state highway
A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
in the U.S. state of
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
that runs north and south through Orange and Caswell Counties from
Chapel Hill Chapel Hill or Chapelhill may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Chapel Hill (Antarctica) Australia
*Chapel Hill, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane
*Chapel Hill, South Australia, in the Mount Barker council area
Canada
* Chapel Hill, Ottawa, a neighbo ...
to the
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
state line at
Danville, Virginia
Danville is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, located in the Southside Virginia region and on the fall line of the Dan River. It was a center of tobacco production and was an area of Confederate activity ...
. The highway primarily links the towns of Chapel Hill,
Hillsborough
Hillsborough may refer to:
Australia
*Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie
Canada
*Hillsborough, New Brunswick
*Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick
* Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County
*Hillsborough (electoral d ...
, and
Yanceyville
Yanceyville is a town in and the county seat of Caswell County, North Carolina, United States. Located in the Piedmont Triad region of the state, the town had a population of 1,937 at the 2020 census.
The settlement was founded in 1792 and was l ...
, along with providing a route between Chapel Hill and Virginia. Between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough, NC 86 parallels and serves as an alternative to I-40.
Route description
From NC 86's southern terminus at
US 15
U.S. Route 15 (US 15) is a -long United States highway, designated along South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Walterboro, South Car ...
/ US 501/ NC 54 Bypass (Fordham Boulevard) in Chapel Hill, the highway passes through the town's center and the campus of the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
. Exiting Chapel Hill, the highway intersects I-40 before crossing into rural Orange County. As NC 86 reaches Hillsborough, it meets
I-85
Interstate 85 (I-85) is a major Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 65, I-65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus is an interchange with Interstate 95, I ...
and then passes through Hillsborough's downtown. Further north, 86 meets the southern terminus of NC 57. NC 86 briefly joins NC 49 as they cross the Caswell County line.
Entering the small community of Prospect Hill, NC 86 splits from NC 49 and travels north toward Yanceyville. Just outside Yanceyville, NC 86 joins US 158 and crosses NC 62. After passing through central Yanceyville, US 158 splits west while NC 86 continues north to the state line, where the route continues as State Route 86 and travels into Danville, Virginia.
History
Prior to 1940, this was numbered as NC 14. It was renumbered to match up with Virginia's Route 86. Simultaneous with that change, the old NC 65 was renumbered as NC 14.
Old North Carolina Highway 86, (sometimes referred to as Old 86), is a highway that parallels NC 86. Heading from NC 54 near
Carrboro
Carrboro is a town in Orange County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 21,295 at the 2020 census.Calvander, it heads north paralleling I-40 until the
intersection
In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their i ...
at exit 261. Then intersecting I-85, at exit 164, it ends at the intersection with US 70 Business, and NC 86. The highway was moved to the more heavily traveled corridor between Chapel Hill and Hillsborough in the 1950s.
Major intersections
Special routes
Hillsborough truck route
North Carolina Highway 86 Truck (NC 86 Truck) is a bypass route for truck drivers that are traveling through the city of Hillsborough. This route goes west around the entire city, via I-85 (between exits 165 and 160), I-85 Connector and US 70. The routing is well marked throughout and there are warning signs for truck drivers, including "tolerance ends," for that continue through the city.