 Bus. (Fayetteville Street)
85.7 NC 159 south (Zoo Parkway) – Seagrove Access to North Carolina Zoo
87.1 NC 42 – Coleridge
Ramseur 95.0 NC 22 north – Climax South end of wrong-way concurrency with NC 22
95.3 NC 22 south (Colridge Road) – Carthage North end of wrong-way concurrency with NC 22
95.9 US 64 east (Jordan Road) – Siler City, Pittsboro North end of concurrency with US 64
Liberty 103.1 US 421 – Greensboro, Sanford Diamond interchange
Alamance Burlington 123.1 I‑85 / I‑40 – Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Durham, Raleigh I-85 exit 145; Diamond interchange
123.5 NC 54 west (Chapel Hill Road) / NC 100 west (Maple Avenue) – Whitsett South end of concurrency with NC 54; Eastern terminus of NC 100
Graham 124.5 NC 87 north (Elm Street) – Reidsville South end of wrong-way concurrency with NC 87
125.1 NC 87 south (Main Street) – Fayetteville North end of wrong-way concurrency with NC 87
125.4 NC 54 east (Harden Street) – Raleigh North end of concurrency with NC 54
Haw River 127.2 US 70 west (Main Street) – Greensboro South end of concurrency with US 70
128.2 US 70 east (Main Street) – Durham North end of concurrency with US 70
Pleasant Grove 135.2 NC 62 – Archdale, Yanceyville
137.8 NC 119 – Swepsonville, Hightowers
Orange 144.3 NC 86 south – Chapel Hill South end of concurrency with NC 86
Caswell Prospect Hill 144.7 NC 86 north – Yanceyville North end of concurrency with NC 86
Person Roxboro 159.8 US 158 west (Leasburg Road) – Yanceyville South end of concurrency with US 158
160.3 NC 57 (Concord Road) – Milton South end of wrong-way concurrency with NC 57
160.6 US 158 east / US 501 south / NC 57 south (S. Madison Boulevard) – Oxford, Durham, Hillsborough North end of concurrency with US 158; South end of concurrency with US 501; North End of wrong-way concurrency with NC 57
162.2 US 501 north (Main Street) – South Boston North end of concurrency with US 501
Granville 177.6 NC 96 south (Little Batterwhite Road) – Oxford South end of concurrency with NC 96
Virginia state line 177.8 SR 49 / SR 96 (Florence Avenue) – Virgilina, Clarksville Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Bannered routes

New London alternate route

NC 49A
Location: New London, North Carolina
Length: 3.8 mi[5] (6.1 km)
Existed: 1940–1948

North Carolina Highway 49A (NC 49A) was established as a renumbering of NC 62A. A spur route of NC 49, it went south near the Tuckertown Reservoir to New London, connecting with US 52/NC 740 on Gold Street. In 1948, it was renumbered to NC 6; it later became part of NC 8 in 1953.

Asheboro–Liberty alternate route

NC 49A
Location: Asheboro–Liberty, North Carolina
Length: 22.0 mi[6] (35.4 km)
Existed: 1947–1967

North Carolina Highway 49A (NC 49A) was established after mainline NC 49 was rerouted onto US 64 from Asheboro to Ramseur, then northeast to Liberty; NC 49A continued the old alignment through Asheboro via Albermarle Avenue, Park Street, Salisbury Street, and Fayetteville Street. North of Asheboro it followed Old Liberty Road to Liberty. On November, 1967, NC 49A was decommissioned, most of which (except for Fayetteville Street) becoming secondary roads.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Google (July 13, 2013). "North Carolina Highway 49" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
  2. ↑ "NC 49 Route Change (1982-01-01)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. January 1, 1982. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
  3. ↑ "NC 57 Route Change (2004-03-15)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. March 15, 2004. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
  4. ↑ Google (July 12, 2013). "North Carolina Highway 15" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
  5. ↑ Google (July 13, 2013). "North Carolina Highway 49A - New London" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
  6. ↑ Google (July 13, 2013). "North Carolina Highway 49A - Asheboro-Liberty" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
  7. ↑ "NC 49A Route Change (1967-11-03)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. November 3, 1967. Retrieved July 13, 2013.

External links