Interstate 77 in North Carolina

Interstate 77 Main route of the Interstate Highway System
South end:	I-77 / US 21 at the SC line near Fort Mill, SC
Major junctions:	I-485 in Charlotte I-85 in Charlotte I-40 in Statesville I-74 in Mount Airy
North end:	I-77 at the VA line near Mount Airy
North Carolina highways < US 76 NC 78 >

Interstate 77 through North Carolina begins at the South Carolina state line at Pineville within near the Carowinds theme park. It then travels through Charlotte past the tall buildings of downtown before passing through the 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.

History

Interstate 77 was not part of the original plans for 714 miles (1,149 km) 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 (1,249 km).^[1]

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 (3 km) 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 (37 km) 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.

Spur Routes

• Interstate 277, a nearly-full loop around downtown Charlotte.

Exit list

County	Location	#	Destinations	Notes
Mecklenburg	Charlotte	1	Westinghouse Boulevard
		2	I-485	Signed as exit 1 northbound
		3	Arrowood Road	Signed as exit 2 northbound
		4	Nations Ford Road
		5	Tyvola Road – Coliseum Area
		6A	Woodlawn Road south – Queens University	Former US 521 south
		6B	NC 49 (South Tryon Street) / Billy Graham Parkway	Former US 521 north
		7	To NC 49 / Clanton Road
		8	Remount Road	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		9A	NC 160 (West Boulevard)	Northbound exit is via exit 8
		9B	I-277 north (John Belk Freeway) / US 74 east
		9C	US 74 west (Wilkinson Boulevard)
		10A	US 29 / NC 27 (Morehead Street)	Northbound exit is via exit 9C
		10	Trade Street, Fifth Street	Signed as exits 10B (Trade Street east) and 10C (Trade Street west, Fifth Street) southbound
		11A	I-277 south / NC 16 south (Brookshire Freeway east) – Downtown Charlotte
		11B	NC 16 north (Brookshire Freeway west)
		12	La Salle Street
		13	I-85 – Greensboro, Spartanburg	Signed as exits 13A (north) and 13B (south)
		16	US 21 north (Sunset Road) to NC 115	North end of US 21 overlap; signed as exits 16A (north/east) and 16B (west)
		18	NC 24 (Harris Boulevard) / Reames Road
		19	I-485
	Huntersville	23	Gilead Road – Huntersville
		25	NC 73 – Concord, Huntersville
	Cornelius	28	US 21 south – Cornelius, Lake Norman	South end of US 21 overlap
	Davidson	30	Davidson, Davidson College
Iredell	Mooresville	32	Langtree Road
		33	US 21 north – Lake Norman	North end of US 21 overlap
		36	NC 150 – Lincolnton, Mooresville
		42	US 21 / NC 115 – Troutman
		45	Troutman, Barium Springs
	Statesville	49A	US 70 (G. Bagnal Boulevard)
		49B	Downtown Statesville
		50	East Broad Street – Downtown Statesville
		51	I-40 – Winston-Salem, Hickory	Signed as exits 51A (east) and 51B (west)
		54	US 21 – Turnersburg
		59	Tomlin Mill Road – Olin
		65	NC 901 – Harmony, Union Grove
Yadkin		73	US 421 – Yadkinville, Winston-Salem, Wilkesboro, Boone	Signed as exits 73A (south) and 73B (north)
		79	US 21 south / US 21 Bus. north – Jonesville	South end of US 21 Byp. overlap
		82	NC 67 – Jonesville, Boonville, Elkin
Surry	Elkin	83	US 21 Byp. north – Sparta, Roaring Gap	North end of US 21 Byp. overlap; southbound exit is via exit 85
		85	NC 268 Byp. – Elkin
		93	Dobson
		100	NC 89  – Galax, Mount Airy
		101	I-74 east – Mount Airy, Winston-Salem	South end of I-74 overlap

References

External links

• Interstate 77 Northbound North Carolina @ SouthEastRoads.com
• Interstate 77 Southbound North Carolina @ SouthEastRoads.com

v · d · eMajor highways of Metro Charlotte
Interstates
	Interstate 77		Brookshire/John Belk		Interstate 85		I-485 (Outerbelt)
Major U.S. Highways
	Wilkinson/North Tryon		US 74 (Wilkinson/Independence)		US 321
Major North Carolina State/Charlotte City Highways
	Brookshire/Providence		W.T. Harris Boulevard		NC 27		Billy Graham

Interstate 77
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