North Carolina Highway 16

NC 16
Route information
Maintained by NCDOT
Length:	143.8 mi (231.4 km)
Existed:	early 1920s – present
Major junctions
South end:	NC 75 in Waxhaw
	I-485 in Charlotte I-277 / US 74 in Charlotte I-77 / US 21 in Charlotte I-85 in Charlotte I-40 in Conover US 70 in Conover
North end:	SR 16 at the VA line near Grassy Creek
Location
Counties:	Union, Mecklenburg, Gaston, Lincoln, Catawba, Alexander, Wilkes, Ashe
Highway system
North Carolina Highway System ← US 15 US 17 →

North Carolina Highway 16 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It runs from NC 75, in Waxhaw, to the Virginia state line, near the community of Grassy Creek.

Route description

Starting in the heart of Waxhaw, NC 16 goes north through Weddington and into Charlotte as Providence Road. In Uptown Charlotte, NC 16 briefly overlaps 3rd Street, then merges with I-277, goes north around Uptown and then exits the city in a northwest direction as Brookshire Boulevard (Note - Southbound travelers exiting I-277 (exit 2A) must make a u-turn at the end of the exit ramp to the left, then take another left onto 3rd Street, to stay on NC 16).

After passing the Catawba River, NC 16 becomes a rural freeway through Gaston, Lincoln, and most of Catawba counties (currently an 8.5-mile (13.7 km) gap between freeway's end and Newton). After passing Conover, NC 16 become a two-lane rural road through Alexander and Wilkes counties (with exception in Wilkesboro).

Entering Ashe County, it connects with the Blue Ridge Parkway and then travels, on a somewhat curvy-road, to Jefferson. From Jefferson, it goes north, as a relatively straight mountain road, into the Commonwealth of Virginia near Grassy Creek. Though changed as Virginia State Route 16, it continues through the state then entering West Virginia as West Virginia Route 16, ending in St. Marys, West Virginia (a three-state grand total of 474.3 miles (763.3 km)).

Junction list

County	Location	Mile	Destinations	Notes
Union	Waxhaw	0	NC 75 (Main Street) – Monroe, Lancaster	NC 16 begins
	Weddington	6.5	Rea Road
		7	NC 84 east (Weddington Road) – Monroe
Mecklenburg	Charlotte	10	I-485 (Governor James G. Martin Freeway) – Pineville, Concord
		13	NC 51 (Pineville-Matthews Road)
		22	I-277 south / US 74 west to NC 27 (John Belk Freeway)	End of I-277 south and US 74 west overlaps; southbound NC 16 must take a u-turn at end of ramp then turn left onto 3rd Street
		NC 16 overlaps with Interstate 277 (exits 2A to 5)
		24.5	I-77 / I-277 / US 21 (Bill Lee Freeway) – Statesville, Columbia	North end of I-277 overlap
		25	Beatties Ford Road – Johnson C. Smith University
		26.5	I-85 – Greensboro, Spartanburg
		32	I-485 (Craig Lawing Freeway) – Pineville, Huntersville
Gaston	Lucia	35	To NC 273 (Lucia Riverbend Highway)
		37.5	NC 16 Bus. north (Lucia Riverbend Highway)
Lincoln	Lowesville	42	NC 73 – Lincolnton, Huntersville
Catawba		51	NC 150 – Lincolnton, Mooresville
		53	NC 16 Bus. south – Denver
	61.5	NC 16 Bus. north (Charlotte Highway)
	62.5	NC 10 – Catawba
	Conover	65.5	US 70 (Conover Boulevard East) – Conover, Claremont
		67	I-40 – Conover, Hickory, Statesville
		67.2	NC 16 Bus. south (1st Avenue North and 1st Avenue South)
Alexander	Taylorsville	81	US 64 – Lenoir, Statesville
		82.5	NC 90 (Main Street)	Brief .5-mile (0.80 km) concurrency
Wilkes	Moravian Falls	96	NC 18 south – Lenoir	South end of NC 18 overlap
	Wilkesboro	99.5	US 421 south / NC 18 north – Winston-Salem	South end of US 421 and north end of NC 18 overlaps
		NC 16 overlaps with US 421 (mile markers 283-287)
		104	US 421 north – Boone	North end of US 421 overlap
Ashe		120	Blue Ridge Parkway
		120.5	NC 163 west – West Jefferson
		127	NC 88 east – Laurel Springs, Sparta	East end of NC 88 overlap
	Jefferson	130	US 421 south / NC 88 west – Jefferson, West Jefferson	South end of US 221 and west end of NC 88 overlaps
		132	US 221 north – Twin Oaks	North end of US 221 overlap
		136	Old Highway 16 – Crumpler
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

Bannered routes

Business Loops

Since 1990, NC 16 spawn two business loops:

• Lowesville – The 16.2 miles (26.1 km) route follows the original NC 16 route through the cities of Lucia, Lowesville, and Denver.

• Newton-Conover – The 6.7-mile (10.8 km) route follows the original NC 16 route through the cities of Newton and Conover.

History

NC 16's southern terminus in Waxhaw

• Before 1928: NC 16 was one of the original North Carolina state highways. It ran due south from NC 10 in Newton to the South Carolina border, following mostly what is today US 321 Business.
• 1928: The route was extended north all the way to the Tennessee border; from to Newton to Wilkesboro it was cosigned with NC 18.
• 1933: NC 16 south of Conover was truncated in favor of US 321.
• 1937: NC 16 dropped its former routing along SR 1562 in the foothills of North Carolina for a more direct route.
• 1939: The route's northern terminus was moved to the Virginia border and its southern terminus was extended southward through Charlotte.
• 1954: NC 16 was rerouted away from North Wilkesboro.
• 1958: NC 16 was slightly diverted for an interchange with the newly constructed Interstate 85.
• 1959: NC 16 gained its own unshared route from US 221 to the Virginia border.
• Late 1950s and early 1960s: NC 16's routing through Charlotte changed numerous times.
• 1963: A zigzag routing in southern Charlotte was removed for NC 16.
• 1988: NC 16 follows the newly built Brookshire Boulevard in northern Charlotte; it used to follow parts of Bellhaven Boulevard and Rozzelles Ferry Road, which still exist.
• 1990: NC 16 is rerouted along a newly built 4-lane bypass through Catawba, Lincoln, and Gaston counties. The old route was designated as NC 16 Business.
• Late 1990s and early 2000s: Numerous road widenings are made along NC 16 in the Charlotte area.
• 2008: A new 4 lane divided portion of NC 16 is opened. This new four lane section of NC 16 had dead ended and exited on NC 73 near Denver, NC in Southeastern Lincoln County. It is expected the 4 lane portion will be extended to NC 150 by 2012.

On Thursday, July 30, 2009 The four-lane divided NC16 opened to traffic to Optimist Club Rd. in the Triangle community, south of Denver in eastern Lincoln County, with the next section to open in October, 2009 which will extend to St. James Church Rd. just west of Denver, NC in eastern Lincoln County, NC. Northbound drivers on NC16 will need to exit at St. James Church Rd. and travel east app. 1 mile to intersect with present-day NC16 and then turn left to continue north on NC16 toward Conover, NC.

Future plans

NC 16 is expected to be rerouted onto a new bypass route in northwestern Mecklenburg, eastern Gaston, eastern Lincoln, and southeastern Catawba counties. When completed, this will become the second limited-access stretch of NC 16 (as such, I-277 shares part of the one existing portion). The new bypass is expected to be completed by 2010. In 2008, widening began on the fast-growing part of the road in Union County, which consists of the southernmost part of the highway. The road will be widened from I-485 to Rea RD, south of Weddington. Construction of a new 4-lane "Superstreet" design portion of NC 16 is underway starting in Conover at the Wal-Mart at I-40 and will end in Charlotte.

See also

• Blue Ridge Parkway
• Catawba River
• Lake Norman
• Mount Jefferson State Natural Area
• Mountain Island Lake
• New River
• New River State Park
• Rendezvous Mountain Educational State Forest
• U.S. National Whitewater Center
• Uptown Charlotte
• W. Kerr Scott Reservoir
• Yadkin River