The Highways of North Carolina
N.C. 43 
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Photo: NC 43 splitting from NC 58 (Adam Prince)
NC 43
N.C. 43  120 miles
The Road: Begins at US 17-70 New Bern (Craven County) and ends at NC 58 Liberia (Warren County).
Towns and Attractions: Craven Co.: New Bern, Vanceboro  
Pitt Co.: Greenville  
Edgecombe Co.: Pinetops, Rocky Mount  
Nash Co.: Rocky Mount  
Halifax Co.: None  
Warren Co.: None  
History: NC 43 was born about 1928, running from US 17-1/NC 40 (current US 301 Business) Rocky Mount northwest to NC 58 Liberia.
In 1931, NC 43 was extended southeast as new primary routing ti Pinetops; replaced a smidge of NC 42; more new routing to Greenville; replaced NC 301 #2 to end at US 17/NC 30 (now US 17 Business) Vanceboro.

1929 Official
NC 43 original route
1929 Official
NC 301 - Vanceboro to Greenville
1931 Official
NC 43 - extended southeast to Greenville and Vanceboro

About 1936, NC 43 was rerouted to leave NC 561 at Essex instead of Hollister.

1930 Halifax County
NC 43-561 split at Hollister
1936 Halifax County
NC 43-561 split at Essex

In 1958, NC 43 was given its current Greenville routing, leaving behind: Charles Ave, 10th St, Albemarle St. and 5th St.

1955 Official
NC 43 in central Greenville
1958 Official
NC 43 avoiding downtown

Between 1988-90, NC 43 was extended south to its current end with US 17 in southern New Bern. This was accomplished with a short multiplex with US 17 Bus and US 17 in Vanceboro, an upgrade to SR 1401 Washington Post Rd and Weyerhauser Rd, a short multiplex with NC 55 and an upgrade to Glenburnie Rd. This extension was signed as a recommended bypass of Bridgeton-New Bern on both ends for US 17 through-traffic.
Sometime after 1968, NC 43 was put on split one-way streets in Rocky Mount. NC 43 SB began using Peachtree
By 1999, NC 43 was rerouted through Rocky Mount using Fairview Rd and Grand Ave. to reach Falls/Peachtree. Up until then, NC 43 used Cokey Rd all the way to US 301 Bus and Falls Rd. leaving downtown. Cokey Rd became secondary, while a small piece of Falls/Peachtree remains part of NC 48.
About 2002, NC 43 received a new routing (and bypass, to boot) in the Rocky Mount area. A new road was built between NC 43 and US 64A, then NC 43 jogged west on 64A to the US 64 freeway, where it multiplexes to the NC 43-48 exit. The old route through Rocky Mount became NC 43 Business in 2003 (2002 Official shows Cokey-Fairview-Grand as secondary).

1968 Edgecombe County
NC 43 traditional Rocky Mount routing
2000 Official
NC 43 removed from central Rocky Mount
2003 Official
NC 43 bypasses Rocky Mount altogether

Per e-mail from Bryan Zellmann, in June 2009 (officially NCDOT did this in Nov 2009), NC 43 was rerouted to end at US 17-70 a little west of New Bern. The old route down to what is now US 17 Business became SR 1309.

1982-83 Official
NC 43 ending in Vanceboro
1999 Official
NC 43 extended to south of New Bern
2013-14 Official
NC 43 rerouted to US 17-70 west of New Bern

Comments:
A few years back I drove NC 43 end to end. It is still largely rural in nature save for Greenville and Rocky Mount.
When the NC 43 New Bern piece was first opened I thought they would eventually attach US 17 to it to form a New Bern Bypass. Guess I missed the boat on that one.

Last Update: 10 October 2014

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