U.S. Route 421

U.S. Route 421 is a spur route of U.S. 21. It runs for 941 miles (1,514 km) from Michigan City, Indiana, at U.S. 20, to Fort Fisher in North Carolina. The highway goes through the cities of Indianapolis, Indiana, Lexington, Kentucky, Richmond, Kentucky, Boone, North Carolina, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina and ends several miles south of Wilmington, North Carolina.

Route description

U.S. Route 421 begins at Fort Fisher, North Carolina, and heads generally to the northwest to Michigan City, Indiana. Along the way, it passes through Bristol, Tennessee, and Virginia, Lexington, Kentucky, and Indianapolis, Indiana.

North Carolina

US 421 begins at Fort Fisher and heads through North Carolina's southeastern beaches to Wilmington. It then heads in a northwest direction through Clinton, Dunn, Lillington, Sanford and Siler City to the Piedmont Triad region. Major highway junctures between north of Wilmington and Greensboro are NC 11, I-95, U.S. Route 401, US 1, US 64 and I-85. In Greensboro, it follows the Greensboro Urban Loop paired with Interstate 85 south of Greensboro and I-73 northwest of Greensboro. It then connects to I-40 towards Forsyth County as it becomes its own freeway along the former Interstate 40 alignment known as Business 40. Major intersections are NC 66, US 158 and US 52 between Greensboro and Winston-Salem. After Winston-Salem, it intersects I-40 once again but continues westerly passing through Lewisville, Yadkinville, Wilkesboro and Boone. Major highway junctions between Winston-Salem and Boone are US 601, I-77, NC 16, Blue Ridge Parkway, US 221 and US 321. US 421 continues westerly into Tennessee towards Mountain City, Tennessee. US 421 is a limited access freeway through Siler City northward. US 421 is a divided highway from north of NC 49 all of the way to Wilkesboro.

U.S. Route 421 in North Carolina

U.S. Route 421 traverses approximately 328 miles (528 km) across North Carolina; from Fort Fisher, on a peninsula between the Atlantic and Cape Fear River, to the Tennessee state line near the community of Zionville. The highway is nominally labeled "north" and "south" throughout North Carolina, though it really follows a general "northwest-southeast" path, and the segment from Greensboro to Boone is almost due east-west, with compass "west" corresponding to the signed "north" direction.

Majority of the highway is part of the North Carolina Strategic Highway Corridors system. Because of this designation, the state has made numerous changes converting a rural two-lane highway into a major Freeway/Expressway with 4 or more 6 lanes. Finding a road named "Old U.S. Route 421" is not uncommon along the entire route.

Route description

New Hanover County

US 421 starts at a parking/dock area on the Cape Fear side of the peninsula; within a quarter of a mile, the Fort Fisher Ferry Terminal is located where travelers can ride a ferry to Southport. Immediately after the ferry terminal is the Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, where the first and second battles of Fort Fisher took place.

U.S. Route 421 in Virginia

U.S. Route 421 (US 421) is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from Fort Fisher, North Carolina to Michigan City, Indiana. In Virginia, the U.S. Highway runs 69.23 miles (111.41 km) from the Tennessee state line between the twin cities of Bristol, Tennessee and Bristol, Virginia north and west to the Kentucky state line near St. Charles. Between its endpoints, US 421 has lengthy concurrencies with US 23 and US 58 during its course through Bristol, Weber City, Gate City, Duffield, and Pennington Gap in Southwest Virginia.

Route description

US 421 enters Virginia at State Street, which follows the boundary between Bristol, Virginia, and Bristol, Tennessee, and heads north on Commonwealth Avenue, which also carries US 11E, US 19, and SR 381. Prior to spring 2011, US 421 followed a more convoluted routing on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Cumberland Street, Piedmont Avenue, and Goode Street (all but MLK also being U.S. Route 11-19 Truck).