Segment 12 / 
Segment 13 |
Where: US 74 Rockingham Bypass from I-73/I-74 Bypass to Proposed I-73 Exit near current NC 38 exitLength: Approx. 10 MilesStatus: COMPLETE (Except for signing as I-73 if completed to SC)Signed:
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From the end of the now completed I-73 and I-74 Rockingham Bypass, the two routes are to travel east along the US 74 Rockingham-Hamlet Bypass freeway south of Rockingham. I-74 is to run the entire length of this freeway which runs a total of 13 miles from north of Cordova to east of Hamlet and was opened in November 2000, costing $110 million.1 I-73 was originally going to leave the highway along a new freeway alignment for US 1 but this was changed after an agreement with SCDOT in February 2005. With the July 19, 2007 announcement of the preferred I-73 corridor from US 74 to I-95 from SCDOT (see I-73 Segment 13), I-73 is now to run approximately 10 miles to just to the east of the current NC 38 interchange. The section of the freeway east of the US 1 exit was originally signed as Future I-74 and US 74 until 2016, including signs at the entrance ramps on intersecting highways (see photos below). This roadway was thus the second section of I-74 to be signed with US 74 after the Laurinburg Bypass (see I-74 Segment 15). When the Bypass was chosen as part of the Future I-73 corridor it was assumed Future I-73 signs would be posted with the existing Future I-74 signs along this stretch of highway. However, in the fall of 2016, NCDOT removed all the existing Future I-74 signs along the Bypass and at the interchange ramps indicating they now did not plan to sign the highway with interstate shields until the segment was connected to the I-73/I-74 Bypass (see I-73 Segment 11). The new Rockingham Bypass intersects the freeway three miles west of US 1 at the former US 74 Business interchange which was reconstructed as part of the Bypass project. The freeway will retain its exit numbers that match US 74's mileage which run from 311 at the US 1 interchange to 319 at NC 38. These presumably would change to I-73 mileage if the interstate was signed, NCDOT apparently does not want to change the exit numbers (to I-74 miles, then I-73) twice. For more information go to the I-74 Exit List.
On August 20, 2019, NCDOT released the plans for the upcoming October letting of the I-73/I-74 Bypass Project (for details, see I-73 Segment 11). According to the plans, only I-74 would be signed along the US 74 Rockingham Bypass when it is connected to I-73/I-74 Bypass, not I-73. Apparently, NCDOT is unwilling to extend I-73 further until South Carolina starts building their section of the planned route. As the date of completion of the Bypass neared in November 2024, contractors started putting up new overhead signage for the Bypass on US 74 West and started installing new reassurance marker signs for I-74/US 74, indicated in the plans below, east to Hamlet. The placement of I-74/US 74 reassurance markers and I-74 signs at ramps was completed in November prior to the January 2025 opening of the Bypass. Here was the first one headed east after the future Bypass exit, courtesy of James Carter:
In December drivers along the Bypass indicated that uncovered I-74 ramp trailblazers had been placed at least as far east as the NC 38 exit and new signage was going up elsewhere on US 74, see photos below.
The signing of I-74 has not completed work on the former US 74 Bypass. Construction at the I-74/US 74 interchange with US 1 began in April 2025. The interchange will be revised to have two roundabouts installed on US 1 at the ramps on either side of the bridge over the Bypass. Here's plans for the east side of the bridge:
The project has been planned for years and apparently the plans were made before I-74 was added to the
US 74 freeway. The contract title is still listed as US 1 interchange with US 74 (Future I-74).
The contract was awarded to Barnhill Contracting for $8.5 million. The project is 47.4% complete as of November 15, 2025. The current completion date is January 2027.2
Here's the plans for the new reassurance markers (and future ones if and when I-73 is signed between the new Bypass and NC 38):3
There were also some exit sign changes along the segment. The current Cordova exit text was changed:
The Future I-73 mileage exit tabs only appear for this and the US 74 West exit signs. The other signs apparently will be the responsibility of the contractor who builds the next segment of I-73.
Also, US 220 is to be de-emphasized, the existing To US 220 trailblazers prior to and at the US 1 exit ramps will be removed:
US 74/Future I-74 East at US 1: Using On-Ramp from US 1 South (July 2024)
US 74/Future I-74 West at NC 38: Prior to On-Ramp from NC 38 (November 2025)
Another
new East I-74/US 74 reassurance marker sign put up on the Bypass, these were after every exit by the last week of December.
It was raining hard at the time of the photo.
Supports
for a new 1/2 mile advance sign for the US 1 exit have been put up behind the old sign.
Here the new sign
supports are up in front of the existing 2 Miles advance sign for the NC 177 exit.
Lastly, not
a double exposure. Here the new sign for the NC 381 exit have been put up in front of the old sign.
Contractors
are also placing fiber optic cable along US 74 in the Rockingham and
Hamlet areas in an unrelated project, taking advantage of the lane
closures for sign replacement (or is it the other way around?).
Signage along US 1 at the Future I-73/I-74
interchange. The signs referring this as a I-73/I-74 Corridor and the Future I-74 trailblazers were removed in 2016.
The East US 74
reassurance marker following the US 1 exit, this was paired with a Future I-74 shield up until 2016.
The West US 74 reassurance marker
following the NC 177 exit, also without a corresponding Future I-74 shield since 2016.
Exit sign for Business 74 at western end of
the Rockingham Bypass, this exit will be combined with that for I-73 North/I-74 West.
Exit sign for Cordova, this will be
renamed Galestown Road/Zion Church Road after the I-73/I-74 Bypass is completed (see sign plans above).
The
1-Mile advance sign for the US 1 exit on US 74 East. This would be Exit 12 when I-73 gets signed on the Bypass. Pine
branches are partly covering the text for Southern Pines.
Exit sign for NC 177 on US 74 West,
the new sign will have Cheraw, but not Hamlet, see sign plans.
The 1-Mile advance sign for NC 38 on US 74 East.
The removed text is for Hamlet, which is the destination on the next
exit for NC 381.
View turning onto the ramp
to US 74 West from US 1 North. The signs indicate a right for US 74 West
and the next left for US 74/Future Interstate 74 East. (November 2002)
A view of exit signage
from US 74 West. The Future I-74 (and perhaps Future I-73?) signs end at
the US 1 exit westbound and begin there eastbound (Photo courtesy of
Chris Lawson, 2006).
Signage at Ramp from NC 38
North to East Future I-74/US 74. I-73 will leave the highway here at a
revised or separate interchange to the east. The Future I-74 signs were
removed in the fall of 2016 (November 2002).
A closer look a the
Junction Future I-74/US 74 signage along NC 38. The Future I-74 shields
were taken down on the fall of 2016 (November 2002).
*It was assumed with the new official I-73 routing, Future I-73 shields would be put up along the highway some time in the future, however, in the Fall of 2016 NCDOT removed the existing Future I-74 signs, making it doubtful they will put up any new signs until the segment is an official interstate by being connected to the rest of the I-73 corridor, which won't be until 2023 at the earliest.
*