U.S. Route 29 in North Carolina

This article is about the section of U.S. Route 29 in North Carolina. For the entire route, see U.S. Route 29.

U.S. Highway 29
US 29 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NCDOT
Length	168 mi (270 km)
Existed	1927–present
Major junctions
South end	US 29 at the South Carolina line near Blacksburg I-85 (several times) I-485 in Charlotte (twice) I-77 / US 21 in Charlotte I-74 in High Point I-73 / I-85 / US 421 in Greensboro I-40 / US 220 in Greensboro I-785 / I-840 in Greensboro
North end	US 29 at the Virginia line near Danville
Location
Country	United States
State	North Carolina
Counties	Cleveland, Gaston, Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Rowan, Davidson, Randolph, Guilford, Rockingham, Caswell
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided North Carolina Highway System Interstate US State Scenic
← NC 28 → NC 30

U.S. Highway 29 (US 29) is a United States Numbered Highway that runs for 168 miles (270 km) from the South Carolina state line, near Blacksburg, to the commonwealth of Virginia, near Danville. It is signed with north–south cardinal directions, but is actually a northeast and southwest diagonal highway throughout the state. The route serves the North Carolina Piedmont, including the cities of Charlotte, Salisbury, High Point, and Greensboro. From Salisbury to Greensboro, US 29 spends roughly a third of its length in the state being concurrent with US 70.

Route description

US 29 starts in Grover as a two-lane rural road where it intersects with North Carolina Highway 226 (NC 226) shortly after. It then turns into a four-lane boulevard as it heads to Kings Mountain, briefly overlapping with NC 216 as it merges into Interstate 85 (I-85), sharing a concurrency with the Interstate. It then exits I-85 at exit 10A running together with US 74. US 29/US 74 then overlaps with NC 274 for two miles (3.2 km) as the three routes head toward Gastonia. In downtown Gastonia, US 29/US 74/NC 274 intersects with US 321 with NC 274 splitting off on South Broad Street. US 29/US 74 then meets NC 279 before going into Lowell, McAdenville, and Belmont where US 29/US 74 meets NC 7 and then I-485 before going to Charlotte. US 29/US 74 offers access to Charlotte Douglas International Airport before intersecting with Billy Graham Parkway. Here, US 29/US 74 is named Wilkinson Boulevard. At Morehead Street, US 29 splits from US 74 where US 29 briefly overlaps with NC 27 and then intersects I-77. Afterward, US 29 splits from NC 27 where it meets NC 49 as the two routes go around Bank of America Stadium and go along Graham Street through Uptown Charlotte.

Afterward, US 29/NC 49 turns into a boulevard going east on Dalton Avenue and then north on Tryon Street. Eventually, US 29/NC 49 intersects Old Concord Road where the Lynx Blue Line runs between the northbound and southbound lanes. At University City Boulevard, NC 49 splits from US 29 with NC 49 going around the southern part of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte) campus, and US 29 going around the west. Here, the Lynx Blue Line goes under the northbound lanes of US 29 to offer access to UNC Charlotte while US 29 continues as a boulevard toward Concord. Before doing so, it intersects with I-485 once again. Before heading toward Concord, US 29 offers access to Charlotte Motor Speedway before meeting at an interchange with George Liles Parkway. It then briefly overlaps with US 601 and NC 73 in western Concord before US 601 splits to run concurrently with I-85 and NC 73 splitting to head toward downtown Concord. From here, US 29 runs north through Kannapolis. US 29 then goes through Landis and China Grove, briefly overlapping with NC 152 east of China Grove.

US 29 then heads toward Salisbury where, west of downtown Salisbury, it beings to run concurrently with US 70 serving as Salisbury's Main Street. After going through downtown Salisbury, US 29/US 70 offers access to both Spencer and East Spencer before crossing over the Yadkin River. Afterward, US 29/US 70 then merges into I-85/US 52 as the four highways all run together for roughly two miles (3.2 km). At exit 87, US 29/US 52/US 70 splits from I-85 with and briefly joins I-285 and I-85 Business (I-85 Bus.). West of Lexington, US 52 and I-285 split away from US 29/US 70/I-85 Bus. where US 29/US 70/I-85 Bus. goes around the northern edge of Lexington where the three routes briefly overlap with US 64 before heading toward Thomasville.

Exiting Thomasville, US 29/US 70/I-85 Bus. then goes south of High Point and north of Trinity and Archdale before intersecting I-74 southeast of High Point. Following this, US 29/US 70/I-85 Bus. once again runs together with I-85 proper before splitting at the interchange with I-73/US 421. US 29/US 70/I-85 Bus. then merges into I-40 running together with US 220 south of Greensboro. The now five, simultaneously running highways (US 29, US 70, US 220, I-40, and I-85 Bus.) go around southern Greensboro before US 29/US 70/US 220 splits from I-40/I-85 Bus. going north around eastern Greensboro as a controlled-access highway named O. Henry Boulevard. As US 29/US 70/US 220 intersects Wendover Avenue, US 70 and US 220 split from US 29 with US 70 going east along Wendover Avenue and US 220 going west.

US 29, now all alone, goes through the northeastern suburbs of Greensboro where it intersects with I-785 and will run concurrently with I-785 past the Virginia state line once modifications to the existing US 29 are completed. After meeting I-785, US 29 is largely rural with Reidsville being the last town served along the route. Here in Reidsville, US 29 intersects with US 29 Bus. with the latter acting as beltline stretching around western Reidsville. Afterward, US 29 heads northeast to Virginia just southwest of Danville.

History

Established in 1927, it ran from the South Carolina state line to US 74 in Kings Mountain, with a concurrency with NC 205. In 1929, NC 205 was removed.

US 29's first extension was in 1932, following US 74/NC 20 east into Charlotte. It then replaced US 170 from Charlotte to the Virginia state line. In 1937, it replaced a stretch of NC 7 going between Kings Mountain and Gastonia. The old route briefly became alternates for both U.S. Highways before becoming NC 161 and NC 274.

In 1938, US 29 was moved onto a new bypass around Kannapolis–China Grove, leaving US 29A on the old route. In 1948, the routes were switched. In 1952, US 29 was moved onto new bypasses around Lexington and Thomasville, leaving behind US 29A in both cities. In 1957, US 29 was moved onto its modern route from Thomasville to Jamestown, old route became part of NC 62 and US 70A.

In 1957 or 1958, US 29 was moved onto new bypass west of Reidsville, leaving US 29A (later US 29 Bus.) through Reidsville. Also around same time, US 29 was moved onto new bypass east of Kings Mountain, extending NC 216 over its old route; then in Charlotte, it moved onto I-85 between Little Rock Road (exit 32) and the University City area (exit 42), old route through Charlotte as US 29 Bus. In 1961 or 1962, US 29 was moved back further to NC 273 going onto I-85, but, surprisingly, in 1963, US 29 was placed back on its original route through Charlotte again. Similar action also in Salisbury, where, in 1960, US 29 was moved onto I-85, then, in 1964 or 1965, it was moved back through town.

In 1973, US 29 was placed on a new freeway bypass east of Reidsville; its old bypass route was reverted to US 29 Bus., while the old US 29 Bus. through Reidsville was removed. Between 1980 and 1982, the freeway from Reidsville was extended into Virginia.

U.S. Route 170

U.S. Highway 170
Location	Charlotte, North Carolina–Virginia state line
Length	141.1 mi (227.1 km)
Existed	1926–1932

U.S. Highway 170 (US 170) was an original U.S. Highway, established in 1926. It began at the intersection of Trade and Tryon streets in Charlotte, traversing northeast, in concurrency with NC 15 to Concord, Kannapolis, and Salisbury. Northeast of Salisbury, it was overlapped with NC 10 to Lexington, High Point, and Greensboro; via High Point Road to Lee Street, to Fairground Avenue, to Spring Garden Street, to Aycock Street, to West Market Street, to Greene Street, and finally to Summit Avenue, where it began its overlap with NC 70 heading northeast to Browns Summit. Heading northeast, it went through Reidsville, Ruffin, and finally Pelham before crossing into Virginia toward Danville and eventually Lynchburg. In 1932, US 29 joined in concurrency with US 170. Later on, the US 170 designation was removed, leaving US 29 on the route.

Future

The freeway stretch of US 29 traveling southwest from Greensboro to Lexington is currently also signed as I-85 Bus. and US 70. On October 5, 2019, the North Carolina Department of Transportation submitted an application to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and was granted approval, for the removal of the I-85 Bus. designation from the freeway and the rerouting of US 70 between Greensboro and Thomasville, leaving US 29 on the route. This plan, according to the state, will simplify overhead signage on the freeway and eliminate route redundancies.

Junction list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Cleveland	Grover	0.00	0.00		US 29 south – Blacksburg	Continuation from South Carolina
		0.03	0.048		NC 226 north – Shelby
	​	2.2	3.5		NC 216 south (Battleground Road) – Kings Mountain National Military Park	South end of NC 216 overlap
	​	3.5	5.6		NC 216 north (Battleground Road) – Kings Mountain	North end of NC 216 overlap
	​	3.9	6.3	4	I-85 south – Spartanburg	South end of I-85 overlap; southbound exit and northbound entrance
	​	5.2	8.4	5	Dixon School Road
	Kings Mountain	8.0	12.9	8	NC 161 – Kings Mountain
Gaston		9.5	15.3	10A	I-85 north – Charlotte	North end of I-85 overlap
	Gastonia	10.7	17.2		US 74 west – Kings Mountain, Shelby	West end of US 74 overlap
		15.4	24.8		NC 274 north (Bessemer City Road) – Bessemer City	North end of NC 274 overlap
		17.0	27.4		US 321 (Chester Street/York Street)	North-south US 321 divided on one-way streets
		17.5	28.2		NC 274 south (Broad Street)	South end of NC 274 overlap; train tracks in medium of road
		19.0	30.6		NC 279 (New Hope Road)
		19.2	30.9		Aberdeen Boulevard – To Cox Road/Shopping Mall	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Belmont	25.4	40.9		NC 7 (Main Street)	To Belmont Abbey College
		26.2	42.2		NC 273 (Park Street) – Mount Holly
		27.1	43.6		NC 7 west (Catawba Street)
Mecklenburg	Charlotte	27.4	44.1	Sloans Ferry Bridge over the Catawba River
		29.7	47.8		I-485 – Pineville, Huntersville
		31.3	50.4		Little Rock Road – CLT Airport
		32.4	52.1		Boyer Street to Billy Graham Parkway (Charlotte Route 4) – CLT Airport
		35.0	56.3		US 74 east (Wilkinson Boulevard)	East end of US 74 overlap
		35.8	57.6		NC 27 west (Freedom Drive)	West end of NC 27 overlap
		36.2	58.3		I-77 / US 21 north – Statesville
		36.7	59.1		NC 27 east / NC 49 south (Morehead Street)	East end of NC 27 and south end of NC 49 overlap
		38.0	61.2		I-277 / NC 16 (Brookshire Freeway)
		44.0	70.8		To I-85 south / I-85 Connector – Gastonia
		44.6	71.8		NC 49 north (University City Boulevard) – Harrisburg	North end of NC 49 overlap
		45.7	73.5		NC 24 (W.T. Harris Boulevard)
		48.3	77.7		I-485 – Matthews, Huntersville
Cabarrus	Concord	50.6	81.4		Bruton Smith Boulevard	Intersection at Charlotte Motor Speedway, to Concord Mills
		56.4	90.8		US 601 south (Warren C. Coleman Boulevard) – Monroe	South end of US 601 overlap
		58.7	94.5		NC 73 west (Davidson Highway) – Davidson	West end of NC 73 overlap
		59.0	95.0		NC 73 east (Church Street)	East end of NC 73 overlap
		60.0	96.6		I-85 / US 601 north – Charlotte, Salisbury, Greensboro	North end of US 601 overlap
	Kannapolis	62.1	99.9		NC 3 (Dale Earnhardt Boulevard)
		63.3	101.9		Lakeview Street / East First Street
Rowan	China Grove	69.4	111.7		NC 152 west (Church Street) – Downtown	West end of NC 152 overlap
		70.0	112.7		NC 152 east to I-85 / US 601 – Rockwell, Greensboro	East end of NC 152 overlap
	Salisbury	76.8	123.6		US 70 west / US 601 (Jake Alexander Boulevard)	West end of US 70 overlap
		77.4	124.6		NC 150 west (Mooresville Road)	West end of NC 150 overlap
		78.8	126.8		Innes Street
Davidson	​	84.8	136.5	Yadkin River
	​	85.2	137.1	82	I-85 / US 52 south – Charlotte	Permanently closed as of April, 2010
	​	86.0	138.4	84	I-85 / US 52 south / NC 150 east – Charlotte	South end of I-85/US 52 and east end of NC 150 overlap
	​	87.0	140.0	85	Clark Road	Permanently closed as of November, 2012
	​	88.4	142.3	86	Belmont Road
	Lexington	90.1	145.0	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
		91.1	146.6	84	NC 47 east to I-85 north	To Davidson County Airport
		92.0	148.1	85	Green Needles Road
		93.2	150.0	86	Salisbury Road – Downtown Lexington
		94.2	151.6	87	I-285 / US 52 north – Winston-Salem	North end of I-285/US 52 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance
		95.2	153.2		Old US 64
		95.7	154.0		US 64 west – Mocksville	West end of US 64 overlap
		96.6	155.5		NC 8 (Winston Road) – Lexington, Winston-Salem
		97.5	156.9		US 64 east / Main Street – Asheboro	East end of US 64 overlap
	Thomasville	104.8	168.7		Lexington Avenue – Thomasville	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		107.2	172.5		NC 109 (Salem Street) – Thomasville, Winston-Salem
		108.9	175.3		NC 68 (National Highway) – Thomasville, West High Point	To Piedmont Triad International Airport
Randolph	High Point	110.0	177.0		Old Thomasville Road – High Point
Guilford		110.7	178.2		Prospect Street
		111.8	179.9		West Green Drive
		112.6	181.2		Surrett Drive
		113.2	182.2		Main Street – High Point
		114.5	184.3		I-74 / Brentwood Street – Winston-Salem, Asheboro	Brentwood Street has a separate exit northbound; three-level diamond interchange
		115.6	186.0		Baker Road
		116.7	187.8		Kivett Drive – East High Point
	Greensboro	119.3	192.0		Vickery Chapel Road / Guildford College Road – Jamestown
		120.8	194.4	118	I-85 south / I-85 BL end – Salisbury, Charlotte	South end of I-85 and north end of I-85 Bus. overlap
		121.8	196.0	119	Groometown Road to Grandover Parkway	Southbound exit incorporated with exit 33
		122.6	197.3	120A 33	I-85 north / US 421 south to I-40 east – Durham, Sanford I-73 north / US 421 north to I-40 west / Groometown Road – Winston-Salem	North end of I-85 overlap; southbound exit and northbound entrance
		123.5	198.8	34	Holden Road
		124.4	200.2	35 A-B	A: US 220 south to I-73 south – Asheboro B: US 220 north to I-40 west – Coliseum Area	No southbound exit 35B
		124.9	201.0	35C	Rehobeth Church Road / Vandalia Road
		125.9	202.6	219	I-40 west / US 220 south – Winston-Salem	West end of I-40 overlap; no northbound exit
		126.1	202.9	220	Randleman Road	Left southbound entrance
		126.7	203.9	221	South Elm-Eugene Street – Downtown Greensboro
		127.9	205.8	222	Martin Luther King Jr. Drive
		128.2	206.3	223	I-40 east – Durham, Raleigh	East end of I-40 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance
		128.6	207.0		Florida Street	Northbound exit and entrance only
		129.4	208.2		To I-40 east / I-85 north / Gate City Boulevard	Northbound exit and entrance only
		130.2	209.5		Market Street	To North Carolina A&T State University
		130.6	210.2		Sullivan Street	Northbound exit and entrance only
		130.8	210.5		Bessemer Avenue
		131.1	211.0		US 70 east / US 220 north (Wendover Avenue) - TO Summit Avenue	East end of US 70 and north end of US 220 overlap
		131.9	212.3		Summit Avenue – Greensboro Downtown	Southbound exit and Northbound entrance only
		132.4	213.1		16th Street
		132.9	213.9		Cone Boulevard
				135	I-785 south / I-840 – Raleigh, Charlotte	Greensboro Urban Loop
		136.0	218.9		Hicone Road
		137.9	221.9		Reedy Fork Parkway- TO Summit Avenue
	​	140.9	226.8		NC 150 – Brown Summit
	​	141.9	228.4		Benaja Road
Rockingham	​	144.7	232.9		US 29 Bus. north
	Reidsville	148.5	239.0	149	NC 87 to US 158 west (Freeway Drive) – Reidsville, Burlington
		149.6	240.8	150	Barnes Street – Reidsville Downtown
	​	152.1	244.8	153	US 158 / NC 14 (Freeway Drive) – Reidsville, Eden, Yanceyville
	​	155.5	250.3	156	Narrow Gauge Road
	​	158.3	254.8	159	US 29 Bus. to NC 87 north – Ruffin
	Ruffin	160.6	258.5	161	US 29 Bus. south (Mayfield Road)
Caswell	​	164.2	264.3	165	Law Road
	​	166.7	268.3	167	NC 700 (Shady Grove Road) – Eden
	​	168.3	270.9	169	US 29 Bus. north / US 58 west – Danville, Martinsville	Interchange at Virginia state line
	​				US 29 north / US 58 east – Lynchburg, South Boston	Continuation into Virginia
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

See also

• Special routes of U.S. Route 29

External links

• Media related to U.S. Route 29 in North Carolina at Wikimedia Commons
• NCRoads.com: U.S. 29
• NCRoads.com: U.S. 170