19A NCAC 02B .0242      NC ROUTE NUMBERS

(a)  The Department of Transportation has full responsibility for establishing NC routes.  Normally this relates to removing a road from the secondary road system and placing it on the primary road system.

(b)  NC numbered routes shall have numbers not to exceed 999. NC route numbers shall not be in conflict with interstate numbers or US numbers.

(c)  Requests for the addition, modification, or deletion of NC route numbers shall be submitted to the traffic engineering branch who shall make recommendations relative to the request based upon the following criteria:

(1)           The proposed NC route must be adequately designed and constructed in terms of its pavement structure such that it can carry the statutory 19,000 pound axle load.

(2)           The proposed route must meet minimum accepted operational standards of a minimum 20‑foot paved width and with adequate shoulders.

(3)           The horizontal and vertical alignment of the route must be such that it can safely handle traffic at the statutory speed limit of 55 miles per hour for the majority of its length.  In extreme mountainous areas, consideration may be given to an average operating speed of 45 miles per hour.

(4)           NC routes shall not overlap existing NC or US routes already established unless the duplication is for a short distance and the routes then diverge, ending in different terminal points.

(d)  No additional NC route shall be added to the primary highway system or extended except where there is a definite showing of an adequately improved highway carrying an established and necessary line of intrastate traffic not otherwise provided for by existing US or NC routes.

History Note:        Authority G.S. 136‑18(5); 136‑30;

Eff. July 1, 1978;

Amended Eff. July 26, 1993;

Transferred and recodified from 19A NCAC 02B .0303 Eff. March 4, 1998;

Amended Eff. August 1, 1998;

Pursuant to G.S. 150B-21.3A, rule is necessary without substantive public interest Eff. September 6, 2016.