North Carolina Highway 59 (NC 59) was an 8.288-mile-long (13.338 km) primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina that ran through Cumberland County from Interstate 95 (I-95) near Hope Mills to U.S. Route 401 Business (US 401 Bus.) in Owens, within the city limits of Fayetteville.
 North Carolina Highway 59 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by NCDOT | ||||
| Length | 8.288 mi[1] (13.338 km) | |||
| Existed | 1958[2]–November 2022 | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  I-95 in Hope Mills | |||
| North end |   US 401 Bus. in Fayetteville | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | North Carolina | |||
| Counties | Cumberland | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
Route description
editNC 59 was an urban route southwest of Fayetteville. NC 59 began at I-95 (exit 41) and proceeded north from there intersecting I-95 Bus. and U.S. Route 301 shortly thereafter at a partial cloverleaf interchange.[3] NC 59 continued north entering the town of Hope Mills. NC 162 intersected the highway just north of downtown Hope Mills, as NC 59 continued north through the suburban parts of Fayetteville. NC 59 came to its northern end at US 401 Bus. (Raeford Road)[3]
History
editNC 59 was first commissioned in 1932 as a new primary highway from US 1/NC 50 in Raleigh following present day US 401 to Louisburg and ending at US 158/NC 48 in Warrenton.[2] In 1957, NC 59 was renumbered in its entirety by US 401.[2]
Today's alignment was commissioned in 1958 and initially it ran from US 401 west of Owens and around the north side of Fayetteville and ended at US 401 north of Fayetteville.[2] In 1963, NC 59 was extended south through Hope Mills and ended at US 301 as an upgrade to State Routes 1141, 1118, and 1124.[2] By 1968, the northern terminus of NC 59 was truncated to its final endpoint at US 401 Bus. in Owens. US 401 Bus. replaced the original alignment of NC 59 north of there. In 1982, when I-95 was opened around Fayetteville, NC 59 was extended to it.[2]
In November 2022, at the request of both municipalities (Fayetteville and Hope Mills), the North Carolina Department of Transportation decommissioned NC 59 to secondary road 1596. They asked for the change in an effort to redirect commercial truck traffic. The goal of the two cities is to make this route less congested and safer for pedestrians.[4][5]
Major intersections
editThe entire route is in Cumberland County.
| Location | mi[3] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hope Mills | 0.00 | 0.00 | I-95 / Chicken Foot Road – Lumberton, Smithfield | Western terminus; I-95 exit 41 | |
| 0.67 | 1.08 |   I-95 BL / US 301 – Parkton, Fayetteville | Interchange | ||
| 4.98 | 8.01 |  NC 162 (George Owen Road) | |||
| Fayetteville | 8.27 | 13.31 | US 401 Bus. (Raeford Road) / Glensford Drive – Fayetteville, Raeford | Eastern terminus | |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
References
edit- ^ "NCDOT GIS Data Layers". North Carolina Department of Transportation. 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f NC Roads: NC 59[self-published source] Archived October 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c "North Carolina Highway 59" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
- ^ "N.C. 59 Is Eliminated in Cumberland County" (Press release). Raleigh, NC: North Carolina Department of Transportation. November 16, 2022. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Pitts, Myron B (17 November 2022). "NCDOT dropping 'N.C. 59' name at request of Fayetteville, Hope Mills". The Fayetteville Observer. Retrieved 17 May 2023.