Interstate 73 (I-73) is an intrastate Interstate Highway, located within the US state of North Carolina. It is part of a longer planned corridor, defined by various federal laws to run from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, but only the part south of West Virginia is currently under study. The corridor passes through the states of South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan. Ohio and Michigan do not plan to build any parts of the corridor. West Virginia is building its section (mostly along U.S. Route 52) as a four-lane divided highway, not meeting Interstate standards. On the other hand, North Carolina and South Carolina have built sections and Virginia plans to build its part. Thus Interstate 73 will, once scheduled projects are completed, run from South Carolina to Roanoke, Virginia. Closely related is the extension of I-74 from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Myrtle Beach, with several concurrencies planned.
There are currently two sections signed as I-73:
- 34 miles (55 km) along the U.S. Route 220 (US 220) freeway in North Carolina, from south of Candor to north of Asheboro (concurrently designated I-74);
- 7.5 miles (12.1 km) along the southwestern portion of the Greensboro Urban Loop along with US 421 from the Loop's interchange with US 220 to its interchange with I-40 west of Greensboro, which opened February 21, 2008. This part of the Loop originally was part of I-40, but NCDOT returned I-40 to its original routing through Greensboro in September 2008; signing was still not completed by July 2009.
There are also three sections signed as future I-73, with the word FUTURE replacing INTERSTATE in the route shield:
- 19 miles (31 km) from north of Asheboro north to I-85 near Greensboro (including a section concurrently designated I-74);
- 16.8-mile (27.0 km) section from Candor north to Ellerbe, opened in January 2008 and concurrently designated Future I-74;
- 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of the Greensboro Urban Loop that opened in December 2007, concurrently designated Future I-840.
Read more about Interstate 73: Route Description, History
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