North Carolina Highway 903 (NC 903) is a primary

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 In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

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 ...

. It serves as predominantly rural highway in the

Inner Banks The Inner Banks is a neologism made up by developers and tourism promoters to describe the inland coastal region of eastern North Carolina. Without historical precedent, the term "Inner Banks" is an early 21st-century construct that is part of a ...

region and

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector ro ...

in and around Greenville. The road covers a total of , in a

zigzag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as a ...

pattern through the state.

Route description

NC 903 begins at an intersection with NC 411 east of

Garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. Etymology From the ...

; where it proceeds to first go north, crossing the Black River, and then east through Delway and

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

. Northeast of Magnolia, NC 903 connects with

I-40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

at its exit 373 and begin its first

concurrency 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 NC 24 (one of many concurrences along its route). Traveling along the Kenansville Bypass, a rural

expressway Expressway may refer to: * Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic. * Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road. *Expressway, the fictional s ...

, it completely bypasses the city of Kenansville. Reverting to a two-lane rural highway and switching to a concurrency with NC 11 and later NC 111, it continues north, crossing the

Neuse River The Neuse River ( , Tuscarora: Neyuherú·kęʔkì·nęʔ) is a river rising in the Piedmont of North Carolina and emptying into Pamlico Sound below New Bern. Its total length is approximately , making it the longest river entirely contained in No ...

, to US 70 in La Grange. Continuing north, it reaches Snow Hill where it overlaps briefly with NC 58 and with US 13/ US 258. Breaking away from the concurrences, it goes east to Maury and then northeast to Winterville, where it meets up with NC 11 again. As NC 903 enters Greenville, the biggest city along its route, it stays completely on Memorial Drive as various highway routes connect on then off it: NC 43, from Greenville Boulevard to Fifth Street; US 13, joins at Dickinson Avenue; and NC 33, from Greene Street to Belvoir Highway. Halfway through the city, it crosses the

Tar River The Tar River is a river that is approximately long, in northeast North Carolina flowing generally southeast to an estuary of Pamlico Sound. The Tar River becomes the tidal Pamlico River once it underpasses the U.S. Highway 17 Bridge in Washin ...

. After passing US 264 in the north Greenville area, NC 903 splits northeasterly from US 13/NC 11 to Stokes and then north to Robersonville which is the first original section of the route. After connecting with US 13 (third and final time) and US 64, NC 903 goes north and merges with NC 125 and travels to

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

. Now going in a northwesterly direction, it splits and then reconnects with NC 125 in Scotland Neck, overlapping briefly with US 258 in town. The NC 903/NC 125 concurrency continues to US 301 in Halifax where it finally splits going west towards

I-95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...

and then to US 158, bypassing

Roanoke Rapids Roanoke Rapids () is a city in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,754 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Roanoke Rapids Micropolitan Statistical Area, and is also an anchor city of the Rocky Mo ...

. Sharing one last concurrency with US 158, it breaks north at Lttleton, going through the

Lake Gaston Lake Gaston is a hydroelectric reservoir in the eastern United States. Part of the lake is in the North Carolina counties of Halifax, Northampton, and Warren. The part extending into Virginia lies in Brunswick and Mecklenburg counties. Lake Gas ...

area by first crossing the

Roanoke River The Roanoke River ( ) runs long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the App ...

, travels through the community of Elams, then swings west over Songbird Creek and then finally north into

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 ...

, where it downgrades to secondary state road 903.

History

NC 903 was established in 1934 as a new primary routing that connected Stokes between NC 11 and US 64; the initial route length was . In 1938, NC 903 was extended north on new routing from US 64 to NC 125. In 1967 or 1968, NC 903 was extended north, overlapping with NC 125 to Hamilton, then on new primary routing to US 258/NC 125 in Scotland Neck. Around 1972, NC 903 extended northwest along NC 125 to Halifax, then west on new primary routing to I-95. Between 1976-1978, NC 903 made its first extension south, with an overlap with NC 11 through Greenville and Winterville, then replaced NC 91 south to US 70 in La Grange. Between 1980-1982, NC 903 was extended west, from I-95, on new primary routing to US 158; it then made its final north extension, between 1984-1990, by overlapping US 158 to Littleton and then through the Lake Gaston area to the Virginia state line, south of Ebony. Also during the late 1980s, NC 903 was extended south on new routing from La Grange to Albertson, then share concurrences with NC 111 and NC 11 to Kenansville, and again new primary routing connecting I-40 and to end at US 117 in Magnolia. In 1994 or 1995, NC 903 was extended southwest to its current southern terminus with NC 411 east of Garland. In 2002, NC 903 was moved onto the Kenansville Bypass.

Junction list

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline, North Carolina Highway 903
NCRoads.com: N.C. 903

903 __NOTOC__ Year 903 ( CMIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * King Berengar I of Italy proceeds to issue concessions and privileges to the Lo ...

Transportation in Sampson County, North Carolina Transportation in Duplin County, North Carolina Transportation in Lenoir County, North Carolina Transportation in Greene County, North Carolina Transportation in Pitt County, North Carolina Transportation in Martin County, North Carolina Transportation in Halifax County, North Carolina Transportation in Warren County, North Carolina

Route description

History

Junction list

See also

References

External links