U.S. 52
U.S. Route List | Home
Photo: The cover of the 1964 official state map shows the newly-completed U.S. 52 freeway with Pilot Mountain in the distance.
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U.S. 52
U.S. Route List | Home Photo: The cover of the 1964 official state map shows the newly-completed U.S. 52 freeway with Pilot Mountain in the distance. |
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| U.S. 52 155 miles | |||
| The Road: | Enters the state from South Carolina in Anson
County.
Leaves the state and enters Virginia just north of Mount Airy, in Surry County. Nationally, U.S. 52 runs from Charleston, South Carolina to the Canadian border in northwestern North Dakota. |
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| Towns and
Attractions: |
Anson Co.: Wadesboro
Stanly Co.: Norwood (Norwood Avenue); Albemarle (First Street) Rowan Co.: Rockwell (Main Street); Granite Quarry; Salisbury (Innis Street); crosses the Yadkin River Forsyth Co.: Winston-Salem Surry Co.: Pilot Mountain, a conspicuous, stone-topped mountain in the midst of smaller hills; it's contained within Pilot Mountain State Park and adjacent to the town of Pilot Mountain. Finally, Mount Airy (the fictitious Mayberry of Andy Griffith Show fame). |
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| Intersections: | Anson Co.: M-U.S. 74 through Wadesboro
Rowan Co.: M-I-85 between exits 76 and 87 Davidson Co.: M-Green 85 (and U.S. 29/70) south of Lexington; M-N.C. 8 into and through Winston-Salem Forsyth Co.: I-40 exit 193; M-U.S. 311 into central W-S; Green 40/U.S. 158/421/N.C. 150 |
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| Multilane
Segments: |
Four-lanes divided immediately south of
Salisbury
Four-lane freeway between Green 85 near Lexington all the way to Mount Airy. Although the freeway ends several miles south of Mount Airy, 52 continues four lanes divided all the way to the Virginia line. U.S. 52 in Virginia has a hillclimb lane up the Blue Ridge, but you must endure several miles of single-lane traffic first. Welcome to Virginia. Now Merge Right. |
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| History: | U.S. 52 was not one of the original 1926
or 1929 U.S. highways. Its route in 1926 was followed by N.C. 80 from S.C.
to Salisbury, N.C. 10 from Salisbury to Lexington and N.C. 66 from Lexington
to Winston-Salem and Mount Airy. By 1929, the road north of W-S
was part of short-lived U.S. 121. U.S. 52 arrived by 1948.
The freeway U.S. 52 was finished to the Pilot Mountain exit (the left exit, heading southbound) in the early 1960s. Further north, the bypass of Mount Airy dates back to the mid-1950s, but it wasn't upgraded to four lanes until the mid-1970s. South of W-S, the freeway was completed halfway to Lexington by 1985 and all the way by late 1993. Before the freeway was finished, 52 followed Green 85 to N.C. 8 directly north of Lexington, then split off north toward the town of Welcome. |
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| Comments: | Part of 52 between W-S and Mount Airy
is slated to beome I-74 (map).
The road needs to be updated to Interstate standards in the meantime; right
now it has insufficient shoulders. A freeway connector between Mount Airy
and I-77 is under construction and sports
the temporary designation N.C. 752. Exit numbers first arrived to U.S.
52 between 1993 and 1995 [1]; however; the exit numbers increase going
north. For 52 to become part of I-74, the exits should increase heading
east, which would require them decrease going north on 52.
[2]
A few miles after it crosses the Virginia border, 52 ascends the Blue Ridge. This stretch up the mountains is especially fun to drive: pretty tight curves with a hillclimb lane for the slower folks. U.S. 52 is signed as a north-south route through North Carolina and the rest of the South, even though odd-numbered U.S. highways are technically east-west routes. It's signed as east-west through much of the Midwest, but north-south again in Iowa. U.S. 52 is America's Most Schizophrenic U.S. Highway, touring a stunning variety of terrain and cultures as it runs from the Deep South to the Great North. Its path through North Carolina is no exception, ranging from classic rural highway to brand-spanking-new freeway to urban expressway to mountain gateway. May it never be decomissioned. |
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| Ideas: | Build a bypass around the north of Wadesboro
that could carry U.S. 74 as well.
Fix the exit numbering on the U.S. 52 freeway in order to conform to future I-74's mileage. |
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| Business U.S. 52 6 miles | |
| The Road: | Goes through the center of Mount Airy, Surry
County.
South to north, it's Main Street, Lebanon Street and Springs Road through town. One of the older business routes around, it was bypassed with a two-lane road by 1955. |
