U.S. Route 76 (US 76) is an east–west U.S. highway that travels for approximately from

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...

, to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.

Route description

, - , TN , 8.9 , 14.3 , - , GA , 150.7 , 242.5 , - , SC , 297.9 , 479.4 , - , NC , 79 , 127 , - , Total , 548 , 882

Tennessee

In the state of Tennessee, US-76 is an arterial road that travels east-southeast from

Downtown Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, it also extends into Marion County, Tennessee, Marion County on its west ...

to East Ridge and south to the

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

state line. US-76 travels

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-41 for its entire length in Tennessee, about .

Georgia

In Georgia, US 76 traverses the northern part of the state and passes through the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest and Georgia's most mountainous region. US 76 passes through Catoosa, Whitfield, Murray, Gilmer, Fannin,

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, Towns, and

Rabun ''Rabun'' is a 2003 Malaysian drama film directed by Yasmin Ahmad. It tells a story about a free-spirited older couple, Pak Atan and Mak Inom who decide to spend more time in the country after getting tired of city life. But they find that life ...

counties.

South Carolina

US 76 enters South Carolina across the

Chattooga River The Chattooga River (also spelled Chatooga, Chatuga, and Chautaga, variant name Guinekelokee River) is the main tributary of the Tugaloo River. Water course The headwaters of the Chattooga River are located southwest of Cashiers, North Carol ...

, then continues southeast toward

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

. This segment is a moderately windy two-lane road. In Westminster, it heads east toward

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People and language * Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname * Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America ** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people Places Extrat ...

and Clemson. From Clemson, the road heads southeast toward

Anderson Anderson or Andersson may refer to: Companies * Anderson (Carriage), a company that manufactured automobiles from 1907 to 1910 * Anderson Electric, an early 20th-century electric car * Anderson Greenwood, an industrial manufacturer * Anderson ...

, intersecting Interstate 85 (I-85), then east toward the small towns of Belton and Honea Path. US 76 is a four-lane highway from Westminster to Anderson. In Anderson, the road widens to six lanes with a reversible turn lane. After a concurrency with US 178, the road narrows to five lanes, and, as it goes south towards downtown Anderson, it narrows again to four. However, the sections around Seneca, Clemson, and Anderson are well developed with many traffic lights. It travels

with US 123 from Westminster to Clemson, SC 28 from Seneca to Anderson, and US 178 from Anderson to Honea Path. From Honea Path, the highway heads east to Laurens. This section is a rural two-lane road that is not frequently traveled. From Laurens, US 76 roughly parallels I-385 and I-26 as it heads to Columbia. US 76 provides local access to the communities of Laurens, Clinton,

Newberry Newberry is a surname, a variant of Newbury. Notable people with the surname include: * Booker Newberry III (born 1956), American singer and keyboardist * Brennan Newberry (born, 1990), American professional stock car racing driver * Brian Newb ...

, Prosperity, Chapin, and the other smaller towns in the area. In Irmo, US 76 travels concurrent with US 176, then continues on to I-26, with which it travels concurrently. After the interchange with I-20, US 76 splits off from I-26 and continues into downtown Columbia concurrent with I-126. In Columbia, US 76 follows Elmwood Avenue, Bull Street, Gervais Street, Millwood Avenue, and Devine Street before heading east toward

Sumter Sumter may refer to: People Given name * Sumter S. Arnim (1904–1990), American dentist * Sumter de Leon Lowry Jr. (1893–1985), United States Army general Surname * Rowendy Sumter (born 1988), Curaçaoan footballer * Shavonda E. Sumter ( ...

. The segment from Columbia to Sumter is a four-lane highway and US 76 is concurrent with US 378 from the intersection of Bull and Gervais near the University of South Carolina in Columbia to Sumter. From Sumter, US 76 heads northeast to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. US 76 is the major road through Florence. It then continues east out of Florence to the small towns of

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mario ...

and Mullins, then into

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 ...

. The highway is concurrent with US 301 from Florence to across the Pee Dee River.

North Carolina

The highway passes through Fair Bluff and becomes concurrent with US 74 from Chadbourn to Wilmington. The highway is mostly four lanes, divided with at-grade and controlled intersections. The speed limit is from to . It crosses the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge into Wilmington and continues to Wrightsville Beach via Oleander Drive to the route's eastern terminus. US 76 traverses in

; approximately concurrent with US 74, between Chadbourn and Wilmington.

History

A significant section of US 76 was relocated in Georgia during the 1980s with the old alignment decommissioned first in 1982 from the Hemptown community in Fannin County westward and eastward into Union County in 1988. Extending from west of Blue Ridge to Blairsville, the stretch of road today is known as Blue Ridge Highway and Old Highway 76 including the city of Morganton. In Morganton, the stretch is joined briefly by SR 60, and, in Blairsville, a small portion of the route is unofficially part of US 19/US 129. This old alignment from Blairsville to Blue Ridge is approximately long and has some of Georgia's most scenic views along its eastern end. This stretch was formerly part of SR 2, as well. US 76 also has other old alignments in

Ellijay Ellijay is a city in Gilmer County, Georgia, United States. The population was 1,619 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Gilmer County. Agriculture is important in Gilmer County, known as the "Apple Capital of Georgia." The city h ...

(by-passed in 1982), Cherry Log, Whitepath (both bypassed in 1989) and south of Blue Ridge (by-passed in 1965). US 76 was also relocated from present-day SR 52 from Ellijay to Chatsworth in 1981 to a less treacherous course along SR 282. Significant curve realignments also occurred along the previously serpentine section from Hiawassee to Clayton from 1988 to 2005. Today, US 76 shares mileage with SR 5, SR 515, SR 282, SR 61, SR 52, SR 17, SR 75, SR 15, and SR 3, in addition to SR 2. U.S. highways with common mileage include US 411, US 41, US 441, and US 23. Formerly, US 76 followed a longer route from Westminster to Pendleton. From Westminster, the old route followed S-37-13 through the Richland community, then its current alignment to SC 59 into downtown Seneca, then SC 130 out of Seneca to S-37-1, then its current alignment to SC 93 toward

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

, then SC 28 Business through Pendleton. US 76 did not appear in North Carolina until late 1934 into 1935. It replaced NC 202 and US 17 from the South Carolina border to Chadbourn, US 17 and NC 20 to Wilmington and NC 20 to Wrightsville Beach. The original US 76 followed the current alignment of the road from the South Carolina state line to Chadbourn. US 76 then followed NC 214 north of Lake Waccamaw and through

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish weavers settled in the area in the 14th ...

. It then followed the current alignment to Leland. US 76 then used Office Road, Lincoln Road, Old Mill Road, to get to Village Road NE. US 76 then used the closed causeway to cross the Brunswick River. From Belville US 76 used NC 133 routing to cross the Cape Fear and NE Cape Fear River's. US 76 then went down 3rd Street to Market Street and then followed 17th Street to Oleander Drive. US 76 then used Arlie Road to where US 76 currently crosses into Wrightsville Beach. US 76 then turned north on Lumina Avenue to the current end point of US 74. In 1936 US 74/US 76 was given a short bypass around Leland using Village Road. The old part became US 74-A. In 1940, US 76 was removed off the routing along Lumina Avenue and was instead routed south along Waynick Drive to the southern part of the island. Sometime between 1959 and 1962, US 76 was removed off Arlie Drive, and instead, US 76 followed Oleander Drive all the way to Causeway Drive. In 1966, US 76 was moved onto split roads along both 16th and 17th streets in downtown Wilmington. In 1969, US 76 was redirected to use a new bridge to cross the Cape Fear River into Wilmington. US 76 would also now use Dawson and Wooster Streets through downtown Wilmington. In 1975, US 76 and US 74 were placed on a new freeway that bypassed both Leland and Belville; along with that, US 76 was placed on a new freeway that bypassed Chadbourn. Between 1986 and 1987, US 76 was placed on a bypass of Hallsboro and Lake Waccamaw. Around 1992, US 76 was routed to bypass Bolton leaving behind NC 214. In 2003, US 76 was moved onto Military Cutoff Road instead of being on Wrightsville Avenue.

Major intersections

;Tennessee : in Chattanooga. US 41/US 76 travels concurrently to east of

Dalton, Georgia Dalton is a city and the county seat of Whitfield County, Georgia, United States. It is also the principal city of the Dalton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Murray and Whitfield counties. As of the 2010 census, the ci ...

. : in Chattanooga. The highways travel concurrently through Chattanooga. : in Chattanooga : in East Ridge ;Georgia : southeast of Ringgold : in Chatsworth. The highways travel concurrently to south-southeast of Chatsworth. : in Blairsville. The highways travel concurrently to northeast of Blairsville. : in Clayton. The highways travel concurrently through Clayton. ;South Carolina : in

. The highways travel concurrently to Clemson. : in Northlake : in Northlake. The highways travel concurrently to Honea Path. : in

. The highways travel concurrently through Anderson. : northwest of Princeton. The highways travel concurrently for approximately . : in Laurens : north-northwest of Irmo. The highways travel concurrently to Irmo. : in Irmo. I-26/US 76 travels concurrently to Columbia. : on the Seven Oaks– St. Andrews CDP line : in Columbia. I-126/US 76 travels concurrently through Columbia. : in Columbia. US 21/US 76/US 176/US 321 travels concurrently through Columbia. : in Columbia. US 1/US 76 travels concurrently through Columbia. US 76/US 378 travels concurrently to East Sumter. : in Columbia : north of Eastover : in

: in Sumter : in Sumter : southwest of

: in Florence : east of Florence. The highways travel concurrently to Pee Dee. : in

;North Carolina : northeast of Chadbourn. I-74/US 76 will travel concurrently to east-northeast of Whiteville. US 74/US 76 travels concurrently to Eagle Island. : in Whiteville : northwest of Leland : in Leland. The highways travel concurrently to Eagle Island. : on Eagle Island. US 76/US 421 travels concurrently to Wilmington. : in Wilmington : in Wilmington. The highways travel concurrently to Wrightsville Beach. : Jack Parker Boulevard/Water Street in Wrightsville Beach

Special routes

* Special routes of U.S. Route 76

Related routes

* U.S. Route 176 *

U.S. Route 276 U.S. Route 276 (US 276) is a United States highway that runs for from Mauldin, South Carolina, Mauldin, South Carolina to Cove Creek, North Carolina, Cove Creek, North Carolina. It is known both as a busy urban highway in Greenville, South Carol ...

References

External links

*
Endpoints of U.S. Highway 76
{{US Highways 76