US 19 in North Carolina
| US 19 | |||
| Begin | Ranger | ||
| End | Faust | ||
| Length | 209 mi | ||
| Length | 336 km | ||
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According to toppharmacyschools, US 19 is a US Highway in the US state of North Carolina. The road forms a north-south connection in the far west of the state, from the Georgia border at Ranger through Asheville to the Tennessee border. The last section of US 19 is split into US 19E and US 19W. The route is a total of 336 kilometers long.
Travel directions
The US 19 Bypass by Murphy.
Near Ranger, US 19 in Georgia from Atlanta enters the state of North Carolina in a mountainous area, the Great Smoky Mountains. The road then heads north for a bit, then merges with 2×2 US 74, which comes from Chattanooga. US 64 also crosses this road, exiting at Murphy for Hendersonville. US 129 also runs this route, exiting at Topton towards Knoxville. The surrounding mountains reach up to 1500 meters and are densely forested. The road narrows for a while to one lane, but again has 2×2 lanes from Almond. A section of highway begins shortly after, but US 19 exits at Bryson City for a parallel route. At Cherokee, US 441, which runs from Franklin to Knoxville, crosses the Great Smoky Mountains. US 19 then travels a mountainous route to Waynesville, intersecting US 276, which ends here at I-40 and runs to Greenville, South Carolina. US 19 runs due east here, with US 23 merging from Franklin. Both roads then run parallel to Interstate 40 to the east.
You then reach Asheville, the largest city in western North Carolina with 74,000 inhabitants. US 19 joins Interstate 26 here, which runs north to Johnson City, coming from Spartanburg. I-40 here heads for Winston-Salem, and US 23 also follows I-26 north. It also crosses US 25, which leads to Knoxville, and US 70, which comes from the same direction and runs to Hickory in the east, all in all a major highway junction. North of Asheville, at Mars Hill, US 19 exits, then heads east to Bald Creek, still through mountainous terrain. Here US 19 splits into an east and west branch. The US 19W runs directly to the border withTennessee toward Johnson City, US 19E stays in the state for a while longer, running east through the mountains for a while before turning north and heading toward Bristol.
History
US 19 was created in 1926. The route through North Carolina has not changed significantly since its creation, and US 19E and US 19W have not yet been scrapped, although it has been a policy of eliminating split US Highways since the 1930s. Portions of US 19 have been replaced by freeways, particularly around Asheville.
Several upgrades have been made to US 19. As early as the 1950s, an 11-kilometer section between Lake Junaluska and Canton was widened to 4 lanes. In the 1960s the diversion of Lake Junaluska was upgraded to a freeway, at the same time a diversion of nearby Waynesville was opened, these parts were realized at the same time as I-40 towards Asheville.
In the 1960s, a section around Ranger in far southwest North Carolina was also widened to 2×2 lanes. Also, the first section of what would later become Interstate 26 opened north of Asheville. A 2×2 diversion was built at Bryson City in the 1970s, and in 1975 the future I-26 was extended further north from Weaverville to Mars Hill. In 1979 the Andrews bypass opened and in 1980 the Murphy bypass opened. The intermediate section from Murphy to Andrews was widened to 2×2 lanes shortly afterwards.
This resulted in four routes with 2×2 lanes;
- Murphy – Andrews
- Laudada – Bryson City
- diversion Lake Junaluska
- Asheville – Mars Hill
Since 2003, the highway between Asheville and Mars Hill has been numbered as part of I-26. However, US 19 also runs over the highway and not via secondary roads parallel to it.
US 19E
A 30-mile section of US 19E has been widened to four lanes between I-26 and Spruce Pine in several phases. In the period 2009-2011, the westernmost 22 kilometers from I-26 was widened to just before Burnsville. Between 2013 and 2016 the passage from Burnsville followed until just before Micaville. Subsequently, in 2019-2020, the section between Micaville and Spruce Pine was widened to four lanes. This was delivered on October 16, 2020.
Traffic intensities
Every day, 6,000 vehicles cross the Georgia border, rising to 20,000 vehicles between Ranger and Murphy. The route from Murphy to Bryce City is quieter with 5,000 to 10,000 vehicles per day. After that, 4,000 vehicles first drive east of Cherokee City, rising to a maximum of 42,000 vehicles per day near Clyde and I-40. The stretch parallel to I-40 to Asheville has approximately 10,000 vehicles per day.
On US 19E from Mars Hill eastwards, approximately 10,000 vehicles per day drive through the Appalachian Mountains, after Spruce Pine the road calms down with only 1,000 to 3,000 vehicles per day to Elk Park and the border with Tennessee.
US 21 in North Carolina
| US 21 | |||
| Get started | Charlotte | ||
| End | Twin Oaks | ||
| Length | 118 mi | ||
| Length | 190 km | ||
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US 21 is a US Highway in the US state of North Carolina. The road forms a north-south route through the center of the state, from the South Carolina border at the city of Charlotte through Statesville paralleling Interstate 77 north to the Virginia border. The route is about 190 kilometers long.
Travel directions
The Eastern Continental Divide at Roaring Gap.
The US 21 in South Carolina enters the state of North Carolina with the Interstate 77 in South Carolina double numbered. US 23 is double numbered throughout the city of Charlotte with I-77. It crosses Interstate 485, the city’s ring road, and in the center Interstate 277, US 29 and US 74. A major interchange is north of downtown with Interstate 85, the highway from Atlanta to Greensboro. Moments later, US 23 exits from I-77 and follows a parallel route, Statesville Road, north.
The road passes through several northern suburbs, then rejoins I-77 briefly to cross a tributary of Lake Norman, before paralleling again through Mooresville, Charlotte’s last northern suburb. At the village of Troutman, it crosses I-77 again, and the road parallels it on the west side, then passes through the small town of Statesville, a regional interchange, where it crosses US 70, then Interstate 40. the highway from Knoxville to Winston-Salem.
US 23 then crosses I-77 again and continues north on its eastern side, through a rural area of forest and meadows. At Hamptonville, one crosses US 421, a highway from Boone to Winston-Salem, a larger city to the east. Not far after, it crosses I-77 for the last time, and US 23 heads northwest into a more mountainous area, the easternmost ridge of the Appalachian Mountains. At Twin Oaks, US 221 merges into double – numbering as far as Virginia. US 23 in Virginia then continues to Whyteville.
History
US 21 was created in 1926. The route was then only slightly modified in North Carolina. Later, I-77 was built parallel to US 21, making the road no longer of through importance.
The only serious upgrade to US 21 was the Elkin diversion which opened in 1966 with 2×2 lanes. At the time, this was the first stretch of I-77 in the region, before I-77 was built north to Virginia, through traffic followed US 21 from Elkin to Sparta and then to the Virginia border. This is also the only section where I-77 is further away from US 21.
Traffic intensities
Every day, 11,000 vehicles drive through the northern suburbs of Charlotte, parallel to I-77, which remains stable until Cornelius. On the Mooresville bypass, 18,000 vehicles a day and 8,000 continue as far as Statesville. After that, the road is quieter with 1,000 to 3,000 vehicles paralleling I-77 to Elkin. 7,000 vehicles drive from Elkin, descending to 2,500 vehicles in the Appalachian Mountains and 6,000 vehicles near Sparta. 2,000 vehicles cross the Virginia border every day.
