North Carolina Highway System

Interstate 73 (I-73) is a partially completed Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Currently in two distinct segments, when completed, it will traverse north–south through the central Piedmont, connecting the cities of Rockingham, Asheboro and Greensboro.

Interstate 73 begins south of Candor, traversing 26.6 miles (42.8 km) in concurrency with Interstate 74 and US 220, to north of Asheboro. Future Interstate 73 signage fills the gap, along US 220, from Asheboro to Greensboro. Interstate 73 then continues 7.5 miles (12.1 km) along the southwestern section of the Greensboro Urban Loop, in concurrency with US 421, connecting Interstate 85 and Interstate 40.

Authorized by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), Interstate 73 was established as a north-south high priority corridor from Charleston, South Carolina to Detroit, Michigan.

In North Carolina, because of several U.S. Routes were already planned for improvements in the central piedmont area, Interstate 73 was initially aligned to go through Rockingham, Asheboro, High Point, Winston-Salem, and Mount Airy. The route through High Point was approved in May 1993. However, in November of 1993, an organization called Job Link, made up of business leaders from northern North Carolina and southern Virginia, wanted a major highway to connect Roanoke with the Greensboro area. It could be Interstate 73, the group said, but did not have to be. In April 1995, John Warner, who chaired the Senate subcommittee which would select the route of Interstate 73, announced his support for the Job Link proposal. This distressed Winston-Salem officials who were counting on Interstate 73, though Greensboro had never publicly sought the road. But an aide to US Senator Lauch Faircloth said the 1991 law authorizing Interstate 73 required the road to go through Winston-Salem. Faircloth got around this requirement, though, by asking Warner to call the highway to Winston-Salem Interstate 74. In May, Warner announced plans to propose legislation that made the plan for two Interstates official.

When I-73 crossed a border between two states, the federal law authorizing the road required that the two states agree that their sections meet. Originally, both Carolinas selected a route running south from Rockingham. However, North Carolina had more money to spend on roads, and on May 10, 1995, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved North Carolina's plan for I-73 to run eastward to the coast and enter South Carolina at North Myrtle Beach. Later that year, officials in both states agreed that I-73 would enter South Carolina south of Rockingham and that the other highway would be I-74. This raised the possibility of I-73 bypassing the Myrtle Beach area entirely, since I-74 would run to the Myrtle Beach area.

In May, 1997, the first section of Interstate 73 was established, a 12.6 miles (20.3 km) section from south of Candor to Ulah. Signage of "Future Interstate 73" was also placed all along US 220, from Rockingham north to I-40 in Greensboro and south to Candor. On January 7, 2008, an 17 miles (27 km) extension south of Candor to Ellerbe was completed; however, because NCDOT had not applied to the FHWA to add the segment to the interstate system, signage along the new stretch of freeway was listed as Future Interstate 73, thus not an "official" addition to the interstate at that time.

The next section to be completed, and bannered Interstate 73, was the 7.5 miles (12.1 km) southwestern section of the Greensboro Urban Loop, in concurrency with Interstate 40, in February, 2008. The concurrency later changed to US 421 in September of same year (signage corrected by July, 2009).

The newest section of Interstate 73 to be completed is the 8 mile stretch of US 220 freeway in Asheboro. This section had several deficiencies that needed to be corrected before it could be designated an Interstate. Work started on this segment from Business 220/NC 134 south of Asheboro to US 220 Business/Vision Drive North of Asheboro in 2010. Work was completed in October 2012. When work was finished Interstate 73 (and 74) shields replaced the Future I-73(and I-74) shields that had been originally posted in 1997. NCDOT had already reached an agreement with the FHWA that they could sign the entire length of the US 220 freeway south of Greensboro to Ellerbe as Interstate 73 once this project was completed. A contract to change the Future I-73 signs to I-73 shields and replace current exit signage with Interstate standard ones was let on December 11, 2012 and is expected to be completed by the summer of 2013.

On July 11, 2012, NCDOT gave final approval an extension of Interstate 73 from Interstate 85 to Asheboro to be designated as part of its network. On February 2013, work crews began converting a 70-mile (110 km) stretch of signage for Interstate 73; work is expected to be completed by October 2013.

Interstate 73 from the South Carolina state line to US 74/NC 38 interchange is being planned and paid for by SCDOT. Environmental studies were completed in 2011, with a route that includes an interchange at Ghio Road and welcome centers at the state line. Time frame when construction will begin is unknown at this time.

The Western Rockingham Bypass, from the US 74/US 74 Bus. interchange to US 220 Alt near Ellerbe. Currently all right-of-way purchases have been completed along the proposed route, with construction beginning in 2012 on upgrading US 220 north of Rockingham. The remaining sections of the new bypass is currently scheduled to begin construction in late 2017; however, it is subject to reprioritization.

New freeway from NC 68, near PTI Airport, to NC 68, in Rockingham County. Currently all right-of-way purchases have been completed along the proposed route, with construction scheduled to begin April, 2014.