North Carolina Highway 98

NC Highway 98
Route information
Maintained by NCDOT
Length:	43.7 mi[1] (70.3 km)
Existed:	1934 – present
Major junctions
West end:	US 15 Bus. / US 501 Bus. / US 70 Bus. in Durham
	US 70 in Durham US 1 in Wake Forest US 1A in Wake Forest US 401 near Youngsville
East end:	US 64 Alt. / NC 231 near Spring Hope
Location
Counties:	Durham, Wake, Franklin, Nash
Highway system
North Carolina Highway System Interstate U.S. State Scenic ← NC 97 NC 99 →

North Carolina Highway 98 (NC 98) is a 44-mile-long (71 km) state highway and a semi-urban traffic artery connecting Durham, Wake Forest, and Bunn as well as many small to medium-sized towns in the north portion of The Triangle region of North Carolina. Running from downtown Durham, the route leaves the city to the east, running into a rural area near Falls Lake. As the road approaches Wake Forest, it widens to a four-lane divided highway and runs along the southern side of the city. Once leaving Wake Forest NC 98 becomes a two lane road again, running through rural areas east of Bunn. After a short concurrency with NC 39, NC 98 continues southeast to reach its eastern terminus at U.S. Route 64 Alternate (US 64 Alt.) and NC 231 west of Spring Hope.

NC 98 first appeared in 1930 as a state route connecting NC 91 and NC 102 in the coastal region of North Carolina. That routing was abolished in 1931 in favor of an extended NC 58. The current routing of NC 98 was established in 1934 with the road's western terminus at NC 91 (present-day Jones Dairy Road) to US 64 west of Spring Hope. In 1941, NC 98 was moved to a new section of road running from Zebulon Road to US 1 in Youngsville, which would later become part of NC 96. In 1952, NC 98 was again relocated along NC 264 through Wake Forest to Durham, and NC 96 took over its abandoned section. In 2003, a bypass was completed around Wake Forest leading to the rerouting of mainline NC 98 to the bypass and the establishment of a business route through the town center.

Route description

NC 98 begins at US 15 Bus./US 501 Bus. in downtown Durham. The eastbound lanes of the road begin at Roxboro Street, however the westbound lanes continue to Magnum Street along a one-way road. From its terminus, the road heads east along Holloway Street, following a concurrency with US 70 Bus. Holloway Street continues to the US 70 interchange, where the US 70 Bus. concurrency ends. NC 98 continues running along Holloway Street, until intersecting Clayton Road, where it then become Wake Forest Highway. Wake Forest Highway continues to be the name for NC 98 throughout Durham County. The highway passes by Oak Grove Elementary School and Neal Middle School on the outskirts of Durham. Before leaving Durham County, the road passes over an extension of Falls Lake.^[1][2]

As the highway enters Wake County, the name changes to Durham Road, which stays the name of the road until Wake Forest. After an intersection with Old Creedmoor Road, NC 98 and NC 50 have a cloverleaf interchange. Continuing to the east, the road intersects Six Forks and New Light Roads, before once again crossing over Falls Lake. After passing by several neighborhoods and crossing over Falls Lake two more times, the road intersects Thompson Mill Road, where it widens from a two lane road to a four lane divided highway. After about one-half mile (0.80 km), the road intersects both Falls of the Neuse Road and NC 98 Bus. The name Durham Road changes to follow NC 98 Business and NC 98 continues to become the Dr. Calvin Jones Highway. After passing by the Wakefield neighborhood, the road has an single point urban interchange with US 1 (Capital Boulevard). Continuing straight it goes on to intersects Galaxy Drive, US 1A (South Main Street), Franklin Street, and Heritage Lake Road, before meeting back up with NC 98 Bus. at the Wait Avenue/Jones Dairy Road intersection. After the intersection, NC 98 changes back into a two lane road, carrying the Wait Avenue name. The highway passes through a very rural area east of Wake Forest, with a few neighborhoods present. Wait Avenue intersects Averette Road at a stoplight, and then continues on to intersect NC 96 just north of Rolesville.^[1][2]

Continuing with the same Wait Avenue name into Franklin County, the highway intersects US 401 at an intersection with slip ramps. From there the road continues to go through a rural area east of Bunn with very few neighborhoods nearby. As the road enters into the downtown areas of Bunn, its name changes to Jewett Avenue. The road travels through a mainly residential area of the town before intersects NC 39 in the center of town. NC 98 turns right onto South Main Street to begin a concurrency with NC 39, which it follows for a little over one mile (1.6 km). South Main Street runs through the main commercial center of the town, and passes by Bunn High School before NC 39 turns off to the south. NC 98 continues southeast along its own highway, toward Spring Hope running through very rural areas of Nash County. As the highway reaches its terminus, a few houses appear along the southern side of the road. NC 98 has its eastern terminus at an intersection with US 64 Alt., which continues east to Spring Hope and south to the US 64 freeway. This spot also marks the northern terminus of NC 231.^[1][2]

History

NC 98 was established in 1934 as a renumbering of a section of NC 581; from NC 91 (Jones Dairy Road) in Wake Forest to US 64 west of Spring Hope. In 1940, it was truncated to a relocated NC 91 (Zebulon Road), with its routing west into Wake Forest becoming part of NC 91.^[3] In 1941, NC 98 was extended north as a new primary routing to US 1 in Youngsville.^[4] In 1952, NC 98 was rerouted west through Wake Forest ending in Durham, replacing NC 264; its former alignment became part of NC 96.^[5]

In 1975, NC 98 was rerouted in Durham: replacing the old alignment to US 15 Bus./US 501 Bus. via Miami Boulevard and Greer Street, to Holloway Street (westbound)/Chapel Hill Street-Liberty Street (eastbound) and its current western terminus.^[6] In 1978, NC 98 replaced part of US 64's routing to its current eastern terminus.^[7][8] In 1981, part of NC 98 was abandoned and placed on new construction as a result of the creation of Falls Lake; remnants of the old alignment that were not submerged became secondary roads.^[9] In 2006, NC 98 was rerouted south along US 1 and onto a new four-lane bypass south of Wake Forest to Jones Dairy Road; its old alignment becoming NC 98 Business.^[10] In 2011, NC 98 was removed from US 1 and placed onto new construction east of Falls of Neuse Road; NC 98 Business was also realigned, starting further east along a new alignment of Durham Road.^[11]

The first NC 98 was established in 1930 as a new primary routing from NC 91 near Wilson, to NC 102 near Snow Hill. In 1931, it was decommissioned in favor of becoming part of NC 58.^[12]

North Carolina Highway 264

NC Highway 264
Location:	Zebulon–Durham, North Carolina
Length:	44.5 mi[13] (71.6 km)
Existed:	1941–1952

North Carolina Highway 264 (NC 264) was formed in 1941 as a renumbering of NC 91. It went from the intersection at Roxboro and Greer streets in Durham to US 64/US 264 in Zebulon.^[4] It was renumbered in 1952. The route from current NC 98 to Zebulon was renumbered as NC 96. The rest of the route was renumbered as NC 98.^[5]

Junction list

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Durham	Durham	0.0	0.0	US 15 Bus. / US 501 Bus. south (Mangum Street) / US 70 Bus. west (Morgan Street)	NC 98 eastbound begin on Chapel Hill Street; NC 98 westbound end on Mangum Street US 70 Bus westbound overlap ends
		0.2	0.32	US 15 Bus. / US 501 Bus. north (Roxboro Street)	One block eastbound overlap with US 15 Bus/US 501 Bus along Roxboro Street US 70 Bus eastbound overlap begins
		0.9	1.4	NC 55 (Alston Avenue)
		1.8	2.9	US 70 Bus. east (Miami Boulevard)	East end of US 70 Bus overlap
		2.2	3.5	US 70 – Raleigh, Burlington	Partial cloverleaf interchange
Wake	​	12.4	20.0	NC 50 (Creedmoor Road) – Raleigh, Creedmoor	Cloverleaf interchange
	Wake Forest	20.0	32.2	NC 98 Bus. east (Durham Road)
		21.0	33.8	US 1 (Capital Boulevard) – Raleigh, Henderson	Single-point urban interchange
		22.3	35.9	US 1A (Main Street) – Wake Forest
		23.8	38.3	NC 98 Bus. west (Wait Avenue)
	​	27.1	43.6	NC 96 (Zebulon Road) – Zebulon, Youngsville
Franklin	​	29.1	46.8	US 401 – Rolesville, Raleigh, Louisburg
	Bunn	37.6	60.5	NC 39 north (Main Street) – Louisburg	North end of NC 39 overlap
		38.4	61.8	NC 39 south (Main Street) – Pilot	South end of NC 39 overlap
Nash	​	43.7	70.3	US 64 Alt. / NC 231 south to US 64 – Middlesex, Spring Hope
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

Bannered routes

Wake Forest business loop

NC Highway 98 Business
Location:	Wake Forest, North Carolina
Length:	4.1 mi[14] (6.6 km)
Existed:	2006–present

North Carolina Highway 98 Business (NC 98 Bus.) begins at the NC 98/Falls of the Neuse Road intersection just north of Wakefield. The road runs northeast along the western edge of the Crenshaw Hall Plantation neighborhood. After about one-half mile (0.80 km) the road turns a more eastern direction following the old routing of NC 98 (Durham Road). The road has an interchange with US 1 (Capital Boulevard) in the western sections of Wake Forest. NC 98 Bus. continues to the east toward downtown Wake Forest. Once reaching downtown the road runs along the southern side of the Southeastern Baptist Seminary before having a roundabout intersection with US 1A. US 1A joins NC 98 Business and continues along the eastern side of the seminary. NC 98 Bus. turns right onto Roosevelt Avenue and enters downtown Wake Forest. The road merges into Wait Avenue and continues east out of downtown Wake Forest. Just before the road ends at NC 98 the road makes a 90 degree right turn before ending at the NC 98/Jones Dairy Road/NC 98 Bus. intersections. The road name Wait Avenue continues along NC 98 east.

NC 98 Bus. was first created running along Wait Avenue through Downtown and met NC 98 at the US 1A roundabout. This was a renumbering of NC 98 as the first sections of the Wake Forest bypass were put into place. As NC 98 was expanded to US 1, NC 98 Bus. expanded to cover all of the previous NC 98 routing east of US 1 and west of Jones Dairy Road. In September 2010 the third segment of NC 98 was opened from US 1 to Thompson Mill Road with the old routing between Thompson Mill Road and Fawn Drive being torn up and replaced with new routing which became NC 98 Business.^[10][11][15]

Junction list

The entire route is in Wake Forest, Wake County.

mi[14]	km	Destinations	Notes
0.0	0.0	NC 98 / Falls of the Neuse Road
1.1– 1.2	1.8– 1.9	US 1 (Capital Boulevard) – Raleigh, Henderson	Interchange
2.7	4.3	US 1A south (S Main Street)	Roundabout, south end of UA 1A overlap
2.9	4.7	US 1A north (Front Street) – Youngsville	North end of US 1A overlap
4.1	6.6	NC 98 (Doctor Calvin Jones Highway) / Jones Dairy Road
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

1. Google (May 15, 2014). "North Carolina Highway 98" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
2. North Carolina Department of Transportation (2015). 2015-2016 State Transportation Map (Map) (2015–16 ed.). 1:823,680. Cartography by North Carolina State Tax Commission. North Carolina Department of Transportation.
3. North Carolina State Highway and Public Works Commission (1940). North Carolina Primary Highway System (PDF) (Map). North Carolina State Highway and Public Works Commission. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
4. North Carolina State Highway and Public Works Commission (1951). North Carolina Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). 1:20:000. North Carolina State Highway and Public Works Commission. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
5. North Carolina State Highway and Public Works Commission (1960). North Carolina Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). 1:20:000. North Carolina State Highway Commission. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
6. "US and NC Route Change (1975-08-01)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. August 1, 1975. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
7. "US and NC Route Change (1978-09-01)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. September 1, 1978. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
8. "US and NC Route Change (1978-11-10)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. November 10, 1978. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
9. "Route Change (1981-02-01)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. February 1, 1981. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
10. "Route Change (2006-08-21)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. August 21, 2006. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
11. "Route Change (2011-05-09)" (PDF). North Carolina Department of Transportation. May 9, 2011. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
12. North Carolina State Highway and Public Works Commission (September 1930). State Highway System of North Carolina (PDF) (Map). 1:20:000. North Carolina State Highway and Public Works Commission. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
13. Google (May 15, 2014). "North Carolina Highway 264" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
14. Microsoft; Nokia (February 28, 2016). "NC 98 Business – Wake Forest" (Map). Bing Maps. Microsoft. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
15. "NC 98 Wake Forest Bypass". North Carolina Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 27, 2016.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• Media related to North Carolina Highway 98 at Wikimedia Commons
• NCRoads.com: N.C. 98
• NCRoads.com: N.C. 98 Business
• NCRoads.com: N.C. 264