A detail from the I-74 Feasibility Study Area Map. Courtesy of N.C. DOT.

Q. I drove U.S. 74 to Charlotte recently and noticed signage saying “Future Interstate 74 Corridor.” How far in the future is this scheduled?

A. Currently there is no funding or proposed construction date for what the state has termed the “Future Interstate 74 Corridor” in Columbus and Brunswick counties. The N.C. Department of Transportation published a feasibility study for the highway in August 2005. The study includes a detailed route map that shows I-74 extending from Union Valley Road (SR 1585) in Whiteville east to Bolton in Columbus County. It would then turn south towards Supply in Brunswick County, running along N.C. 211. From there it would go southwest through Shallotte to the South Carolina state line.

The Columbus-Brunswick portion of I-74 is part of a proposed interstate highway that will run from near Mount Airy at the Virginia border, through Winston-Salem and Highpoint, on to Asheboro, down to Rockingham and Laurinburg, and from there to Whiteville, then across Columbus and Brunswick Counties, and down to the South Carolina state line. There are only about 77 miles of completed I-74 along that route, including a 16-mile section that by-passes Rockingham as you travel from Wilmington to Charlotte.

Of equal interest is a proposal to construct 40 miles of I-20 from Whiteville to the Wilmington bypass. I-20 and I-74 would run together between Whiteville and Bolton, and I-20 would extend east to the bypass.

Click here for the DOT page concerning the project.

RELATED LINKS:

Why is the electronic sign on U.S. 74/76 so inconsistent as to the status of the Cape Fear bridge?

Why not notify drivers sooner that they’ll merge left at U.S. 17 and U.S. 74/76 in Leland

Date posted: December 31, 2012

User-contributed question by:
Michael Williams