| U.S.
1 171 miles |
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| The Road: |
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Begins at the South Carolina state line below Rockingham (Richmond County) and ends at the Virginia state line above Norlina (Warren County). Nationally the road runs from Key West, FL to Fort Kent, ME.
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Towns and Attractions: |
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Richmond Co.: Rockingham
Moore Co.: Pine Bluff, Aberdeen, Southern Pines,
Lee Co.: Sanford
Chatham Co.: None
Wake Co.: Apex, Cary, Raleigh, Wake Forest
Franklin Co.: Franklinton
Vance Co.: Henderson
Warren Co.: Norlina
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History: |
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US 1 is an original US Highway. When it appeared in late 1926 it was assigned to the entirety of the original NC 50 and ran broadly the way it does now. A closer look from a geographic standpoint:
South Carolina to Sanford: US 1 was placed on one-way splits in Rockingham between 1969-72. NB used Franklin St and Fayetteville Rd while SB used the original routing of Washington to Hancock.
US 1 on Hancock/Washington
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US 1 onto one-way splits
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Between 1937-44, US 1 was rerouted in Aberdeen to today's routing. Initially, US 1 used S. Pinehurst St, a small bit of today's NC 5 and Poplar Ave.
US 1 on Poplar
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US 1 moves west to current alignment
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In 1956 or 1957, US 1 was given a bypass to the west of Southern Pines. The old route through town on May Ave became US 1-A but is unnumbered today.
US 1 through Southern Pines
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US 1 bypasses Southern Pines
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In June 2005, a new freeway bypass of Vass and Cameron opened. The old route became US 1 Business.
US 1 through Vass-Cameron
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US 1 bypasses Vass-Cameron
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In 1933, US 1 south of Tramway was removed from Rocky Fork Church Rd and put on today's US 1.
US 1 swings east
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US 1 straightened out
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In 1956 or 1957, US 1 was given a western bypass of Sanford. The old route through town became US 1/15/501-A (now US 1 Bus except on Carthage St below NC 42 which is now unnumbered).
US 1 through Sanford
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US 1 bypasses Sanford
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Sanford to Raleigh:
In 1960, US 1 was given a new super-2 routing bypassing Moncure leaving behind "Old US 1"
In 1963, a new segment of US 1 superhighway opened between NC 55 Apex and HIllsborough St in Western Raleigh. US 1 was duplexed with NC 55 at this time to get from old 1 to new 1. The old route through Apex became Salem Rd, a little US 64 (also not numbered today) and an extended NC 54.
In 1964 or 1965, another super-2 segment opened connecting the Moncure bypass to NC 55, leaving behind more "Old US 1" plus the NC 55 duplex.
In 1975, the final super-2 segment connecting the Sanford Bypass to the Moncure bypass was opened, leaving behind a couple miles of US 15-501/NC 87 and Deep River Rd.
The Sanford to Apex Super-2 was upgraded to full freeway in stages in the mid 90s.
US 1 original Sanford to Raleigh route
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US 1 bypasses Moncure
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US 1 bypasses Cary
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US 1 bypasses Merry Hill
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US 1 rerouted above Sanford
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Raleigh:
US 1's originally left Cary via Hillsborough St and headed to central Raleigh. Hillsborough became New Bern Ave at the Capitol, then US 1 left New Bern on Person St NB. US 1 then followed today's Wake Forest and Old Wake Forest Rds out of the area.
The 1930 Wake COunty map seems to show US 1 leaving HIllsborough/New Bern at Halifax north to Edenton then over to Person.
In 1948, US 1 was removed from most of Wake Forest Rd and instead placed on Louisburg Rd, replacing what had been briefly US 1-A. Wake Forest Rd then became US 1-A.
In 1956 or 1957, US 1 was rerouted in Raleigh to leave Hillsborough at Dawson/McDowell Sts (one-way pairs) which connected to a new road, Capital Blvd which took US 1 to Louisburg Rd. Person St and Wake Forest Rds have been secondary ever since.
About 1963, US 1 was removed from city streets of Cary and Raleigh and put onto today's Beltline. Hillsborough Rd from Cary to the Beltline became an extended NC 54. The rest of the old US 1 through Raleigh became US 1 Business for a while (today Hillsborough is unnumbered but the rest is still part of US 401).
US 1 original Raleigh route
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US 1 removed from New Bern
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US 1-A on Louisburg Rd
US 1 moved to Louisburg Rd
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US 1 removed from Person/Wake Forest
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Raleigh to Virginia:
About 1953, US 1 was placed on new western bypasses of Wake Forest, Youngsville and Franklinton. The old routes through those places became US 1-A's.
US 1 north of Raleigh
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US 1 bypasses Wake Forest and Franklinton
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In 1956 or 1957, US 1 was given a super-2 bypass to the east of Henderson. The original route through Henderson became US 1-A (now US 1 BUsiness). This was turned into a full freeway between 1991-93.
US 1 through Henderson
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US 1 bypasses Henderson
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Above Henderson, US 1 really hasn't changed from today's routing except US 1 was removed from Mac Powell Rd between 1937-44.
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Comments: |
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US 1 is not the whipping boy for I-95 in North Carolina like it is in many other states. It is a major thoroughfare through most of its Tar Heel run.
US 1 is multilane from Henderson south to the Richmond County Line.
US 1 with I-85 in Virginia is an attractive alternative to get from Richmond and points north to Raleigh.
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