Route description
, - , TN , 63.0 , 101.4 , - , NC , 451.8 , 727.1 , - , Total , 514.8 , 828.5Tennessee
US 74 was designated in 1927. The route travels from theNorth Carolina
ADHS corridors
US 74 overlaps with two corridors that are part of theScenic byways
TheDedicated and memorial names
History
Established as an original U.S. Route in late 1926, US 74 traversed fromIndependence Boulevard
Independence Boulevard and Independence Expressway are two major interconnected roads in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County,"American Indian Highway" controversy
In Robeson County, the highway is designated "American Indian Highway," a name that was the brain child of Robert M. Chavis, the Wolfclan chief of the NC Tuscarora; Cherokee Indians of Robeson County, and Nottoway Nation, who authored the name in the late 1990s. American Indian people of Robeson County, NC had attempted to remove Andrew Jackson's name from the highway for some sixty years. Knowing that the new US 74 was to come, Chavis started a campaign to change the name to American Indian Highway. Chavis did this in honor of all the Indian people that had lost their lives along the Trail of Tears during the Indian Removal Act of the 1830s authored by Andrew Jackson. Chavis was cited in many newspapers across North Carolina stating that the name should be changed, because that name on this section of road was tantamount to having a major road named Adolf Hitler that ran across a Jewish state or county. Chavis, with the help of the Tuscarora East of the Mountains, obtained the information on how to attempt the name change from Rep. Ronnie Sutton and the NCDOT. Then Chavis presented the reasons for the name change to all the cities of Robeson county and the Robeson County Commissioners. Once he obtained support from these entities he presented the proposal to the NC-DOT. Rep. Sutton supported the name change at the state level and the name change was approved by the NC-DOT. The new signs of American Indian Highway were placed on the new sections of I-74 once the highway construction was completed.Future
In Graham County, North Carolina, Graham County, NCDOT has proposed to relocate US 74 onto a new divided four-lane highway from Robbinsville, North Carolina, Robbinsville to Stecoah. This new routing will feature controlled at-grade intersections, viaduct and tunnel (at Stecoah Gap). At a cost of $383 million, right-of-way acquisition is scheduled to begin in 2014 and construction to begin in 2016; however, this is subject to reprioritization. The project is part of an overall project to bypass the current routing through theJunction list
See also
* Special routes of U.S. Route 74 * North Carolina Bicycle Route 2 * North Carolina Bicycle Route 5References
External links
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