U.S. Route 17 Business (North Carolina)

There are five business routes of U.S. Route 17 designated as U.S. Highway 17 Business in the state of North Carolina. There are three within Brunswick County, of which one travels through New Hanover County as well. Another Business US 17 passes through Jacksonville and another one passes through Elizabeth City in the northeast corner of the state.

Shallotte

The southernmost Business US 17 was the former routing of US 17 through the heart of Shalotte before a bypass was constructed to the west. The loop is 3.8 miles in length and has the street name Main Street for its entire length. The middle segment is also concurrent with NC 130, which splits from Business US 17 in the north to travel to Oak Island and splits in the south to travel to Whiteville; this multiplex is also a wrong-way concurrency.

Bolivia

North of Shallotte's Business US 17 and just past the community of Supply, another business loop of US 17 forms just west of Bolivia, the small county seat of Brunswick County. This 7.5 mile route is also called the Old Ocean Highway and passes through the center of Bolivia near its northern terminus.

Wilmington

The Business US 17 in the Wilmington area was the old routing of US 17 through the port city before the partial completion of the Wilmington Bypass, which in part is also designated as Interstate 140. Currently, US 17 follows US 421 northbound to its intersection with the Wilmington Bypass, where it joins I-140 eastbound to I-40 and continues to meet its business route's northern termini near Kirkland. The U.S. Highway 17 Truck designation was removed from Military Cutoff Road and Oleander Drive upon the opening of the bypass too.

This business route has its southern terminus on Eagle Island (location of the USS North Carolina battleship) in Brunswick County. Crossing the Cape Fear River over the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge along with US 74, US 76, and US 421, the business route of US 17 enters the city of Wilmington. In downtown, US 74, US 76, and Business US 17 are split between two one-way streets: Oleander Street (southbound) and Dawson Street (northbound). Southeast of downtown, US 74 and Business US 17 switch onto 16th (southbound) and 17th (northbound) Streets. The northbound and southbound lanes come together again on the same road when Business US 17 and US 74 then share Market Street east of downtown. Traveling in an easterly direction, the conjoined federal highways cross US 117/NC 132 (which provides access to the eastern terminus of I-40) and split shortly thereafter; US 74 heads toward Wrightsville Beach. Business US 17 darts northeast through Odgen and Kirkland before meetings returning to its parent route near the New Hanover/Pender county line.

Prior to US 17's rerouting along the Wilmington Bypass, an earlier, now decommissioned Business US 17 existed that went through the central business district of Wilmington.

See also

• Cape Fear Skyway