U.S. Route 421 in North Carolina - History

History

  • 1931 - US 421 officially appears on highway maps starting from Winston-Salem (junction with US 70/170) to Boone at King/Harding Street intersection (junction with US 221/321). It was solely within the state of North Carolina and was completely overlapped with NC 60.
  • 1932 - US 421 was extended both north and south. North from Boone, it extended to Sugar Grove where it then replaced US 321 heading towards Mountain City, Tennessee; US 321 redirects towards Elizabethton, Tennessee. From Winston-Salem, the highway is routed to Wilmington following NC 60.
  • 1933 - Highway was realigned around Boone (using a straighter alignment) and in Greensboro (Market Street).
  • 1934 - NC 60 is completely removed from its original route, leaving US 421. NC 60 gets renumbered on a short highway in Cherokee county, where it continues to this day.
  • 1936 - US 421 is extended south from Wilmington to Carolina Beach, Kure Beach, and Fort Fisher, replacing NC 40.
  • 1951-1952 - US 421 bypasses Clinton (on what would be today's Faircloth Freeway). The Wilkesboro area is realigned through town to North Wilkesboro.
  • 1954-1955 - US 421 is rerouted going west out of Wilmington via US 17/74/76, then north following NC 133.
  • 1957-1958 - US 421 is realigned onto a straighter routing between Deep Gap to Wilkesboro. US 421 is redirected out of North Wilkesboro, old routing is rebranded as US 421-A (Now US 421 Business). US 421 is placed onto one-way streets within Winston-Salem (using 4th and 5th streets), it is also rerouted in Greensboro going from Market Street to Henry Blvd Freeway. Between Erwin and Dunn, US 421 is realigned onto a new four-lane expressway.
  • 1962-1963 - US 421 is realigned onto a new road near Sugar Grove and Zionville, leaving the communities of Amantha and Mabel. Between Yadkinville and Winston-Salem, US 421 is given its current alignment, expanding to a freeway after the Yadkin River to I-40; it then overlaps with I-40 through downtown Winston-Salem. In Harnett county, US 421 is moved north, avoiding the community of Mamers, and enters Lillington via Front Street. US 421 is straighten out through Harrells.
  • 1964-1968 - US 421 becomes one-way streets through downtown Greensboro (Market Street and Madison/Gaston Avenues). US 421 is rerouted onto the new Faircloth Freeway in Clinton.
  • 1969-1970 - US 421 is rerouted onto the new Cape Fear Bridge in Wilmington. US 421 is realigned around Bonlee and Bear Creek.
  • 1971-1984 - US 421 completes its bypass around Wilkesboro. Between Greensboro and Staley is upgraded to expressway standards (Joseph M. Hunt Jr Expressway) and bypasses the communities of Pleasant Garden, Climax, Julian, and Liberty. US 421 is rerouted in Sanford, avoiding the community of Broadway.
  • 1987-1990 - The Siler City bypass is completed. US 421 is rerouted going north around Greensboro then going south on Henry Boulevard (US 29).
  • 1994-1999 - US 421 is removed from all surface roads from Kernersville to Greensboro, follows I-40 to Joseph M. Hunt Jr Expressway.
  • 2000-2003 - US 421 is realigned and widen to 4-lane freeway between Yadkinville to Wilkesboro and a 4-lane expressway between Wilkesboro to Boone (though some parts already pre-existed for before 2000). This completes US 421 as a 4-lane (or more) highway from Sanford to Boone.
  • 2008 - US 421 is realigned in Greensboro to follow the new southern loop, overlapping with I-73 and I-85 to Jospeph M. Hunt Jr Expressway. This was done to give drivers a route direction to Winston-Salem after I-40 returned to its original routing after one year on the southern loop.
  • 2012 - In Boone, a 1.1-mile (1.8 km) section, known as King Street, was widened to four to six lanes with a raised concrete median from US 321 (Hardin Street) to east of NC 194 (Jefferson Road). The project cost $16.2 million.


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