North Carolina Highway 8

NC Highway 8
Route of NC 8 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NCDOT
Length:	94.6 mi[1] (152.2 km)
Existed:	1930 – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 52 in New London
	I‑85 in Lexington I‑85 Bus. / US 29 / US 64 / US 70 in Lexington US 52 in Welcome I‑40 / US 311 in Winston-Salem I‑40 Bus. / US 158 / US 421 / NC 150 in Winston-Salem
North end:	SR 8 near Stuart, VA
Location
Counties:	Stanly, Rowan, Davidson, Forsyth, Stokes
Highway system
North Carolina Highway System Interstate U.S. State Scenic ← NC 7 NC 9 →

North Carolina Highway 8 (NC 8) is a primary state highway in the state of North Carolina. The route connects the cities of Lexington and Winston-Salem to various recreational and natural sites including Uwharrie National Forest, High Rock Lake and Hanging Rock State Park.

Route description

NC 8 begins with NC 740 at the intersection with US 52 and Gold Street, in New London. After a short concurrency with NC 740, it goes northeast to connect with NC 49, then travel briefly on divided four-lane through Rowan County and over the Yadkin River. After briefly serving as the northern perimeter for the Uwharrie National Forest, it splits with NC 49 and goes north to Southmont. Continuing north, it enters the Lexington city limits near I-85. Turing on Talbert Boulevard, it bypasses south of downtown Lexington, then continues north along Raleigh Road and the one-way streets of fifth and sixth streets. On the north side of Lexington, it connects with Business I-85/US 29/US 70/US 64 before pressing on along Winston Road to Welcome, where it begins its longest concurrency with US 52.

With US 52, it bypasses east of Welcome and west of Midway before entering Winston-Salem, where the freeway becomes known as the North-South Expressway. With a brief concurrency with US 311, it eventually splits from US 52 at Germanton Road, where it continues along north as a two-lane rural highway. After joining with NC 65, it crosses into Stokes County and enters Germanton. 1-mile (1.6 km) later, it splits north from NC 65 to meet-up with NC 89 and traverse through Danbury. Ending its last concurrency just north of Hanging Rock State Park, it continues north crossing NC 704 before ending at the state line with Virginia. Continuing into Virginia, it becomes State Route 8, towards Stuart.

History

NC 8 was established in 1930 as a new primary routing from Lexington, 5 miles (8.0 km) south to the Junior Order United American Mechanics (JOUAM) children's home, located near High Rock Lake.^[2] In 1936, it was extended further south to Abbot Creek, passing through Southmont. In 1939, NC 8 was extended southeast on new primary routing, crossing Abbot Creek, to NC 62.^[3]

In late 1940, NC 8 was extended north, in concurrency with US 52 to Winston-Salem, then replaced NC 109 in Forsyth and Stokes counties to the Virginia state line, where it continued on as already existing SR 8. Between 1945-1949, NC 8 was rerouted north of Winston-Salem, from Indiana Avenue, Cherry Street and part of Germanton Road, and onto Patterson Avenue.^[4]

In 1953, NC 8 was extended southwest, with a short concurrency with NC 49 and replacing NC 6, to New London. In 1954, NC 8 was placed on one-way streets in the downtown Winston-Salem, using fourth street (southbound) and fifth street (northbound). In 1960, NC 8 was moved from Main Street to Old Salem Road, in the Salem College area. In 1962, NC 8 was adjusted downtown Winston-Salem: northbound using Main Street–Fifth Street–Liberty Street, and southbound using Liberty Street–First Street. In 1967, NC 8 northbound was rerouted on a short concurrency with US 158/US 421 then north along a completed section of the North-South Freeway; NC 8 southbound remained unchanged until 1973, when the rest of the North-South Expressway was completed, eliminating its routing through downtown Winston-Salem.^[5][6] In 1972, NC–8 was adjusted from Third Street to Sixth Street in Lexington.^[7] In 1981, NC–8 was extended to Gold Street, then share short concurrency with NC–740 to its current southern terminus with US–52.^[8] In 1982, US 52/NC 8 was placed on new freeway west of Midway.^[9] Between 1991-1993, US 52/NC 8 was placed on new freeway bypassing east of Welcome. In 2002, NC 8 was rerouted in Lexington, from Main Street to continue along Raleigh Road to Talbert Boulevard then back to Cotton Grove Road.^[10]

Junction list

NC 8/NC 740, in New London

End of NC 8/NC 740 at US 52

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Stanly	New London	0.0	0.0		US 52 – Albemarle, Salisbury	North end of NC 740 overlap
		0.2	0.32		NC 740 south – Badin	South end of NC 740 overlap; to Morrow Mountain State Park
	​	4.0	6.4		NC 49 south – Concord	South end of NC 49 overlap
Rowan	No major junctions
Davidson	​	7.8	12.6		NC 49 north – Asheboro	North end of NC 49 overlap
	​	30.3	48.8		NC 47 (Junior Order Home Road) – Denton, Linwood
	Lexington	31.7	51.0		I‑85 – Greensboro, Charlotte	Partial cloverleaf interchange; exit 91
		37.0	59.5		I‑85 Bus. / US 29 / US 64 / US 70 – High Point, Asheboro, Mocksville, Salisbury
	Welcome	39.7	63.9	92	US 52 south – Salisbury	South end of US 52 overlap
		45.0	72.4	97	Old U.S. Hwy 52 – Midway
	​	47.2	76.0	100	Hickory Tree Road
Forsyth	Winston-Salem	50.3	81.0	103	South Main Street
		52.7	84.8	105	Clemmonsville Road
		53.8	86.6	107 A-B	A: I‑40 east / US 311 south – Greensboro, High Point B: I‑40 west – Statesville	South end of US 311 overlap Signed as exits 107A (east) and 107B (west)
		54.5	87.7	108A	Sprague Street / Waughtown Street	To University of North Carolina School of the Arts
					Salem Creek Connector	Under Construction (projected in June, 2016)[11]
		55.3	89.0	108B	Vargrave Street	Permanently closed as of January 6, 2014[11]
		55.8	89.8	108C	Stadium Drive – Old Salem	To Winston-Salem State University
		56.1	90.3	109 A-B	A: I‑40 Bus. east / US 158 east / US 421 south / NC 150 east – Kernersville B: I‑40 Bus. west / US 158 west / US 421 north / NC 150 west – Downtown	Signed as exits 109A (east) and 109B (west)
		56.5	90.9	110A	3rd 4th 5th Streets – Downtown	Permanently closed as of February 18, 2013[12][13]
		56.9	91.6	110B	US 311 north (ML King Jr Drive)	North end of US 311 overlap
		57.1	91.9	110C	Liberty Street
		57.4	92.4	110D	Northwest Boulevard	Southbound exit only
		58.2	93.7	111A	25th Street / 28th Street
		58.4	94.0	111B	Liberty Street – Smith Reynolds Airport	Was northbound exit only; permanently closed
		59.4	95.6	112	Akron Drive – Smith Reynolds Airport	To Coliseum and BB&T Field
		60.2	96.9	113	Patterson Avenue
		61.8	99.5	114	US 52 north – Mount Airy	North end of US 52 overlap
		63.9	102.8		NC 66 (Old Hollow Road) – Walkertown, Rural Hall
	​				I‑74 (Winston-Salem Northern Beltway)	Future interchange (unfunded)[14]
	​	68.6	110.4		NC 65 west (Rural Hall-Germanton Road) – Rural Hall	West end of NC 65 overlap
Stokes	Germanton	69.6	112.0		NC 65 east – Walnut Cove	East end of NC 65 overlap
	Meadows	79.2	127.5		NC 89 east – Walnut Cove	East end of NC 89 overlap
	Meadows	85.9	138.2		NC 89 west – Mount Airy	West end of NC 89 overlap
	Coleville	94.3	151.8		NC 704 (Wesley D. Webster Highway) – Sandy Ridge, Westfield
	Campbell	94.6	152.2		SR 8 north – Stuart
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Closed/former       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Unopened

See also

• North Carolina Bicycle Route 4 - Concurrent with NC 8 between Sheppard Mill Road and Hanging Rock Park Road

References

External links

• Media related to North Carolina Highway 8 at Wikimedia Commons
• NCRoads.com: N.C. 8