Interstate 77 in North Carolina

Infobox road
state=NC
route=77
type=I


maint=
length_mi=
length_round=
length_ref=
year_established=
direction_a=South
terminus_a=
junction=
direction_b=North
terminus_b=
previous_type=US
previous_route=76
next_type=NC
next_route=78

Interstate 77 through North Carolina begins at the South Carolina state line at Pineville within sight of the Carowinds theme park. It then belies its true scenic nature as it travels through the industrial south of Charlotte past the tall banking spires of downtown Charlotte before breaking through into the scenic rolling foothills of Piedmont North Carolina. In Charlotte it intersects Interstate 85 as well as twice intersecting each of the loops of Interstate 485 and Interstate 277.

North of Charlotte, it skirts Lake Norman at Davidson. Forty miles north of Interstate 85, at Statesville it intersects Interstate 40. The final intersection is with a discontinuous section of Interstate 74 near Mount Airy within sight of the southern Blue Ridge that Interstate 77 will climb shortly after leaving the state of North Carolina.

Major cities

Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs:

* Columbia, South Carolina (listed on signs south of I-85)
* Charlotte
* Huntersville
* Mooresville
* Statesville
* Elkin
* Mount Airy
* Wytheville, Virginia (listed on signs north of Mount Airy)

History

Interstate 77 was not part of the original plans for 714 miles of the nation's Interstate Highway System in North Carolina when they were conveyed in 1956 by the then-North Carolina State Highway Commission. I-77 was added in 1957, increasing the state's mileage to 776 miles. [North Carolina Department of Transportation. [http://www.ncdot.org/public/50thanniv/ncinterstates/download/factsI77.pdf Facts: Interstate 77] , NCDOT Web site. Accessed April 21, 2007.]

On August 4, 1959, the commission selected the routing of I-77 to run between Interstate 85 in Charlotte and a point on the Virginia border Elkin. That would change in late 1960, when the commission voted to route the highway just west of Mount Airy, saying the route would serve the most people.

With construction beginning in the 1960s, I-77 would gain additional mileage in October 1964 when a two-mile extension was granted by the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads. Instead of ending at I-85, I-77 now ended at Independence Boulevard (U.S. 74) in downtown Charlotte. Another extension was granted in the late 1960s that extended I-77 from Independence Boulevard to the South Carolina border. The latest extension also included a relocation of U.S. 21 from the city's surface streets to the new interstate.

I-77 opened to traffic in the following segments:

* 1965: Yadkin and Surry counties.
* 1966: A 23-mile stretch in Iredell County.
* 1967: Stretches in Mecklenburg, Yadkin and Iredell counties.
* 1968: A stretch of highway in the Davidson and Cornelius areas in Mecklenburg and Iredell counties.

By 1972, I-77 was open from Exit 28 (NC 73) to Exit 73 north of Elkin. The last two sections of the highway to open to traffic was the stretch from Cornelius to Charlotte in 1975 and from Exit 73 to the Virginia state line in 1977.

pur Routes

* .

Exit list

References

External links

* [http://www.southeastroads.com/i-077a_nc.html Interstate 77 Northbound] North Carolina @ SouthEastRoads.com
* [http://www.southeastroads.com/i-077b_nc.html Interstate 77 Southbound] North Carolina @ SouthEastRoads.com