U.S. Route 52 in North Carolina

U.S. Highway 121
U.S. Highway 121
Location	Lexington, NC-VA state line
Length	64.0 mi (103.0 km)
Existed	1926–1934

U.S. Highway 52
U.S. Highway 52
	US 52 highlighted in red
Route information
	Maintained by NCDOT
Length	150.3 mi (241.9 km)
Existed	1934–present
Major junctions
South end	US 52 at the South Carolina line at McFarlan
	US 74 in Wadesboro; I-85 in Salisbury; I-285 / I-85 BL / US 29 / US 70 in Lexington; US 64 in Lexington; I-40 in Winston-Salem; US 158 / US 421 / NC 150 in Winston-Salem; I-74 near Mount Airy; US 601 in Mount Airy;
North end	US 52 at the Virginia line near Mount Airy
Location
Country	United States
State	North Carolina
Counties	Anson, Stanly, Cabarrus, Rowan, Davidson, Forsyth, Stokes, Surry
Highway system
	United States Numbered Highway System; List; Special; Divided; North Carolina Highway System; Interstate; US; State; Scenic;

U.S. Route 52 (US 52) is a north–south United States highway that runs for 150 miles (240 km) from the South Carolina state line, near McFarlan, to the Virginia state line, near Mount Airy. It serves as a strategic highway through the central North Carolina Piedmont.^[3] Because of its alignment in the state, US 52 does not follow the standard convention of an even U.S. route number going east–west.

Between the South Carolina border and Salisbury, the route is an at-grade road, varying in width from two to four lanes. It connects the town centers of a number of small towns in Anson, Stanly, Cabarrus, and Rowan Counties.

Between Salisbury in Rowan County and Mount Airy in Surry County, US 52 is a limited access freeway, and is in the process of being upgraded to Interstate Highway standards. Several Interstate highways either already, or are planned to in the near future, overlay the US 52 freeway. From Salisbury to Lexington, it is cosigned with I-85. From Lexington to I-40 south of Winston-Salem it is cosigned with I-285. In the future, as the freeway is upgraded, the I-285 designation will be extended north through Winston-Salem to meet a future interchange with the Winston-Salem Northern Beltway. North of that point, I-74 will leave the beltway to join US 52 and the two will remain cosigned until reaching the current short segment of I-74 located south of Mount Airy.

North of the I-74 junction in Surry County, the freeway continues on for a short distance, before becoming a four lane divided boulevard known as the Andy Griffith Parkway to bypass the town center of Mt. Airy. Immediately before crossing into Virginia, the route reduces back down to two lanes.

Route description

US 52 at the base of Pilot Mountain

US 52 enters North Carolina at Mount Airy. A bypass around Mount Airy, which carries US 52 is designated as the Andy Griffith Parkway. It goes by Pilot Mountain one of the most distinctive natural features in North Carolina. Through the Piedmont Triad region, US 52 is mostly a limited-access freeway. The route joins Interstate 85 Business into Lexington, North Carolina and shares Interstate 85 around Salisbury, North Carolina. The segment of US 52 from Interstate 40 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to Lexington is currently being upgraded to Interstate highway standards for the future Interstate 285 corridor. The segment from northern Winston-Salem to just south of Mount Airy is expected to form part of the Interstate 74 corridor through North Carolina.

South of the Triad area after splitting from Interstate 85 in Salisbury, US 52 is typically a two-lane route linking some of the state's smaller cities and towns. Albemarle is the largest municipality along this segment of US 52 to the South Carolina state line.

Between Salisbury and Albemarle in Northern Stanly county, US 52 bisects the campus of Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer. Misenheimer may be the only municipality in America whose only traffic light is not at an intersection of two or more streets, but at a crosswalk to accommodate pedestrian traffic (the crosswalk being across US 52 connecting the two parts of Pfeiffer's campus on opposite sides of the highway).

Andy Griffith Parkway

The Andy Griffith Parkway is an 11-mile (18 km) section of U.S. Route 52 in northern Surry County, North Carolina, dedicated in honor of actor Andy Griffith. U.S. Route 52 through this stretch is a limited- controlled-access four-lane divided highway. Approximately 5.5 miles (8.9 km) of the 11-mile (18 km) section passes through the corporate limits of Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina.^[4]

Background

Due to its proximity to Pilot Mountain State Park, in 1977 U.S. Route 52 through Surry County and Stokes County was dedicated as the Pilot Mountain Parkway by the North Carolina Department of Transportation. However, in March 2002, the North Carolina Department of Transportation was approached by a grassroots group of residents of Mount Airy that felt that a highway dedication for Griffith was long overdue.

The group proposed to rename an 11-mile (18 km) section of the Pilot Mountain Parkway running from the Interstate 74 interchange north to the Virginia state line as the Andy Griffith Parkway. The Pilot Mountain Parkway designation would remain from the Interstate 74 intersection south through Stokes County.

The group had the support of the dedication from several North Carolina state agency officials that included Governor Mike Easley, State Treasurer Richard H. Moore and NCDOT Division 11 Board Member Sam Erby. Each of these officials played an integral role in expediting the renaming through the North Carolina Department of Transportation's Road and Bridge Naming Committee. The dedication also had the full support of Andy Griffith. The NCDOT Road and Bridge Naming Committee voted unanimously for the dedication at their July 2002 meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Dedication ceremony

A dedication ceremony was held on October 16, 2002, in the parking lot behind City Hall in Mount Airy. Andy Griffith accepted the invitation to attend the ceremony. It was Griffith's first public appearance in his hometown in over 40 years. Also in attendance were Griffith's wife Cindi Griffith, Governor Mike Easley, former University of North Carolina President William C. Friday, Grandfather Mountain developer Hugh Morton, as well as many more state and local officials. More than 3000 Andy Griffith fans also attended to welcome Griffith back to Mount Airy.

Dedicated and memorial names

US 52 features three additional dedicated stretches of highway.

George S. Coble Memorial Highway – Official North Carolina name of US 52, from Old US 52 at the Davidson-Forsyth County line to US 29/70 south of Lexington.^[4]
John Gold Memorial Expressway – Official North Carolina name of US 52 within the borders of Forsyth County.^[4]
Pilot Mountain Parkway – Official North Carolina name of US 52, it originally went from King to the Virginia state line. In 2002, it was shortened to the I-74 interchange south of Mount Airy, for the Andy Griffith Parkway.^[4]

History

US 52/US 74, in Wadesboro

US 52 was established in 1934 as a replacement of US 121/NC 66 from the Virginia state line, near Mount Airy, to Lexington and replacement of US 601/NC 80 from Lexington to the South Carolina state line, near McFarlan.

In the mid-1930s, US 52 was placed on current routing between Rocky River-Norwood and Misenheimer-Gold Hill. In Wadesboro, US 52 was routed along Morgan-Washington-Martin Streets; while in Stokes County, US 52 was placed on new road between Pilot Mountain and King.

In 1941, US 52 was removed from Salisbury Road and placed on its current routing, with US 29/70, south of Lexington. Between 1945 and 1949, US 52 was split in downtown Winston-Salem: northbound using the original Main Street route, southbound using Liberty Street and First Street. In 1949, US 52 was placed on a new bypass east of Pilot Mountain, leaving US 52A along the main street route.

In 1952, US 52 was placed onto new northern bypass of Lexington, its old route through became part of US 29A/70A and NC 8. In 1953, US 52 was placed onto new western bypass of Mount Airy, its old route through became US 52A (today US 52 Business). In either 1956 or 1957, US 52 was placed on its current route through Wadesboro, via US 74; also around same time period, US 52 was removed from Old Fancy Gap Road near the Virginia state line.

From 1960 to 1972, the next series of changes were in the Winston-Salem area; starting in 1960 with US 52 was removed from Main Street and onto Old Salem Road. In 1962, US 52 northbound was changed to Main Street, Fifth Street, and Liberty Street. By 1964, US 52 was placed onto new freeway from Winston-Salem, just south of East-West Expressway, to Pilot Mountain; this replaced the old route from Stanleyville to Pilot Mountain, becoming simply Old US 52. By 1973, US 52 was completed moved onto the completed North-South Expressway in Forsyth County, completely removing US 52 from all regular roads through the county.

In 1971, US 52 was joined with I-85, from the Yadkin River to Salisbury, leaving the downtown area. In 1980, the freeway from Forsyth County extended into Davidson County at Midway. By 1982, New London was placed on a short bypass west of town. Between 1985 and 1987, US 52 was given its current Albemarle bypass routing; in October, 2010, the routing was rebuilt along its southern portion. Between 1991 and 1993, US 52 was extended further south onto new freeway from Midway to Welcome in north Davidson County; by 1995, the freeway connected with the Lexington bypass, completing US 52's move from rural road to freeway from Lexington to Mount Airy.

Construction of replacement bridges over Liberty Street

Throughout most of the 2010s, a series of road improvements were made along US 52 in Winston-Salem, including replacement of bridges, interchanges and widening of lanes and shoulders. The initial change was a replacement of the Liberty Street bridges (built in 1964) over Liberty Street and the Norfolk Southern Railroad Switching Yard. The project included the permanent ramp closure of exit 111-B, on February 19, 2011; the entire project was completed on November 1, 2012.^[5]^[6]^[7] In 2012, exit 110-A to Third, Fourth, Fifth Street was permanently closed related to the widening of US 52 and extending new acceleration lanes to the neighboring interchanges.^[8]^[9] In 2013, construction began on the Salem Creek Connector (later becoming an extension of Research Parkway), at a cost of $68.9 million, it involved reconfiguring exit 108-B (replacing Vargrave Street with Research Parkway), the permanent closure of 108-C (Stadium Drive, later renamed Rams Drive), bridge replacements (including a truss flyover for Norfolk Southern) and the realignment of area roads.^[10] On January 6, 2014, exit 108-B was closed and Vargrave Street razed.^[11] On July 12, 2017, exit 108-B reopened to the public as Research Parkway, utilizing a diverging diamond interchange layout; exit 108-C to Rams Drive was then permanently closed, with a bridge replacement completed shortly after.^[12]^[13]

U.S. Route 121

U.S. Route 121 (US 121) was an original US highway, established in 1926, and was completely overlapped with NC 66. Beginning north from Main Street (US 70/NC 10), in Lexington, it went through Welcome and Midway to Winston-Salem. Traversing through Winston-Salem on Waughtown Road and Main Street, it exits north along Patterson Avenue to Stanleyville. Continuing north through Rural Hall, King, and Pilot Mountain, it reached downtown Mount Airy, before continuing on north into Virginia, via Old Fancy Gap Road. By 1929, US 121 was rerouted south of Winston-Salem along Spur Street; its old alignment remained part of NC 77. In late 1934, both US 121 and NC 66 were replaced by US 52.

Future

In 2011 there were plans to widen US 52 between Wadesboro and NC 24/NC 27, in Albemarle, to four-lanes by around 2015 (STIP: R-2320).^[15]

In the more distant future, US 52 between NC 65, in Winston-Salem, and I-74, near Mount Airy, is planned to be reconstructed to interstate-grade standards as part of I-74 (STIP: I-4404).

Upgrades of US 52 to interstate grade, between I-85 and I-40/US 311 are estimated to cost $8.725 million. Property acquisition was to start in June 2012, with construction scheduled for May 2013. Once completed, US 52 will be in concurrency with Interstate 285.^[16]

Junction list

County	Location	mi^[2]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Anson	McFarlan	0.0	0.0		US 52 east – Cheraw	Continuation from South Carolina
	Morven	4.4	7.1		NC 145 (Main Street) – Rockingham, Chesterfield
	Wadesboro	12.2	19.6		US 74 east – Rockingham	East end of US 74 overlap
		13.5	21.7		NC 109 / NC 742 south (Greene Street)	South end of NC 742 overlap
		14.6	23.5		US 74 west – Monroe, Charlotte	West end of US 74 overlap
		14.9	24.0		NC 742 north – Oakboro	North end of NC 742 overlap
Stanly		30.5	49.1		NC 731 west – Mount Gilead
		41.5	66.8		NC 138 south – Oakboro
	Albemarle	42.4	68.2		US 52 Bus. north / NC 24 / NC 27 / NC 73 east – Troy, Mount Gilead, Charlotte	East end of NC 73 overlap
		43.3	69.7		NC 73 west (Main Street) – Concord	West end of NC 73 overlap
		44.7	71.9		US 52 Bus. south (First Street)
	New London	50.4	81.1		NC 8 north / NC 740 south (Gold Street) – Badin
	Richfield	53.6	86.3		NC 49 – Concord, Charlotte, Asheboro
Cabarrus	No major intersections
Rowan	Rockwell	63.6	102.4		NC 152 west (Market Street) – China Grove
	Salisbury	72.0	115.9	76	I-85 south / Innes Street – Charlotte, Salisbury Downtown	South end of I-85 overlap
	Spencer	74.9	120.5	79	Andrews Street – Spencer, East Spencer
	Spencer	76.3	122.8	81	Long Ferry Road – Spencer
	Yadkin River	78.2	125.9	Yadkin River Veterans Memorial Bridge
Davidson		78.7	126.7	82	US 29 south / US 70 west / NC 150 east – Spencer	Permanently closed as of April, 2010^[17]^[18]^[19]^[20]
		79.0	127.1	83	NC 150	Permanently closed as of May, 2013^[17]^[19]^[20]
		79.3	127.6	84	US 29 south / US 70 west to NC 150 – Spencer	South end of US 29 and west end of US 70 overlap
		80.3	129.2	85	Clark Road	Permanently closed as of November, 2012^[21]
		81.4	131.0	86	Belmont Road
	Lexington	83.3	134.1	87	I-85 north / I-285 begin / I-85 BL begin – High Point, Greensboro	North end of I-85 and south end of I-285/I-85 Bus overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance
		84.0	135.2	84	NC 47 east to I-85 north	To Davidson County Airport
		84.9	136.6	85	Green Needles Road
		86.0	138.4	86	Salisbury Road – Downtown Lexington
		87.0	140.0	87	I-85 BL / US 29 north / US 70 east – Thomasville, High Point	North end of I-85 Bus/US 29 and east end of US 70 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance
		88.6	142.6	89	US 64 – Lexington, Mocksville
	Welcome	92.2	148.4	92	NC 8 south (Old U.S. Hwy 52) – Lexington, Welcome	South end of NC 8 overlap
	Welcome	97.3	156.6	97	Old U.S. Hwy 52 – Midway
	Midway	99.5	160.1	100	Hickory Tree Road
Forsyth	Winston-Salem	102.8	165.4	103	South Main Street
		105.1	169.1	105	Clemmonsville Road
		106.2	170.9	107	I-40 east / I-285 end – Greensboro, High Point I-40 west – Statesville	North end of I-285; signed as exits 107A (east) and 107B (west)
		107.0	172.2	108A	Sprague Street / Waughtown Street	To University of North Carolina School of the Arts
		107.8	173.5	108B	Research Parkway – Old Salem, Winston-Salem State University	DDI; formerly Vargrave Street prior to January 6, 2014^[11]
		108.2	174.1	108C	Stadium Drive – Old Salem	Permanently closed as of July 12, 2017^[12]
		108.5	174.6	109	US 158 east / US 421 south / NC 150 east – Kernersville US 158 west / US 421 north / NC 150 west – Downtown	Signed as exits 109A (east) and 109B (west)
		108.9	175.3	110A	3rd 4th 5th Streets – Downtown	Permanently closed as of February 18, 2013^[8]
		109.3	175.9	110B	US 311 north (ML King Jr Drive)
		109.6	176.4	110C	Liberty Street
		109.9	176.9	110D	Northwest Boulevard	Southbound exit only
		110.6	178.0	111A	25th Street / 28th Street
		110.9	178.5	111B	Liberty Street – Smith Reynolds Airport	Was northbound exit only; permanently closed as of February 19, 2011^[5]
		111.8	179.9	112	Akron Drive – Smith Reynolds Airport	To Coliseum and BB&T Field
		112.6	181.2	113	Patterson Avenue
		114.2	183.8	114	NC 8 north (Germanton Road) – Germanton	North end of NC 8 overlap
		115.5	185.9	115	University Parkway	Signed northbound as exits 115A (north) and 115B (south)
		116.1	186.8	116	Hanes Mill Road	To Kaleideum North
	Bethania	117.5	189.1	117	To NC 66 – Germanton	Former northbound entrance and southbound exit; permanently closed on December 9, 2019
	Bethania			117	NC 74 east	Future interchange (under construction)^[22]
	Rural Hall	118.1	190.1	118	NC 65 – Rural Hall, Bethania
	Rural Hall	119.8	192.8	120	Westinghouse Road
	King	121.9	196.2	122	Moore-RJR Drive
	King	123.0	197.9	123	Main Street – King, Tobaccoville
Stokes		128.7	207.1	129	Perch Road – Pinnacle
Surry		130.8	210.5	131	Pilot Knob Park Road – Pilot Mountain State Park
	Pilot Mountain	133.7	215.2	134	NC 268 – Pilot Mountain, Elkin	Double roundabout interchange
		135.5	218.1	135	West 52 Bypass – Pilot Mountain	Northbound entrance and left southbound exit only
		136.1	219.0	136	Cook School Road
		139.7	224.8	140	I-74 west to I-77 – Wytheville
		141.0	226.9	141	Holly Springs Church Road	To Mount Airy/Surry County Airport
		142.0	228.5		US 52 Bus. north (Main Street)
	Mount Airy	144.4	232.4		US 601 south (Rockford Street) – Dobson
		145.6	234.3		NC 89 (Pine Street) to I-74 west / I-77 – Downtown
		147.7	237.7		US 52 Bus. south (Main Street)
		150.3	241.9		US 52 north – Hillsville	Continuation into Virginia
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Closed/former Concurrency terminus Incomplete access Unopened