U.S. Route 76 in North Carolina
U.S. Highway 76 (US 76) is an east–west road in North Carolina running from the South Carolina state line to Wrightsville Beach. US 76 runs concurrently with US 74 for 52 miles (84 km) of the entire route in North Carolina. US 76 was first designated in North Carolina between late 1934 and 1935.
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 Route of US 76 in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by NCDOT | ||||
| Length | 80.4 mi[1] (129.4 km) | |||
| Existed | 1934–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |  | |||
   
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| East end | Water Street in Wrightsville Beach | |||
| Location | ||||
| Counties | Columbus, Brunswick, New Hanover | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Route description
US 76 traverses three southern North Carolina counties: Columbus, Brunswick, New Hanover. It runs 80 miles (130 km) across those counties.
US 76 enters North Carolina from South Carolina in Columbus County along a two-lane highway. US 76 heads north until Fair Bluff. US 76 intersects NC 904 and runs a short concurrency in downtown Fair Bluff. From there US 76 heads east towards Chadbourn. NC 242 intersects US 76 at a stop sign in Cerro Gordo. US 76 is routed north of Chadbourn, still on a two lane road. After 16 miles (26 km), US 76 merges into US 74/Future I-74 and heads towards Wilmington. US 76 follows US 74/Future I-74 north of Whiteville and Lake Waccamaw.[2] US 76/US 74/I-74 continues as a freeway until NC 11 (General Howe Road). From there US 76/US 74 is a four-lane divided highway but does not have any more exits in Columbus County. East of Delco US 76/US 74 meet up with NC 87. NC 87 runs a 5.5-mile (8.9 km) concurrency into Brunswick County.[3]
US 76 enters Brunswick County 1.8 miles (2.9 km) east of Delco along US 74 and NC 87. NC 87 leaves US 74/US 76 in Sandy Creek, North Carolina. US 74/US 76 continues southeast towards Leland from Sandy Creek. US 74/US 76 picks up freeway status in Leland near Lanvale Road NE. US 74/US 76 intersects US 17 and NC 133 in southern Leland and both roads run a concurrency until Wilmington. Just west of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge US 17, NC 133 and US 74 exit off of US 76 and US 421 joins US 76.
After crossing the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, US 76 is split into Dawson Street (eastbound) and Wooster Street (westbound). The two streets join back together east of Downtown Wilmington and form Oleander Drive. Oleander Drive runs parallel to Wrightsville Avenue and passes Independence Mall. US 76 crosses over US 117 and NC 132 at one of the busiest intersections in Wilmington, with about 70,000 cars crossing the intersection.[4] US 76 continues east towards Wrightsville Beach for four more miles until reaching the Wrightsville Avenue intersection. At the intersection US 76 continues onto Military Cutoff Road. US 76 meets US 74 again at Eastwood Road where US 76 turns right to follow US 74 towards Wrightsville Beach. US 76/US 74 crosses the Intracoastal Waterway before crossing into Wrightsville Beach. US 76 bears right onto Causeway Drive and crosses the Banks Channel. US 76 turns onto Waynick Boulevard and heads south along the Banks Channel. When Waynick Boulevard ends at Lumina Avenue US 76 heads south towards the end of the island. Lumina Avenue turns into Jack Parker Boulevard. US 76 ends at Jack Parker Boulevard.
History
US 76 did not appear in North Carolina until late 1934 into 1935. It replaced NC 202 and US 17 from the South Carolina border to Chadbourn, US 17 and NC 20 to Wilmington and NC 20 to Wrightsville Beach. The original US 76 followed the current alignment of the road from the South Carolina state line to Chadbourne. US 76 then followed NC 214 north of Lake Waccamaw and through Bolton. It then followed the current alignment to Leland. US 76 then used Office Road, Lincoln Road, Old Mill Road, to get to Village Road NE. US 76 then used the closed causeway to cross the Brunswick River. From Belville US 76 used NC 133 routing to cross the Cape Fear and NE Cape Fear River's. US 76 then went down 3rd Street to Market Street and then followed 17th Street to Oleander Drive. US 76 then used Arlie Road to where US 76 currently crosses into Wrightsville Beach. US 76 then turned north on Lumina Avenue to the current end point of US 74. In 1936 US 74/US 76 was given a short bypass around Leland using Village Road. The old part became US 74-A. In 1940, US 76 was removed off the routing along Lumina Avenue and was instead routed south along Waynick Drive to the southern part of the island.[5] Sometime between 1959 and 1962, US 76 was removed off Arlie Drive, and instead, US 76 followed Oleander Drive all the way to Causeway Drive. In 1966, US 76 was moved onto split roads along both 16th and 17th streets in downtown Wilmington. In 1969, US 76 was redirected to use a new bridge to cross the Cape Fear River into Wilmington. US 76 would also now use Dawson and Wooster Streets through downtown Wilmington. In 1975, US 76 and US 74 were placed on a new freeway that bypassed both Leland and Belville; along with that, US 76 was placed on a new freeway that bypassed Chadbourn. Between 1986 and 1987, US 76 was placed on a bypass of Hallsboro and Lake Waccamaw. Around 1992, US 76 was routed to bypass Bolton leaving behind NC 214. In 2003, US 76 was moved onto Military Cutoff Road instead of being on Wrightsville Avenue.
North Carolina Highway 202
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| Location | SC State Line–Chadbourn, NC |
| Existed | 1921–1934 |
Future
The Interstate 74 study runs along US 76 from the US 701 interchange to Bolton. The study area then goes southwest towards US 17. The study is looking on how and where to build the four-lane highway that has to be to Interstate standards.[6]
NCDOT is currently upgrading the US 74/US 76 bridge to Wrightsville Beach. This project includes redoing the bridge deck, replacing the steel frame structure, painting the bridge, and upgrading the control house. The project is expected to be completed by spring of 2014.[7]
Junction list
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus | | 0.0 | 0.0 | | Continuation into South Carolina |
| Fair Bluff | 2.9 | 4.7 |  | West end of NC 904 overlap | |
| 3.3 | 5.3 | | East end of NC 904 overlap | ||
| Cerro Gordo | 9.5 | 15.3 |  | ||
| Chadbourn | 15.3 | 24.6 |    | ||
| 16.5 | 26.6 | | West end of Future I-74/US 74 overlap, eastbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
| | 19.3 | 31.1 | Union Valley Road – Union Valley | ||
| Whiteville | 22.2 | 35.7 |  | ||
| 25.1 | 40.4 |  | |||
| Bolton | 39.2 | 63.1 |  | ||
| 42.7 | 68.7 | | |||
| Freeman | 46.9 | 75.5 |  | Southern terminus of NC 11 | |
| Delco | 51.3 | 82.6 |  | North end of NC 87 overlap | |
| Brunswick | Maco | 55.8 | 89.8 | | South end of NC 87 overlap |
| Leland | 59.7 | 96.1 |  | ||
| 61.0 | 98.2 | Lanvale Road – Leland | |||
| 64.4 | 103.6 |  | South end of US 17 overlap | ||
| 65.5 | 105.4 |  | South end of NC 133 overlap | ||
| | 67.5 | 108.6 |  | East end of US 74 and north end of US 421/NC 133 overlap To USS North Carolina | |
| New Hanover | Cape Fear River | 67.7 | 109.0 | Cape Fear Memorial Bridge | |
| Wilmington | 68.3 | 109.9 | Front Street – State Port | No westbound exit | |
| 68.5 | 110.2 | | South end of US 421 overlap To North Carolina Aquarium and Fort Fisher State Park | ||
| 72.1 | 116.0 |   | To State Port | ||
| 76.3 | 122.8 | | North end of US 17 and west end of US 74 overlap | ||
| Wrightsville Beach | 77.7 | 125.0 | | East end of US 74 overlap | |
| 80.4 | 129.4 | Water Street | Eastern terminus; to Coast Guard Station | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Special routes
Whiteville business loop
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| Location | Whiteville, North Carolina |
| Length | 10.5 mi[8] (16.9 km) |
| Existed | 1976–present |
U.S. Route 76 Business (US 76 Bus) was established on February, 1976 as a renumbering of all US 76 through the cities of Chadbourn and Whiteville.[9]
References
- Google (February 12, 2013). "U.S. Route 76 in North Carolina" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
- "US-76 E to US-76 E/Andrew Jackson Hwy SW - Google Maps". Google.com. 1970-01-01. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
- "NC-87 N/Rte 87 N/State 87 N/State Rte 87 N/Old Stage Rd to Unknown road - Google Maps". Google.com. January 1, 1970. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
- "Plan to make busy intersection pedestrian-friendly would add to heavy load". StarNewsOnline.com. October 22, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
- North Carolina Primary Highway System (PDF) (Map). Cartography by NCDOT. North Carolina Department of Transportation. 1940. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
- "NCDOT: I-74 Feasibility Study". North Carolina Department of Transportation. September 2, 2004. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
- "NCDOT: Wrightsville Beach Bridge Rehabilitation Project". North Carolina Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
- Google (February 27, 2011). "U.S. Route 76 Business - Whiteville, North Carolina" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
- "US 76 Route Change (1976-02-01)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. February 1, 1976. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
External links
- NCRoads.com: U.S. 76
- NCRoads.com: U.S. 76 Business
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