Interstate 74

*Interstate 74 is a **future highway** meaning information can change quickly. Information may be inaccurate. (Nov 24, 2023)*

## Route Info

### Distance

West Segment: 240 miles (386km)East Segment: 125 miles (201km)
Total as of 2023: 542 miles (872km)

## Junctions

### Junctions

 US 301 near Lumberton, NC in Randleman, NC
 in Archdale, NC
 in Winston-Salem, NC
 from near Mount Airy, NC to Virginia State Line
 Highway ends from Mount Airy, NC to Cincinnati, OH
 US 52 in Cincinnati, OH
 in Indianapolis, IN
 in Indianapolis, IN
 in Champaign, IL
 US 51 in Bloomington, IL
 I-280 in Colona, IL

## Location

### States

Current: North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, IowaFuture: Virginia, West Virginia

**Interstate 74** is currently an east-west highway running from Lumberton, North Carolina to Davenport, Iowa, but it is planned to go from Wilmington, North Carolina to Davenport, Iowa someday. Major cities connected by I-74 include: Rockingham, North Carolina, Asheboro, North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina, Cincinnati, Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana, Champaign, Illinois, Bloomington, Illinois, Peoria, Illinois, Moline, Illinois, Bettendorf, Iowa, and Davenport, Iowa, and will one day serve the communities of Fort Chiswell, Virginia, Wytheville, Virginia, Princeton, West Virginia, Bluefield, West Virginia, and Huntington, West Virginia.

## Route Description (as of 2023)

### North Carolina

I-74 begins at the junction of US 74 and US 74 Alt, right before Interstate 95 in Lumberton, then continues west towards Rockingham, following US 74. *Note: US 74 and I-74 are separate highways, but are concurrent until Laurinburg, and in Rockingham. Normally this would not be allowed, but somehow an exception was allowed.* It meets US 15 and US 501 in Laurinburg, then ends at the junction with US 1 in Rockingham. US 74 continues west towards Charlotte, US 1 goes north to Rockingham, and south to South Carolina. Travelers continuing on I-74 would take US 1 north to US 220, where it becomes a divided highway, but still signed as US 220. 25 miles later in Ellerbe, I-74 and I-73 both begin again, and continue north towards Asheboro. It meets US 64 (which acts as a partial bypass around Asheboro) in Ulah, and US 64 Business in Asheboro. It then splits with I-73 in Randleman, with I-73 going towards Greensboro, and I-74 going towards Winston-Salem. It meets I-85 in High Point, as well as I-85 Business, then makes a bypass around High Point, and meets I-40 near Winston-Salem. where the highway ends until Kernersville, where it begins at an intersection with US 421, acting as a partial bypass away from Winston-Salem, meeting US 158 and US 311 along the way. It then ends again in Rural Hall, merging onto US 52, where I-74 travelers going to I-77 would go. US 52 does remain as a divided highway. I-74 picks up again in Mount Airy from US 52, meeting US 601 along the way, then merges onto I-77, where it has a short concurrency until the Virginia State Line.

### Ohio

I-74 begins at a junction with I-75 near Cincinnati, then has a concurrency with I-275 from north of Cincinnati to Cleves. I-74 then continues northwest through Harrison and enters Indiana.

### Indiana

I-74 enters Indiana and goes northwest, going through West Harrison, Greensburg, and Shelbyville, then meets I-465 near Indianapolis. I-74 ends from I-465 near Indianapolis to Speedway. Travelers continuing on I-74 would take I-465 from Exit 49 to Exit 16. I-74 continues northwest through Crawfordville, Veedersburg, and Covington, then makes a turn to the west and enters Illinois near Danville, IL.

### Illinois

I-74 meets US 150 and US 136 in Danville, paralleling US 150 along the way. It meets US 45 near Urbana, and passes around Champaign, then meets I-57, and I-74 continues northwest, having a short concurrency with I-55 around Bloomington, then continues northwest towards Peoria. It meets I-474 and I-155 near Morton, then passes through downtown Peoria, and meets I-474 and IL 6 after Peoria, then I-74 goes west. I-74 then makes a sharp turn to the north in Galesburg, meeting US 34, then goes towards the Quad Cities. It meets I-80 and I-280 in Colona, starting a concurrency with I-280 in Colona, and splits with I-280 near the Quad Cities airport, and continues north into Moline and Bettendorf. It meets IL 92 in Moline, then crosses the Mississippi River into Iowa.

### Iowa

I-74 enters Iowa after crossing the Mississippi River, passing US 67 in Bettendorf, then meets I-80 again north of Bettendorf. This is the final endpoint for I-74.

## Route Information

### States

South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa

### Junctions

**Myrtle Beach, SC to****Lumberton, NC Segment**
 US 501 in Myrtle Beach, SC
I-140 in Wilmington, NC
US 76 in Chadbourn, NC
 US 74 in Lumberton, NC

**Rockingham, NC to**
**Ellerbe, NC Segment**
US 1 in Rockingham, NC
US 220 from Rockingham, NC to Ellerbe, NC
 in Ellerbe, NC

**Winston-Salem, NC to**
**Kernersville, NC Segment**
*No junctions*

**Rural Hall, NC to**
**Mount Airy, NC Segment**
US 52 in Rural Hall, NC to Mount Airy, NC

**Lamsburg, VA to**
**Cincinnati, OH Segment**
 in Lamsburg, VA
US 58 in Hillsville, VA
 from Fort Chiswell, VA to Wytheville, VA

**Status of Interstate 74**
 Virginia
 West Virginia
 Ohio
 Indiana
 Illinois
 Iowa

I-74 is planned to run from Wilmington, North Carolina to Davenport, Iowa. This has been completed in some areas, most specifically from Ohio to Iowa, and in North Carolina. *Please note: this section of the article will **only** include the **unfinished parts**. If you wish to see the finished portions, please scroll up. I-74 will also be referred to as Future 74 for the Future section of the article.*

### The Carolinas

The first section of Future 74 needs to be built from Wilmington, North Carolina to Lumberton, North Carolina along the US 74 corridor. Future 74 may even take the designation of I-140 to connect to I-40, but we will see. It is also presumed that Future 74 might follow the US 17 designation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to connect to Future 73.

The second section of Future 74 needs to be built through Rockingham, North Carolina and up to Ellerbe. Current I-74 ends at the intersection with US Highway 1 south of Rockingham. Future 74 will likely still get off at this point at the partial cloverleaf, passing through a lot of at-grade intersections along the way, then connecting to US 220 near Rockingham. This section is nearly complete, and just needs to be brought up to interstate standards.

The third section of Future 74 needs to connect the end of current I-74 (Winston-Salem) to the next completed section (Kernersville). However, these highways are not on a direct course to connect, which will prove very challenging. It is possible they will reroute Future 74 away from it's current end to a new route that puts it on a more direct path with the current designation of I-74.

The fourth section of Future 74 needs to connect the current end of I-74 (Rural Hall) to the next section (Mount Airy). This section is currently marked as US Route 52, and is already a controlled access highway, which means it only needs to be brought up to interstate standards, and it will be complete.

For some reason, the part of Section One from Laurinburg to Rockingham is not signed, but is shown on Google Maps and is up to interstate standards. The completed part of the third section is signed as NC 74 instead of I-74, but is shown as I-74 on Google Maps.

### Virginia

Future 74 in Virginia will be a very simple route, as it is concurrent with I-77 for the entire route, and I-81 from Fort Chiswell to Wytheville. The only thing needed would likely be just assigning the route.

### West Virginia

Future 74 would be very beneficial to the state of West Virginia. Future 74 would be concurrent with Future 73 for most of the route. Future 74 would follow I-77 into West Virginia, and get off at the first exit with US 52. Both Future 73 and 74 would follow US 52 for most of the route, being a huge help to Bluefield and Huntington mostly.

### Ohio

It is unclear what Future 74 will do in Ohio, however it will likely parallel the Ohio River for the majority of the route. It will also likely have a concurrency with I-275, and follow that until the current I-74 designation.