U.S. Route 701 - Route Description - North Carolina

North Carolina

Just south of the northwest–southeast state line, US 701 veers northeast to bypass Tabor City while US 701 Business follows Hickman Road parallel to the railroad toward the center of the town in Columbus County immediately to the north of the state line. The bypass intersects NC 904 (Pireway Road) before meeting the north end of the business route and NC 410 (5th Avenue) on the eastern edge of town. US 701 has a short concurrency with NC 410 before that highway splits north as Joe Brown Highway. The U.S. Highway heads northeast as James B. White Highway through the hamlet of Sydney before reaching the south end of the city of Whiteville. There, US 701 Business splits to the east as Madison Street while the mainline continues as J.K. Powell Boulevard. Just north of the business route split, US 701 meets NC 130 (Love Mill Road) and runs concurrently with the highway along a two-lane road with center turn lane. The highways cross Soules Swamp and intersects the Carolina Southern Railroad at grade, then pass through Whiteville's main street grid. West of the city center, US 701 and NC 130 intersect US 74 Business and US 76 Business (Washington Street), which NC 130 joins heading west toward Chadbourn. North of downtown, US 701 has a partial cloverleaf interchange with US 74 and US 76 (Andrew Jackson Highway), a freeway that will carry I-74 in the future.

North of Whiteville, two-lane US 701 collects the northern end of US 701 Business and continues the business route's name of James B. White Highway. The highway veers northeast as its junction with NC 131 (Bladenboro Road) at Western Prong. US 701 Business splits to the northeast just before both highways enter Bladen County. US 701 follows W.R. Latham Street through the town of Clarkton, where the highway intersects NC 211 (Green Street) and CSX's Wilmington Subdivision. North of town, US 701 collects the northern end of its business route, College Street, crosses Brown Marsh Swamp, and passes to the west of the historic Brown Marsh Presbyterian Church. The highway continues north to Elizabethtown, on the southern edge of which US 701 intersects and becomes concurrent with NC 242 and has a junction with NC 87, which bypasses the town to the south. The U.S. Highway passes through town as Poplar Street, which intersects NC 87 Business in the center of town; there, NC 41 joins US 701 and NC 242 as they exit the town on a four-lane divided highway that crosses the Cape Fear River. North–south NC 242 splits from US 701 and NC 41 at the same three-way intersection east–west NC 53 joins the highways to pass through Bladen Lakes State Forest, which is named for several Carolina Bays known collectively as the Bladen Lake Group. US 701, NC 41, and NC 53 head east as a two-lane road to the town of White Lake, which surrounds the namesake lake. The two state highways separate from the U.S. Highway at separate intersections in the town.

US 701 heads north and intersects NC 210 before crossing the South River into Sampson County. The highway's name becomes Garland Highway with local variation through the town of Garland, where it follows Ingold Street and intersects NC 411 (2nd Street). US 701 crosses Great Coharie Creek, passes along the edge of the unincorporated community of Ingold, and through the hamlet of Butlers Crossroads. On the southern edge of Clinton, US 701 meets US 421 at a partial cloverleaf interchange; US 701 Business heads straight on Southeast Boulevard while the U.S. Highways head northwest together on the four-lane Faircloth Freeway. The freeway has a three-ramp diamond interchange with Tram Road—the missing ramp is from Tram Road to northbound US 701—just east of a partial interchange with NC 24 where the state highway joins the freeway. Access from northbound US 701 and US 421 to eastbound NC 24 and from westbound NC 24 to southbound US 701 and US 421 is provided via Tram Road. NC 24 splits from the U.S. Highways at the diamond interchange with Sunset Avenue, which the state highway follows west out of the city. US 421 splits from US 701 from a partial interchange where US 421 exits onto Northwest Boulevard to head toward Dunn. Access from southbound US 701 to northbound US 421 and from southbound US 421 to northbound US 701 via North Boulevard, which US 701 meets at the next diamond interchange. The freeway ends where US 701 meets the northern end of US 701 Business and takes over two-lane Hobbton Highway.

US 701 continues through the villages of Keener and Hobbton and meets I-40 at a partial cloverleaf interchange between Monks Crossroads and the town of Newton Grove. In the center of town, the U.S. Highway meets US 13, NC 50, and NC 55 at a six-legged roundabout known as Weeks Circle. US 701 follows Clinton Street south of the circle and Main Street to the north. US 13 uses Fayetteville Street on the southwest leg of the roundabout and Goldsboro Highway to the northeast. NC 50 and NC 55 together use Raleigh Street on the northwest branch of the circle and Mount Olive Drive on the southeast leg. Just after leaving the town limits, US 701 enters Johnston County. The highway passes to the west of the Bentonville Battlefield and through the hamlets of Overshot and Strickland Crossroads before reaching its northern terminus on the eastern edge of Four Oaks. US 701 has a four-way intersection with NC 96, which receives the northbound I-95 exit ramp, and Devils Racetrack Road, which leads to the northbound entrance ramp. US 701 and NC 96 cross over I-95 together and US 701 has its terminus at their intersection with US 301. NC 96 continues north with US 301 toward Smithfield and US 301 heads southwest on its own toward the center of Four Oaks, providing access to the southbound I-95 interchange ramps just west of US 701.