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 US 221, which is more twisty 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.
The highway traverses through seven counties: Gaston, Lincoln, Catawba, Burke, Caldwell, Watauga, and Avery. U.S. 321 has six control cities: Gastonia, Lincolnton, Hickory, Lenoir, Blowing Rock, and Boone.
U.S. 321 is a multilane highway beginning at the state line. After 7 miles (11 km), 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 NC 275/NC 279. It remains a freeway until just north of its junction with US 70 in Hickory. The freeway bypasses a number of cities that mainline U.S. 321 once passed through. Today, U.S. 321 Business follows the original 38 miles (61 km) route, that 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 usually 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 considerally 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. However, the NCDOT project page shows that right-of-way acquisition will not begin until 2012.
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. 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. 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 US 421 at King Street and overlaps it over King Street to leave town to the west. NCDOT project R-2615 is proposed to widen the U.S. 321/421 concurrency from this junction to their junction near Vilas, although this project is currently unfunded. 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.
Read more about this topic: U.S. Route 321, Route Description
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