U.S. Route 321
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Please provide rationale, including an explanation of what work needs to be done.
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| U.S. Route 321 |
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| Length: | 526 mi (847 km) | ||||||||||||
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| Formed: | 1931 | ||||||||||||
| South end: | Hardeeville, South Carolina | ||||||||||||
| North end: | Lenoir City, Tennessee | ||||||||||||
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U.S. Route 321 is a spur of U.S. Route 21. It runs for 526 miles (847 km) from South Carolina to Tennessee.
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[edit] Termini
The northern terminus of U.S. 321 is near Knoxville, Tennessee at Interstate 40 exit 364, which is about 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Interstate 40's junction with Interstate 75.
The southern terminus is in Hardeeville, South Carolina at the intersection with U.S. Route 17.
[edit] States traversed
The highway passes through the following states:
[edit] Notable cities on the route
- North, South Carolina
- Columbia, South Carolina
- Gastonia, North Carolina
- Hickory, North Carolina
- Lenoir, North Carolina
- Boone, North Carolina
- Johnson City, Tennessee
- Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
- Maryville, Tennessee
[edit] Business U.S. 321
- High Shoals, North Carolina to Hickory, North Carolina. This business route is over 30 miles (48 km) long and diverges considerably from the main route. It passes through Lincolnton, North Carolina, Maiden, North Carolina, Newton, North Carolina, and Conover, North Carolina
- Granite Falls, North Carolina to Lenoir, North Carolina
- Blowing Rock, North Carolina
[edit] Route description
[edit] South Carolina
List of major junctions
- Jasper County
- Allendale County
- Bamberg County
- Orangeburg County
- Lexington County
- Richland County
- U.S. Route 1 / U.S. Route 378 in Columbia
- Interstate 20 in Columbia
- Chester County
[edit] North Carolina
U.S. 321 is an important route in Western North Carolina. It provides an alternative North-South route to Interstate 77, which passes through a busy metropolitan area, and U.S. Route 221, which is often a twisty and difficult drive up the Appalachians. Travelers from South Carolina who are going to points west of Charlotte and want to avoid the traffic of I-77 may choose to enter the state on U.S. 321.
U.S. 321 is a multilane highway beginning at the state line. After seven miles, it enters the Gastonia area. Traffic on northbound 321 through Gastonia is generally not as heavy as traffic on southbound 321 north of Interstate 85, where it may back up for a couple of miles as drivers wait to turn onto I-85.
The road becomes a freeway at C. Grier Beam Boulevard in Gastonia, just south of North Carolina Highway 275 / 279. It remains a freeway until its junction with Interstate 40. The freeway bypasses a number of cities that mainline U.S. 321 once passed through. A rather long business route still serves Maiden, Newton, and Conover, but the freeway is a more direct route to the mountains, and the business route is generally used by local traffic only.
Traffic is heavy between Hickory and Lenoir. The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has a long-term plan to widen the road to six lanes, which is estimated to be completed by 2015. However, the project will probably take consideraly longer. The first stage of the project (NCDOT project B-4450), replacing the bridge over the Catawba River, was previously estimated to be completed by 2011. [1] However, the NCDOT project page shows that right-of-way acquisition will not begin until 2012. [2]
North of Lenoir, U.S. 321 is a four-lane divided highway. Currently the highway becomes a two-lane road again in northern Caldwell County. NCDOT project R-2237 will widen the road the four lanes through Blowing Rock. [3] The widening of U.S. 321 through Blowing Rock has been a controversial project. Many residents of the town feel that a four-lane highway will destroy the character of the small town, and they proposed several bypass alternatives. NCDOT has selected the widening as its preferred alternative, but added several features such as underground utilities, sidewalks, landscaping, and rock walls to make the widening more palatable to the residents who are opposed to it. [4] These features are not present on the two-lane highway that is being replaced.
North of Blowing Rock, U.S. 321 is already a four-lane highway up to King Street in Boone; thus, R-2237 will make 321 a four-lane highway from the South Carolina state line to downtown Boone. Currently, U.S. 321 meets U.S 421 at King Street and multiplexes with it over King Street to leave town to the west. NCDOT project R-2615 is proposed to widen the U.S. 321/421 multiplex from this junction to their junction near Vilas, although this project is currently unfunded. [5] There is a feasibility study (FS-0511A) in progress to examine the possibility of widening U.S. 321 from the junction near Vilas to the Tennessee state line. If both of these projects were completed, then U.S. 321 would be a four-lane highway through the entire state.
UPDATE - Highway 321 from Blowing Rock to Lenoir is closed two days per week in one of the lanes. Right now there is a pilot car leading everyone through because of a rock slide on December 6th
List of major junctions
- Gaston County
- U.S. Route 29 / U.S. Route 74 in Gastonia
- Interstate 85 in Gastonia
- Catawba County
- Interstate 40 in Hickory
- U.S. Route 70 in Hickory
- Caldwell County
- Watauga County
- U.S. Route 221 in Blowing Rock (U.S. 221 North joins road in multiplex)
- Blue Ridge Parkway
- U.S. 221 in Boone (multiplex ends as U.S. 221 North follows NC 105 North).
- U.S. Route 421 in Boone (joins U.S. 421 North in multiplex over King Street)
- U.S. 421 near Vilas (multiplex ends)
[edit] Tennessee
List of major junctions
- Carter County
- Washington County
- Interstate 26 in Johnson City
- U.S. Route 11E in Johnson City
- Cocke County
- U.S. Route 25 / U.S. Route 70 in Newport
- Interstate 40 in Newport
- Sevier County
- Blount County
- U.S. Route 411 in Maryville
- U.S. Route 129 in Maryville
- Loudon County
[edit] Alternate Routes
U.S. 321 can be a rather treacherous drive over the Appalachian Mountains after its split from U.S. Route 421 near Vilas, North Carolina. An alternate route from Boone, North Carolina to Elizabethton, Tennessee is to take N.C. Highway 105 south to Linville, North Carolina, N.C. Highway 181 to Newland, North Carolina, and then N.C. Highway 194 north to U.S. Route 19E, which continues on to Elizabethton. In contrast to U.S. 321, this route is nearly devoid of switchbacks and sharp turns, and is a safer route for trucks or recreational vehicles.
[edit] Future Plans
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This article contains information about a planned or expected future road. It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change dramatically as the road's construction and/or completion approaches and more information becomes available. |
In addition to the widening project, there have also been talks of a freeway-to-freeway connection with Interstate 85 in Gastonia that would greatly relieve traffic flowing through the junction. Currently, U.S. 321 is a surface road while passing through the interchange, but shortly becomes a freeway north of there. However, in order to extend the freeway to I-85, the few remaining at-grade intersections and traffic lights would have to be eliminated. An interchange is planned for the proposed Garden Parkway, which would terminate at the freeway section of U.S. 321 near Dallas.
[edit] Notes
- U.S. 321 "changes direction" in Elizabethton, Tennessee: the road is designated as southbound in both directions driving away from its interesection with U.S. Route 19E [6].
- Because of its unusual "North-South-North" route, U.S. 321 intersects both Interstate 40 and U.S. Route 70 three separate times.
[edit] References
- "U.S. 321 widening to take longer than estimated" by Andrew Mackie, Hickory Daily Record, March 14, 2006
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Main U.S. Routes | ||||||||||||||||||
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| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | |
| 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | |
| 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 |
| 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 87 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | ||
| 101 | 163 | 400 | 412 | 425 | |||||||||||||||
| Lists | U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Replaced | ||||||||||||||||||
