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All U.S. Highways | Home |
| U.S. 13 about 185 miles | |
| The Road: | Starts at I-95 exit 38, northwest
of Fayetteville, Cumberland County. That's what the current state map implies;
it doesn't touch U.S. 301 anymore.
Leaves in Gates County and continues into Virginia. Nationally, U.S. 13's northern terminus is in Morrisville, Pennsylvania near Trenton. |
| Clowns and Distractions: | Wayne Co.: Goldsboring
Greene Co.: Snow Hill Pitt Co.: Greenville; crosses Tar River; Bethel Martin Co.: Robersonville; Williamston Bertie Co.: crosses Roanoake River and Roanoake River NWR; Windsor Hertford Co.: Ahoskie; Winton; crosses Chowan River |
| Multilane Segments: | Four lanes around Goldsboro, while multiplexed with
U.S. 117 (west of town) and U.S. 70 (north of
town).
Four lanes approaching Greenville from the south, while co-signed with U.S. 264A, and while cosigned with N.C. 11/903 through town. Four lanes between Williamston and Windsor, while multiplexed with U.S. 64 (around Williamston) and U.S. 17 (north of Williamston). Get it? U.S. 13 doesn't get to have four lanes unless it's signed with some other highway as well. |
| History: | The original 1925 U.S. highway plan, which never
came to fruition, did have a provision for a U.S. 13 in North Carolina.
It would have started Wilmington and run at least as far north as Elizabeth
City, following what would become U.S. 17.
Although today's U.S. 13 was first signed in more northerly states by the late 1920s, it wasn't extended into North Carolina at all until around 1953. Before that, the state had a couple different N.C. 13s. At first U.S. 13 ran only as far south as Windsor, along what had been (north to south): In 1956, 13 was extended further south, to Goldsboro. Between Windsor and Greenville it was routed over U.S. 17, U.S. 64 and N.C. 11. South of Greenville, 13 was routed over 264 (now 264A) and 258 to Snow Hill, and N.C. 102 to Goldsboro. Originally, 102 still existed to both the east and west of 13, so the road between Goldsboro and Snow Hill was for several years signed as 13/102. By 1963 (probably a few years earlier), 13 was extended to its current "southern" terminus, again over what had been N.C. 102. The 102 designation was then killed west of Snow Hill. A short connector cutting the corner between 258 and 264 (south of Farmville) was built around 1976. Bypasses... actually, 13's bypasses really belong to all the various highways it's signed with (64, 17, etc.) so they won't be mentioned here. The Goldsboro, Williamston and Windsor bypasses were done by 1976... what did I tell you; I'll research these later. |
| Comments: | You remember the kid in school who looked ugly, had few friends
and always got picked last on dodgeball teams? That's U.S. 13 in North
Carolina:
And its number is unlucky to boot. 13 is the wimpiest U.S. highway in the state; even far shorter U.S. routes (such as U.S. 178) are more interesting to drive. By the time 13 was extended into N.C., most of the state's important byways had been "taken" by other U.S. highways, so it was inevitable that it's far less noteworthy than other eastern N.C. roads. U.S. 13 doesn't touch another U.S. highway in the state without being co-signed with it for a stretch. That is, 13 never simply crosses another U.S. route; it must always join it for a few miles. Another sign of 13's wimpiness. Not all the news for 13 is bad. The road runs into better luck in Virginia, where it's the designation of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, and the main artery on the Delmarva Peninsula. |
| Business U.S. 13? undead | |
| The Road: | May have existed at one time through Goldsboro, Wayne County. |
| Comments: | Currently, U.S. 13 is signed with U.S. 70 over a short freeway that runs north of Goldsboro. Before about 1960, 70 went through the center of Goldsboro; in its early years 13 may have done so as well. The 70 bypass was built by 1963 and widened to four lanes and eventually a freeway later. The original route through the center of town is still signed today as Business 70, but apparently not as Business 13. |
| Business U.S. 13 2 miles | |
| The Road: | Washington Street and Main Street through Williamston, Martin County. |
| Comments: | As old as U.S. 13 itself. Co-signed with Business U.S. 17. The bypass was widened to four lanes around 1964. |
| Business U.S. 13 2 miles | |
| The Road: | Through Windsor, Bertie County. |
| Comments: | Bypassed (with a four-lane road) around 1960.. |
