North Carolina Highway 86

NC 86
Route information
Maintained by NCDOT
Length:	53 mi (85 km)
Existed:	1940 – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 15 / US 501 / NC 54 in Chapel Hill
	I-40 in Chapel Hill I-85 in Hillsborough US 70 in Hillsborough US 158 in Yanceyville
North end:	SR 86 in Danville, VA
Location
Counties:	Orange, Caswell
Highway system
North Carolina Highway System ← I-85 NC 87 →

North Carolina Highway 86 runs north/south for 53 miles (85 km) through Caswell and Orange counties in North Carolina, from Chapel Hill, North Carolina to the Virginia state line at Danville, Virginia.

Route description

NC 86's northern terminus at the Virginia state line.

Orange County

NC 86 travels north from its southern terminus at US 15-501/NC 54 Bypass (Fordham Boulevard) in Chapel Hill, passing through the UNC campus, and the town center. Exiting Chapel Hill into rural Orange County, NC 86 meets I-40 before arriving in Hillsborough. There, the route meets I-85 and then joins NC 57 for about a mile through Hillsborough's central business district. Splitting to the northwest (signed north), NC 86 briefly joins NC 49 as they cross the Caswell County line.

Caswell County

Entering the small community of Prospect Hill, NC 86 splits from NC 49 and travels north toward Yanceyville. Just outside Yanceyville, NC 86 joins U.S. 158 and crosses NC 62. After passing through central Yanceyville, US 158 splits west while NC 86 continues north to the North Carolina–Virginia state line, where the route continues as State Route 86 and travels into Danville, Virginia.

Sign for SR 86 in Danville, Va.

History

Prior to 1940, this was numbered as NC 14. It was renumbered to match up with Virginia's State Route 86. Simultaneous with that change, the old NC 65 was renumbered as NC 14.

Old North Carolina Highway 86, (sometimes referred to as Old 86), is a highway that parallels North Carolina Highway 86. Heading from NC 54 near Carrboro, it follows northwest to Homestead/Dairyland Road near the unincorporated community of Calvander, North Carolina, it heads north paralleling Interstate 40 until the intersection at exit 261. Then intersecting Interstate 85, at exit 164, it ends at the intersection with U.S. Route 70 Business, and North Carolina Highway 86. The highway was moved to the more heavily-traveled corridor between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough in the 1950s.

Major intersections

County	Location	Destinations	Notes
Orange	Chapel Hill	US 15 / US 501 / NC 54 (Fordham Boulevard) – Fearrington, Durham, Carrboro	Southern terminus
		I-40 (Harriet Morehead Berry Freeway) – Burlington, Raleigh	Diamond interchange; Exit 266
	Hillsborough	I-85 – Graham, Durham	Diamond interchange; Exit 165
		US 70 Bus. east	South end of concurrency with Business US 70
		US 70 Bus. west (Corbin Street)	North end of concurrency with Business US 70
		US 70 (Cornelius Street) – Burlington, Durham
		NC 57 north – Caldwell, Roxboro	Southern terminus of NC 57
		NC 49 south – Haw River, Graham	South end of concurrency with NC 49
Caswell	Prospect Hill	NC 49 north – Roxboro	North end of concurrency with NC 49
	Hightowers	NC 119 – Mebane, Semora
		US 158 east – Roxboro	South end of concurrency with US 158
	Yanceyville	NC 62 – Jericho, Milton	Very short .2 mile concurrency
		US 158 west – Casville	North end of concurrency with US 158
Virginia state line		SR 86 north (Main Street) to US 29 / US 58 (Danville Expressway) – Danville	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi