U.S. Route 29 in North Carolina

U.S. Highway 29 (US 29) is a United States Numbered Highway that runs for 168.7 mi from the South Carolina state line, near Blacksburg, to the commonwealth of Virginia, near Danville. It is signed with north–south cardinal directions but is actually a northeast and southwest diagonal highway throughout the state. The route serves the North Carolina Piedmont, including the cities of Charlotte, Salisbury, High Point, and Greensboro. From Salisbury to Greensboro, US 29 spends roughly a third of its length in the state being concurrent with US 70.

Route description
US 29 starts in Grover as a two-lane rural road where it intersects with North Carolina Highway 226 (NC 226) shortly after. It then turns into a four-lane boulevard as it heads to Kings Mountain, briefly overlapping with NC 216 as it merges into Interstate 85 (I-85), sharing a concurrency with the Interstate. It then exits I-85 at exit 10A running together with US 74. US 29/US 74 then overlaps with NC 274 for 2 mi as the three routes head toward Gastonia. In downtown Gastonia, US 29/US 74/NC 274 intersects with US 321 with NC 274 splitting off on South Broad Street. US 29/US 74 then meets NC 279 before going into Lowell, McAdenville, and Belmont where US 29/US 74 meets NC 7 and then I-485 before going to Charlotte. US 29/US 74 offers access to Charlotte Douglas International Airport before intersecting with Billy Graham Parkway. Here, US 29/US 74 is named Wilkinson Boulevard. At Morehead Street, US 29 splits from US 74 where US 29 briefly overlaps with NC 27 and then intersects I-77. Afterward, US 29 splits from NC 27 where it meets NC 49 as the two routes go around Bank of America Stadium and go along Graham Street through Uptown Charlotte.

Afterward, US 29/NC 49 turns into a boulevard going east on Dalton Avenue and then north on Tryon Street. Eventually, US 29/NC 49 intersects Old Concord Road where the Lynx Blue Line runs between the northbound and southbound lanes. At University City Boulevard, NC 49 splits from US 29 with NC 49 going around the southern part of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte) campus, and US 29 going around the west. Here, the Lynx Blue Line goes under the northbound lanes of US 29 to offer access to UNC Charlotte while US 29 continues as a boulevard toward Concord. Before doing so, it intersects with I-485 once again. Before heading toward Concord, US 29 offers access to Charlotte Motor Speedway before meeting at an interchange with George Liles Parkway. It then briefly overlaps with US 601 and NC 73 in western Concord before US 601 splits to run concurrently with I-85 and NC 73 splitting to head toward downtown Concord. From here, US 29 runs north through Kannapolis. US 29 then goes through Landis and China Grove, briefly overlapping with NC 152 east of China Grove.

US 29 then heads toward Salisbury where, west of downtown Salisbury, it begins to run concurrently with US 70 serving as Salisbury's Main Street. After going through downtown Salisbury, US 29/US 70 offers access to both Spencer and East Spencer before crossing over the Yadkin River. Afterward, US 29/US 70 then merges into I-85/US 52 as the four highways all run together for roughly 2 mi. At exit 87, US 29/US 52/US 70 splits from I-85 and briefly joins I-285, where US 29 follows the route of former I-85 Business (I-85 Bus.). West of Lexington, US 52 and I-285 split away from US 29/US 70. US 29/US 70 then goes around the northern edge of Lexington where the two routes briefly overlap with US 64 before heading toward Thomasville. In Thomasville, US 70 splits from US 29 and joins NC 68 towards High Point.

Exiting Thomasville, US 29 then goes south of High Point and north of Trinity and Archdale before intersecting I-74 southeast of High Point. Following this, US 29 once again runs together with I-85 proper before splitting at the interchange with I-73/US 421. US 29 then merges into I-40 running together with US 220 south of Greensboro. The now three simultaneously running highways (US 29, US 220, and I-40) go around southern Greensboro before US 29/US 220 splits from I-40 going north around eastern Greensboro as a controlled-access highway named O. Henry Boulevard. As US 29/US 220 intersects Wendover Avenue, US 220 splits from US 29 going west.

US 29, now all alone, goes through the northeastern suburbs of Greensboro where it intersects with I-785 and will run concurrently with I-785 past the Virginia state line once modifications to the existing US 29 are completed. After meeting I-785, US 29 is largely rural with Reidsville being the last town served along the route. Here in Reidsville, US 29 intersects with US 29 Bus. with the latter acting as a beltline stretching around western Reidsville. Afterward, US 29 heads northeast to Virginia just southwest of Danville.

History
Established in 1927, it ran from the South Carolina state line to US 74 in Kings Mountain, with a concurrency with NC 205. In 1929, NC 205 was removed.

US 29's first extension was in 1932, following US 74/NC 20 east into Charlotte. It then replaced US 170 from Charlotte to the Virginia state line. In 1937, it replaced a stretch of NC 7 going between Kings Mountain and Gastonia. The old route briefly became alternates for both U.S. Highways before becoming NC 161 and NC 274.

In 1938, US 29 was moved onto a new bypass around Kannapolis–China Grove, leaving US 29A on the old route. In 1948, the routes were switched. In 1952, US 29 was moved onto new bypasses around Lexington and Thomasville, leaving behind US 29A in both cities. In 1957, US 29 was moved onto its modern route from Thomasville to Jamestown, old route became part of NC 68 and US 70A.

Between 1944 and 1949, US 29 was moved onto a new route north of Greensboro as well as part of the eastern bypass. By 1953, a southern bypass of Greensboro was completed. The eastern bypass was completed to Summit Avenue at Phillips Avenue by December 1956. The widening of eleven and a half miles of US 29 north of Greensboro was announced in 1959.

In 1957 or 1958, US 29 was moved onto new bypass west of Reidsville, leaving US 29A (later US 29 Bus.) through Reidsville. Also around same time, US 29 was moved onto new bypass east of Kings Mountain, extending NC 216 over its old route; then in Charlotte, it moved onto I-85 between Little Rock Road (exit 32) and the University City area (exit 42), old route through Charlotte as US 29 Bus. In 1961 or 1962, US 29 was moved back further to NC 273 going onto I-85, but, surprisingly, in 1963, US 29 was placed back on its original route through Charlotte again. Similar action also in Salisbury, where, in 1960, US 29 was moved onto I-85, then, in 1964 or 1965, it was moved back through town.

In 1973, US 29 was placed on a new freeway bypass east of Reidsville; its old bypass route was reverted to US 29 Bus., while the old US 29 Bus. through Reidsville was removed. Between 1980 and 1982, the freeway from Reidsville was extended into Virginia.

U.S. Route 170
U.S. Highway 170 (US 170) was an original U.S. Highway, established in 1926. It began at the intersection of Trade and Tryon streets in Charlotte, traversing northeast, in concurrency with NC 15 to Concord, Kannapolis, and Salisbury. Northeast of Salisbury, it was overlapped with NC 10 to Lexington, High Point, and Greensboro; via High Point Road to Lee Street, to Fairground Avenue, to Spring Garden Street, to Aycock Street, to West Market Street, to Greene Street, and finally to Summit Avenue, where it began its overlap with NC 70 heading northeast to Browns Summit. Heading northeast, it went through Reidsville, Ruffin, and finally Pelham before crossing into Virginia toward Danville and eventually Lynchburg. In 1932, US 29 joined in concurrency with US 170. Later on, the US 170 designation was removed, leaving US 29 on the route.

Future
The freeway stretch of US 29 traveling southwest from Greensboro to Lexington is currently also signed as I-85 Bus. and US 70. On October 5, 2019, the North Carolina Department of Transportation submitted an application to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and was granted approval, for the removal of the I-85 Bus. designation from the freeway and the rerouting of US 70 between Greensboro and Thomasville, leaving US 29 on the route. This plan, according to the state, will simplify overhead signage on the freeway and eliminate route redundancies.