North Carolina Highway 344 (NC 344) is a primary state highway 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 ...
. It serves to connect
Elizabeth City
Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It is the cultural, economic and educ ...
The highway's southern terminus lies at the shores of the
Pasquotank River
The Pasquotank River , from the North Carolina Collection's website at the
Albemarle Sound
Albemarle Sound () is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States located at the confluence of a group of rivers, including the Chowan and Roanoke. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Currituck Banks, a bar ...
. NC 344 winds northwestward through rural Pasquotank County and the unincorporated community of Weeksville as the two-lane Salem Church and Weeksville Roads, becoming a four-lane with center turning lane thoroughfare at the main gate of
Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City
Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City is a United States Coast Guard Air Station co-located at Elizabeth City Regional Airport in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, along the Pasquotank River near the opening of the Albemarle Sound. The base has ...
southeast of Elizabeth City.
NC 344 continues along for another before entering the city limits of Elizabeth City at the southeastern corner of the
Elizabeth City State University
Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) is a public historically black university in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. It enrolls nearly 2,500 students in 28 undergraduate programs and 4 graduate programs and is a member-school of the Thurgood Ma ...
campus. Continuing to the southwestern corner of the Elizabeth City State University campus at its intersection with Herrington Avenue, NC 344 drops its designation of Weeksville Road, becoming Halstead Boulevard for the duration of its existence.
NC 344 continues on for another as a major commercial corridor along Elizabeth City's southern border, having major intersections at Ehringhaus Street or U.S. Route 17 Business (US 17 Bus.) and the mainline US 17 (Hughes Boulevard). Continuing past mainline US 17 as the limited-access
thoroughfare
A thoroughfare is a primary passage or way as a transit route through regularly trafficked areas, whether by road on dry land or, by
extension, via watercraft or aircraft. On land, a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a multi-lane highwa ...
Halstead Boulevard Extension, NC 344 travels through the heart of an emerging retail corridor in western Elizabeth City before coming to a
diamond interchange
A diamond interchange is a common type of road junction, used where a controlled-access highway crosses a minor road.
Design
The freeway itself is grade-separated from the minor road, one crossing the other over a bridge. Approaching the ...
at US 17 Bypass. The interchange marks the northern terminus of NC 344.
History
Weeksville Road, Herrington Avenue, Road and Water Streets through Elizabeth City, carried the designation of NC 170 from the 1950s, followed by NC 168 from 1958 to 1979, then most recently NC 34 before its conversion to NC 344 in 2006.
All three highways continued their route east of Elizabeth City, running
concurrent
Concurrent means happening at the same time. Concurrency, concurrent, or concurrence may refer to:
Law
* Concurrence, in jurisprudence, the need to prove both ''actus reus'' and ''mens rea''
* Concurring opinion (also called a "concurrence"), a ...
with US 158 through Camden county until Belcross, with NC 170 and NC 168 continuing past Sligo 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 ...
border. The creation of NC 34 in 1979 ran from the Pasquotank River to Sligo, with NC 168 running from the Virginia border to Barco in Currituck County.
The previously unsigned Halstead Boulevard had become a major commercial corridor along the south side of Elizabeth City starting in the early 1990s. In 2006, NC 34 was truncated to the eastern third of its route from Belcross in Camden County to Sligo in Currituck County, leaving NC 344 to sign Weeksville Road and Halstead Boulevard to its new terminus with US 17 Bypass.
North Carolina Highway 170
North Carolina Highway 170 (NC 170) was established in 1935 as a new primary routing, from US 17, in
Elizabeth City
Elizabeth City is a city in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,629. Elizabeth City is the county seat and largest city of Pasquotank County. It is the cultural, economic and educ ...
, south to Weeksville. In 1940, NC 170 was extended northeast, in concurrency with NC 30, to Belcross, then replaced NC 30 to Sligo and replaced NC 34 to the Virginia state line. In 1958, NC 170 was renumbered to NC 168 to its entire route.
NC 170 existed once before, from 1929 to 1934; established as a renumbering of NC 512, it traversed from
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 ...
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
Candor
Candor or candour may refer to:
* Candor or parrhesia, the quality of speaking candidly in rhetoric
* ''Candour'' (magazine), a British far-right magazine
* "Candour", a song by Neck Deep from their 2014 album '' Wishful Thinking''
* Duty of c ...
. In 1932, US 411 was added to the entirety of the route. In 1934, both US 411/NC 170 was replaced by US 220.
344
Year 344 ( CCCXLIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Leontius and Bonosus (or, less frequently, year 1097 '' Ab urbe cond ...