Segment 9 / Segment 10

Where:   I-73/I-74  "US 220 Bypass" from NC 134/Bus. 220, Ulah to US 220A near Candor

Length:   26 Miles (12 miles of new construction, 14 miles of previously existing freeway)

Status:   COMPLETE*

Signed as:    

 * except for 14 miles of needed shoulder widening

The US 220 bypass was opened by May 1997 from Ulah to Steed and was the first freeway to be signed as Interstate 73 and 74. (1) The constructed bypass ran between two older sections of US 220 freeway. Later the interstate signage was extended south to Candor on the previously existing US 220 freeway built in the 1980s. (2) This part received the Interstate designation, though it is not up to current Interstate standards. NCDOT was allowed to sign this 14-mile section as an Interstate with an agreement to fund a project to correct the remaining deficiencies in this section of the highway. Project No. I-4406 will increase the widths of the shoulders in this portion to interstate standards, 10 feet, in 2011 at a cost of $3.7 million. (3) For examples of some of the signage in the area see the photos below. Exit numbers appear on the signage in the new portion of freeway (along with mileposts), numbers run from 39 to 51 and reflect US 220's mileage.

Photos from June 2002:

Signage at the I-73/74 US 220 Interchange with for US 220A and NC Zoo, looking East.

Signage at Intersection of US 220A and the road leading back to I-73/74. The Interstate is 1/2 mile behind where the picture is taken, these signs direct people to go left or right, probably safer than trying to turn around.

Signage at the entrance to the NC Zoo in Asheboro, one of the several I-73/74 sign assemblies miles from the freeway itself.

Junction I-73/74 US 220 signage on new portion of US 220 Bypass Freeway.

Typical Interstate 73/74 US 220 signage at on-ramps south of Asheboro. This interchange is on the part of Interstate 73/74 signed on the older US 220 freeway north of Candor.

For a list of exits in this segment, Go Here.

Sources: NC Transportation Map 2001

(1) King, Michael. 1997. "Interstate 73/74 Now in use in NC!" Quoting article in Triad Business Journal. Posted on misc.transport.road newsgroup, May 5, 1997.
(2) Former NCRoads.com I-73 Page. Text available at: http://members.cox.net/ncroads/interst/ih073.html
 (3) NCDOT. June 2008. State Transportation Improvement Program, 2009-2015, Division 8, p. 8-17. 

I-73, I-74 and US 220 shields courtesy of David R. Kendrick's Shield's Up!.