North Carolina Highway 87 (NC 87) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. NC 87 begins in the Atlantic coastal town of Southport and crosses into Virginia at the Virginia state line five miles (8 km) north of Eden in Rockingham County. At 240 miles (390 km) in length, NC 87 is the second longest state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina with only North Carolina Highway 24 (NC 24) being longer. Labeled as a north–south route, NC 87 travels along a relatively straight southeast–northwest path, connecting Cape Fear region with the Piedmont. It is also the main north-south route connecting the cities of Fayetteville, Sanford, Burlington and Reidsville.
Route of NC 87 highlighted in red | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained by NCDOT | ||||
Length | 236.8 mi (381.1 km) | |||
Existed | 1937–present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | ||||
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North end | ||||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | North Carolina | |||
Counties | Brunswick, Columbus, Bladen, Cumberland, Harnett, Lee, Chatham, Alamance, Caswell, Rockingham | |||
Highway system | ||||
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Route description
editNC 87 is a four-lane, divided highway with at-grade crossings between Elizabethtown and Sanford with the exception of Fayetteville, where NC 87 is a freeway. Other sections that are four-lane, divided highways include concurrencies with US 17 and US 74/US 76 in Brunswick County.
In Sanford, it intersects US 421, on which users can travel east to Lillington, or northwest to Greensboro, and Winston-Salem. North of Sanford, NC 87 runs concurrent with US 15/US 501 to Pittsboro. It then continues towards Graham as a two-lane highway. It returns to four-lanes in southern Graham, returning to two-lane in downtown Graham. The route makes a left turn one block north of the Alamance County Courthouse, where it follows a two-lane road before making a right turn onto a four-lane street. The highway remains four-lane through downtown Burlington, returning to mostly two lanes for the remainder of its route in North Carolina, save for Reidsville, where it intersects US 29, and runs on four-lane commercial corridor Freeway Drive.
History
editThis section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (February 2011) |
North Carolina Highway 303
editLocation | Southport–Winnabow |
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Length | 15.1 mi[1] (24.3 km) |
Existed | 1930–October 23, 1952[2] |
North Carolina Highway 303 (NC 303) was a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Established as an original state highway, NC 303 was routed from NC 30, in Pollocksville, west through Trenton, before ending at NC 10/NC 11, in Kinston. In 1925, all of NC 303 was renumbered as part of NC 12. In 1930, NC 303 was resurrected as a new primary routing from NC 130 (now NC 211), near Southport, to NC 30 (became US 17 in late 1934), near Winnabow. On October 23, 1952, NC 303 was renumbered as an extension of NC 87.[2]
Major intersections
editCounty | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brunswick | Southport | 0.0 | 0.0 | Southern terminus | ||||
1.3 | 2.1 | South end of concurrency with NC 133 | ||||||
Boiling Spring Lakes | 3.3 | 5.3 | North end of concurrency with NC 133 | |||||
Winnabow | 15.2 | 24.5 | South end of concurrency with US 17 | |||||
Bishop | 18.6 | 29.9 | North end of concurrency with US 17 | |||||
Maco | 27.9 | 44.9 | South end of concurrency with US 74/US 76 | |||||
Columbus | Delco | 32.4 | 52.1 | North end of concurrency with US 74/US 76 | ||||
Sandyfield | 38.4 | 61.8 | ||||||
Bladen | Elizabethtown | 62.7 | 100.9 | Southern terminus of NC 87 Bus. | ||||
64.7 | 104.1 | |||||||
69.2 | 111.4 | South end of concurrency with NC 41; Northern terminus of NC 87 Bus. | ||||||
Dublin | 70.9 | 114.1 | North end of concurrency with NC 41 | |||||
72.4 | 116.5 | Northern terminus of NC 410 | ||||||
Tar Heel | 79.2 | 127.5 | Northern terminus of NC 131 | |||||
84.2 | 135.5 | Eastern terminus of NC 20 | ||||||
Cumberland | Fayetteville | 97.9 | 157.6 | Cloverleaf interchange with Collector/distributor lanes; Exit 46 | ||||
100.3 | 161.4 | Owen Drive | Diamond interchange | |||||
102.0 | 164.2 | Partial cloverleaf interchange | ||||||
102.8 | 165.4 | Gillespie Street | Partial cloverleaf interchange | |||||
103.5 | 166.6 | South end of concurrency with US 401 Bus.; Partial cloverleaf interchange | ||||||
104.2 | 167.7 | Hay Street | Diamond interchange | |||||
104.7 | 168.5 | North end of concurrency with US 401 Bus.; South end of concurrency with NC 24; Diamond interchange | ||||||
108.6 | 174.8 | |||||||
Spring Lake | 114.1 | 183.6 | South end of concurrency with NC 210 | |||||
114.5 | 184.3 | North end of concurrency with NC 210 | ||||||
116.7 | 187.8 | Eastern terminus of NC 690 | ||||||
Harnett | Spout Springs | 123.1 | 198.1 | North end of concurrency with NC 24; Partial cloverleaf interchange | ||||
Pineview | 126.5 | 203.6 | Diamond interchange | |||||
Lee | Sanford | 135.5 | 218.1 | |||||
137.0 | 220.5 | South end of concurrency with US 421 Bus. | ||||||
138.1 | 222.3 | South end of concurrency with NC 42; Eastern terminus of NC 78 | ||||||
140.7 | 226.4 | North end of concurrency with NC 42 | ||||||
141.9 | 228.4 | South end of concurrency with US 1/15/501; North end of concurrency with US 421 Bus.; Partial cloverleaf interchange | ||||||
142.5 | 229.3 | Burns Drive/Canterbury Road | Partial cloverleaf interchange; exit 69B on US 1 | |||||
143.0 | 230.1 | Cloverleaf interchange; exit 70 on US 1 | ||||||
144.2 | 232.1 | North end of concurrency with US 1; Northern terminus of US 1 Bus.; Partial cloverleaf interchange | ||||||
Chatham | Pittsboro | 157.5 | 253.5 | North end of concurrency with US 15/US 501 | ||||
158.0 | 254.3 | South end of concurrency with NC 902 | ||||||
158.9 | 255.7 | Eastern terminus of NC 902; North end of concurrency with NC 902 | ||||||
160.8 | 258.8 | Diamond interchange | ||||||
Alamance | Graham | 186.5 | 300.1 | Diamond interchange; exit 147 on I-85 | ||||
187.3 | 301.4 | South end of concurrency with NC 49/NC 54 | ||||||
187.8 | 302.2 | North end of concurrency with NC 49/NC 54 | ||||||
Burlington | 189.1 | 304.3 | South end of concurrency with NC 100 | |||||
190.1– 190.3 | 305.9– 306.3 | One-way pair streets | ||||||
192.8 | 310.3 | North end of concurrency with NC 100 | ||||||
Caswell |
No major junctions | |||||||
Rockingham | | 208.1 | 334.9 | East end of NC 150 concurrency | ||||
Williamsburg | 209.2 | 336.7 | West end of NC 150 concurrency | |||||
Reidsville | 212.9 | 342.6 | Diamond interchange | |||||
214.4 | 345.0 | South end of concurrency with US 29 Bus. | ||||||
215.8 | 347.3 | Front Street to | Partial cloverleaf interchange; South end of concurrency with US 158 | |||||
217.9 | 350.7 | North end of concurrency with US 29 Bus. and US 158; South end of concurrency with NC 65; Diamond interchange | ||||||
Wentworth | 221.8 | 357.0 | North end of concurrency with NC 65 | |||||
| South end of concurrency with US 311/NC 770 | |||||||
Eden | 229.5 | 369.3 | South end of concurrency with NC 14 | |||||
231.8 | 373.0 | Partial cloverleaf interchange; north end of concurrency with US 311/NC 770; western terminus of NC 700 | ||||||
| 236.8 | 381.1 | Northern terminus, Virginia state line; north end of concurrency with NC 14 | |||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Special routes
editElizabethtown business loop
editLocation | Elizabethtown, North Carolina |
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Length | 6.4 mi[3] (10.3 km) |
Existed | 1998–present |
North Carolina Highway 87 Business (NC 87 Bus.), was established in 1997, when mainline NC 87 was moved south to bypass downtown Elizabethtown. NC 87 Business follows the original alignment along Broad Street.[4]
The entire route is in Elizabethtown, Bladen County.
mi[3] | km | Destinations | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
0.0 | 0.0 | ||||
2.0 | 3.2 | East end of NC 41 overlap | |||
6.4 | 10.3 | West end of NC 41 overlap | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Fayetteville alternate route 1
editLocation | Fayetteville, North Carolina |
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Existed | 1944–1949 |
North Carolina Highway 87 Alternate (NC 87A), was established between 1940-44 as a new primary routing. It ran from US 15A/NC 87 (Hay Street) north along Robeson Street and then west along Fort Bragg Boulevard, recombining with mainline NC 87 on Fort Bragg Road. Sometime between 1945–49, it switched with mainline NC 87.[5]
Fayetteville alternate route 2
editLocation | Fayetteville, North Carolina |
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Existed | 1949–1957 |
North Carolina Highway 87 Alternate (NC 87A), was established between 1945–49, the second NC 87A in Fayetteville followed the original NC 87 alignment along Hay Street, Morganton Road, and Fort Bragg Road. The route was decommissioned between 1955-57.[6]
Sanford bypass
editLocation | Sanford, North Carolina |
---|---|
Length | 8.0 mi[7] (12.9 km) |
Existed | 2013–present |
North Carolina Highway 87 Bypass (NC 87 By-pass) was established in 2013 as a new primary route along existing sections of the Sanford Bypass (formally SR 9000), from NC 87 to US 1/US 15/US 501. The request to establish a bypass was pushed by the Sanford City Council and Lee County. Typically, the old alignment would become a business loop, but instead the NC 87 mainline remained unchanged. The bypass is built as a freeway; which shares designation with US 421.[8]
References
edit- ^ Google (November 16, 2013). "North Carolina Highway 303" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved November 16, 2013.
- ^ a b "Southport Receives New Route Number". The News and Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. October 24, 1952. p. 5. Retrieved May 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Google (October 17, 2012). "North Carolina Highway 87 Business - Elizabethtown, NC" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved October 17, 2012.
- ^ Route Change (1998-06-15) (PDF) (Map). North Carolina Department of Transportation. June 15, 1998. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ^ 1944 County Maps (PDF) (Map). North Carolina Department of Transportation. December 1, 1944. Cumberland County inset. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ^ 1949 County Maps (PDF) (Map). North Carolina Department of Transportation. June 30, 1949. Cumberland Supplement inset. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ^ Google (June 28, 2014). "North Carolina Highway 87 Bypass - Sanford, NC" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ^ Route Change (2013-08-20) (PDF) (Map). North Carolina Department of Transportation. August 20, 2013. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
External links
editMedia related to North Carolina Highway 87 at Wikimedia Commons
- NCRoads.com: N.C. 87
- NCRoads.com: N.C. 87-A
- NCRoads.com: N.C. 87 Bus