History marches south to SC.


I-74 should never have been designated to follow US 74. It seems fine here (NB), but wait until they split.


US 220 SB apparently only ends several hundred feet after traffic has merged into US 1 SB.


Richmond County Courthouse, Rockingham.


Straight ahead, aka south, is definitely not the I-73/74 corridor as planned. Then again, straight behind isn't either. A new US 1 freeway was an initial proposal to carry the routes, but now the I-73 (and part of I-74) freeway is to follow NC 38 into South Carolina. The sign is also a bit ambiguous - does I-73 end here, and is straight ahead the future I-74? Don't answer that. Photo courtesy Lou Corsaro, from 2005.


Old SB signs, first photo courtesy Lou Corsaro, with a horrible one at NC 177 thrown in. The third photo is at Long Dr./Richmond Rd.


SB and uggggly, courtesy Lou Corsaro. This is between US 1/15/501 multiplexes. To see photos from those plexes, visit the big link at the bottom of the page. To see photos from this alignment of Business US 1, visit the other big link down there.


SB approaching Sanford; the 1¾-mile advance for Exit 76 and 1-mile advance for Exit 74 were taken by Rick Sapir and submitted by Lou Corsaro.


The remainder of the button copy run up to the beginning of the US 1/15/501 multiplex. The construction of the new Sanford Bypass, future US 421, is occurring between Exits 69 and 70, so this has been renumbered to the open Exit 71. That bends AASHTO policy on mile-based exit numbering, but I don't think NCDOT cares. Click on the first or last (Exit 71) photos to see the pre-renumbering versions, taken by Rick Sapir and submitted by Lou Corsaro.


And here's all the northbound button copy. The 1-mile advance and gore sign for Exit 74 and the 2-mile advance for Exit 76 are courtesy Lou Corsaro. Credit goes to Lou for supplying me with complete SB (from Rick Sapir) and NB button copy runs originally. Back to your regular reflective lettering.


NB after Exit 84, but on the SB side, courtesy Lou Corsaro. At that time, the US 1 freeway was just one lane in each direction - and both lanes on that side.


What has since become Exit 93, NB under the construction of NC 540 south of Apex, courtesy Lou Corsaro. The three bridges are for the two directions of NC 540 and the only non-cloverleaf ramp in the interchange, from US 1 NB to NC 540 NB (also seen in the ramp split in the third photo), taking southwestern exurban commuters to Research Triangle Park.

Combination reassurance and distance sign.


The former Exit 101 SB onramp, facing north from the SB side toward Walnut St. in Cary, courtesy Lou Corsaro. Instead of a simple diamond off/on ramp combination, the SB offramp was modified to serve side roads other than Walnut, and a new twinned pair of ramps was constructed to the west.


NB oldness and goodness at I-40's Exit 293, where US 1 is about to gain the additional designation of I-440, courtesy Lou Corsaro. The lower destination could have been Benson (where I-40 meets I-95), but should have been patched over to Wilmington upon the extension, and not left blank. If I-440 is on I-40, why does this get exit numbers? It seems to me that I-440 should only be designated around the northern horseshoe, but NCDOT wanted the continuity of a full beltway. (And, in fact, NCDOT agreed and will shortly go with my suggestion.) So, this photo is technically just on US 1 NB, which is why it goes on this page. Two points of interest regarding the last photo: the US 64 shield is very tackily tacked on (it used to be straight ahead with I-440/US 1, getting off and using surface streets for a few years after having used various parts of the Beltline before that), and doesn't OUTER look just like a regular direction when it's next to EAST?


SB through Kittrell to the first US 1-A through Franklinton. It's obviously the old alignment of US 1 pre-dualization. There's another one through Youngsville and Wake Forest, or maybe the same one with a short, silent US 1 duplex, but again it's just the old alignment.

Another, less desirable SB sign courtesy Lou Corsaro.


Old sign, new and dysfunctional shield, northbound just after US 1 leaves the Henderson bypass and joins US 158 EB - in other words, just after US 1 has left this roadway, which then continues on to merge with I-85.


The other end of the multiplex, as US 1 NB ditches US 158 and picks up US 401 past the first photo to I-85 just before the Virginia state line. It wasn't that way until 2004, so why did NCDOT even bother? Why add useless multiplexes?

Onto I-440/US 1
Onto US 501 and US 1/15/501
Onto US 158 and US 1/158
Business US 1, Vass-Cameron
Old US 1, Moncure and Haywood
Onto US 1-A

Into Virginia on US 1
Into South Carolina on US 1
Onto US 74
Onto US 220
Onto I-73
Onto I-40
Onto US 64
To I-540
Onto US 401
To I-85
Back to North Carolina Roads
Back to Roads