North Carolina Highway 87 Explained

State:NC
Type:NC
Route:87
Map:NC 87 map.svg
Map Notes:Route of NC 87 highlighted in red
Length Mi:236.8
Length Round:1
Direction A:South
Direction B:North
Terminus A: in Southport
Terminus B: at the Virginia state line
Junction:
Established:1937
Counties:Brunswick, Columbus, Bladen, Cumberland, Harnett, Lee, Chatham, Alamance, Caswell, Rockingham
Previous Type:I
Previous Route:87
Next Type:NC
Next Route:88

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 240miles 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 description

NC 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

North Carolina Highway 303

State:NC
Type:NC 1957
Route:303
Length Mi:15.1
Established:1930
Decommissioned:October 23, 1952[1]
Location:Southport - Winnabow

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.

Special routes

Elizabethtown business loop

State:NC
Type:NC-Bus
Route:87
Location:Elizabethtown, North Carolina
Formed:1998
Length Mi:6.4
Length Round:1

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.[2]

Fayetteville alternate route 1

State:NC
Type:NC 1945
Route:87A
Location:Fayetteville, North Carolina
Formed:1944
Deleted: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.[3]

Fayetteville alternate route 2

State:NC
Type:NC 1957
Route:87A
Location:Fayetteville, North Carolina
Formed:1949
Deleted: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.[4]

Sanford bypass

State:NC
Type:NC-Byp
Route:87
Location:Sanford, North Carolina
Formed:2013
Length Mi:8.0
Length Round:1

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.[5]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Southport Receives New Route Number . May 6, 2021 . The News and Observer . October 24, 1952 . . 5. Newspapers.com.
  2. North Carolina Department of Transportation . Route Change (1998-06-15) . PDF . June 15, 1998 . June 28, 2014.
  3. North Carolina Department of Transportation . 1944 County Maps . PDF . Cumberland County . December 1, 1944 . June 28, 2014.
  4. North Carolina Department of Transportation . 1949 County Maps . PDF . Cumberland Supplement . June 30, 1949 . June 28, 2014.
  5. North Carolina Department of Transportation . Route Change (2013-08-20) . PDF . August 20, 2013 . June 28, 2014.