| US 158 | |||
| Begin | Mocksville | ||
| End | Nags Head | ||
| Length | 347 mi | ||
| Length | 558 km | ||
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According to toppharmacyschools, US 158 is a US Highway in the United States, located entirely in the state of North Carolina. The road forms an east-west route through the center and east of the state, not far from the Virginia border. The road begins and ends on US 64, from Mocksville to Nags Head on the Atlantic Ocean. The road is 558 kilometers long.
Travel directions
US 29 / US 158 at Reidsville.
De US 17/158 in Elizabeth City.
In Mocksville, a small village southwest of Winston-Salem, US 158 begins at the intersection with US 64 and US 601. The road then parallels Interstate 40 to the northeast, to the town of Winston-Salem, some 20 miles away. Bermuda Run crosses the Yadkin River. Then you reach the fairly large urban area of Winston-Salem, which is attached to Greensboro. On the south side of town, one first crosses Interstate 40, which comes from Knoxville and runs to Raleigh. The road then crosses an industrial estate and crosses US 421, an east-west highway from Boone to Greensboro. US 158 then rides along with US 421 eastward, through downtown Winston-Salem, where it intersects US 52 and US 311, where it exits east of Winston-Salem and heads northeast, north of Greensboro.
It then passes through a wooded rural area, crossing two north-south roads, the 2×2 US 220 from Greensboro to Roanoke and the US 29, a highway from Greensboro to Danville in Virginia. US 158 then runs due east through a sparsely populated area, with few larger towns, although larger cities like Durham are not that far. In Roxboro you cross the US 501, and at Oxford the US 15. It then connects with Interstate 85, the highway from Durham to Richmond. The road then runs parallel to it, and crosses US 1. at Henderson, which is also a bit of a highway here and comes out of Raleigh. After this, US 158 continues east, through a rural area to Roanoke Rapids, a small town off Interstate 95. It also crosses US 301, which runs parallel to I-95.
One then arrives in the east of the state. It crosses the Roanoke River, and US 158 runs through a coastal plain to the east, although the actual sea is still quite a distance to the east. In Murfreesboro, US 258 is crossed and US 158 forms a southern bypass. Not far after, a short double numbering follows with US 13, which runs from Greenville to Norfolk. US 158 then runs along the Great Dismal Swamp, a large swamp area on the border of North Carolina and Virginia. US 158 then branches off to Elizabeth City, where a short double number with US 17is, the state’s easternmost north-south route. US 158 then crosses an estuary before reaching Currituck Sound, a marine area between the North Carolina coast and the extreme sandbars. US 158 runs south over a peninsula here, and has 2×2 lanes, as this is a popular vacation area. Here you enter the North Carolina Outer Banks, a series of inhabited sandbanks that are sometimes quite far from the coast. One then passes through a couple of resort towns before the road at Nags Head merges into US 64, which runs back to Raleigh.
History
US 158 was added to the network in 1932, then ran from Mocksville to Franklin, Virginia. The western starting point in Mocksville has never changed, but the eastern terminus has. In 1940 the route was moved to Murfreesboro, slightly south of Franklin, and extended to Manteo on US 64 in 1942. In 1951 the route was shortened again to Nags Head. US 158 is a somewhat secondary route and does not connect major cities. Partly because of this, a highway has never been built parallel to it.
Few upgrades have been made to US 158. The road has been widened to 2×2 lanes in a few short stretches, primarily where US 158 intersects with other US Highways, such as US 258 at Murfreesboro, US 13 at Winton, and US 17 at Elizabeth City. However, some urban parts are equipped with 4 or 5 lanes.
The only portion of US 158 that is not double-numbered with other US Highways and has been widened to a 2×2 divided highway is a 12-kilometer stretch from Murfreesboro to Winton, which was widened to 2×2 lanes around 2014-2015.
Just in front of Nags Head is the Wright Memorial Bridge, a 4.5 kilometer bridge made up of two parallel spans, a bridge built in 1966 and a second bridge built next to it in 1995. However, these were not the first bridges at this location, already on September 27, 1930, the first bridge opened at this location, this was one of the longest bridges in the United States at the time. This bridge was demolished when the 1966 bridge was built.
Circular roads have been constructed at some locations. In 1951, the Henderson bypass opened, which later became part of I-85 as well. In 1971 a bypass of Yanceyville opened. In 1973, a Winton diversion, which is also part of US 13, opened. Reidsville’s northern bypass opened in 1979, originally bypassed by US 29 on the west side, later by a freeway on the east side. Then the northern bypass of Reidsville was also realized. In 1995 the Murfreesboro bypass opened with 2×2 lanes. This is also part of US 258.
