North Carolina Highway 90

NC 90
Route information
Maintained by NCDOT
Length:	71.5 mi[1] (115.1 km)
Existed:	1921 – present
Major junctions
West end:	Edgemont Road (SR 1420) in Edgemont
	US 321 / US 64 / NC 18 in Lenoir I-40 in Statesville
East end:	US 21 / US 64 in Statesville
Location
Counties:	Caldwell, Alexander, Iredell
Highway system
North Carolina Highway System ← NC 89 NC 91 →

North Carolina Highway 90 is a primary state highway in the state of North Carolina. It is one of the few highways in the state with an unpaved portion.

Route description

The western terminus is in Edgemont (in Caldwell County) at an intersection with Edgemont Rd. (SR 1420), Roseboro Rd. (Pisgah National Forest FR 981) and Edgemont Church Pl. (SR 1358). The first 8 miles (13 km) of the highway are quite curvy and unpaved.^[2] Sixty-six miles after its inception, NC 90 ends at US 21/64 in Statesville. Major towns that the highway serves are Lenoir and Taylorsville, North Carolina.^[3]

History

Established in 1921 as an original state highway, it started at NC 50 (Person Street), in Raleigh, going east to Columbia. In 1927, NC 90 was extended west from Raleigh to Lenoir at NC 18. In 1929, NC 90 extended east from Columbia to Fort Landing.

In 1932, US 64 was established and was overlapped on NC 90 from just west of Statesville to Fort Landing. In late 1934, NC 90 was removed from all overlap with US 64 east of Statesville; at same time, NC 90 was extended west from Lenoir to US 221 near Linville, replacing NC 171.

Sometime between 1939-44, NC 90 was extended east back in Statesville to its current east terminus, replacing some of US 64 through the downtown area. At some point in the 1960s, NC 90 was truncated to its current west terminus in Edgemont, its former route to Linville moved under Pisgah National Forest management.^[4][5]

In 2008, NC 90 was removed from downtown Lenoir, creating a overlap with US 321.^[6]

Junction list

County	Location	Mile[1]	Destinations	Notes
Caldwell	Edgemont	0	Edgemont Road/National Forest Road	NC 90 begins
	Collettsville	18	Adako Road
	Lenoir	27.5	US 321 north (Blowing Rock Boulevard) – Blowing Rock, Boone	North end of US 321 overlap
		30	US 321 south (Hickory Boulevard) / US 64 west / NC 18 south (Harper Avenue) – Hickory, Morganton	South end of US 321 and NC 18 overlap, west end of US 64 overlap
		31	NC 18 north (Wilkesboro Boulevard) – Moravian Falls, Wilkesboro	North end of NC 18 overlap
Alexander	Ellendale	46	NC 127 south – Hickory
	Taylorsville	49	US 64 east – Statesville	East end of US 64 overlap
		50	NC 16 – Moravian Falls, Wilkesboro, Conover	Brief .5 miles (0.80 km) concurrency
Iredell	Statesville	67.5	US 64 west – Taylorsville, Lenoir	West end of US 64 overlap
		68	I-40 – Hickory, Winston-Salem
		69.5	US 70 (Hickory Highway/Garner Bagnal Boulevard) – Hickory
		70	US 64 east (Front Street)	East end of US 64 overlap
		71.3	NC 115 (Center Street) – North Wilkesboro
		71.5	US 21 / US 64 (Davie Avenue) – Harmony, Mocksville	NC 90 ends
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

See also

• North Carolina Bicycle Route 2
• Pisgah National Forest

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Google, Inc. Google Maps – NC 90 (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc. http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=N+Carolina+90+E%2FEdgemont+Rd&daddr=36.0168101,-81.6897003+to:35.9175,-81.15169+to:35.8457217,-81.0158722+to:35.7846,-80.92233+to:35.783421,-80.897632+to:E+Water+St&hl=en&ll=35.905737,-81.264496&spn=0.92657,1.783905&sll=35.785861,-80.887098&sspn=0.00725,0.013937&geocode=FTRZJQIdYjcg-w%3BFaqSJQIdnIMh-ynfoDMY1edQiDHGyqQ--Vudpg%3BFbwOJAIdNrkp-ymdRsOHEkBRiDF-MNHvhENR1g%3BFVn2IgIdwMsr-ym_lBnzZENRiDGmA4IO3nPVdQ%3BFZgHIgIdJjkt-ynh-VskSlpRiDEwoVepdKjWyA%3BFf0CIgIdoJkt-ynfCia8gFlRiDF_7Ci1DRP1KA%3BFbUSIgIdqsst-w&mra=dme&mrsp=6&sz=17&via=1,2,3,4,5&z=10. Retrieved 2011-07-02. 
2. ^ North Carolina Department of Transportation Information Technology - IMG Unit (PDF). Caldwell County, North Carolina (Map) (2000 (Rev. 07/13/2007) ed.). http://dotw-xfer01.dot.state.nc.us/gisdot/DOTCountyMaps/PDFs/caldw_plt01GIS-Tif800.pdf. Retrieved 09/06/2007. 
3. ^ NCDOT Communications Office and Geographic Information Services Unit. 2007 North Carolina State Transportation Map (Map) (2007 ed.). http://www.ncdot.org/it/gis/DataDistribution/StateTravelMap/. 
4. ^ "NC State Hwy 90 Ends". http://www.state-ends.com/ncends/state/90.html. Retrieved 2011-07-02. 
5. ^ "NC 90: Lost in Caldwell County". http://www.gribblenation.com/ncpics/nc90/. Retrieved 2011-07-02. 
6. ^ "NCRoads.com: N.C. 90". http://www.members.cox.net/ncroads/nc090.html. Retrieved 2011-07-02.