Pre-designation The Great Smoky Mountains Expressway roughly follows the route of the historic
Murphy Branch of the
Western North Carolina Railroad, established in the late 19th century, now owned by the
Blue Ridge Southern Railroad and the
Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. In 1921, wagon roads that roughly paralleled the tracks were integrated as part of the new highway system in North Carolina; designated as
NC 10, its routing through the southwestern North Carolina mountains connected it with the rest of the state, going as far east as to
Beaufort. In 1927,
US 19 was established along NC 10, west of
Asheville; by 1934, NC 10 was eliminated from the route. In 1948, US 19 was rerouted between
Ela and
Lake Junaluska, via
Soco Gap; its old alignment became
US 19A. In 1965, Congress authorized the construction of the
Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS) in the Appalachian Development Act of 1965. The ADHS was designed to generate economic development in previously isolated areas, supplement the interstate system, and provide access to areas within the region as well as to markets in the rest of the nation. US 19A benefited from the ADHS by being designated as part of
Corridor K (Ela-
Dillsboro) and
Corridor A (Dillsboro-
Clyde). The first
freeway section opened in 1967, bypassing west of
Waynesville and continuing northeast to
I-40. The second freeway section opened in 1974, bypassing north of Dillsboro and
Sylva. The third and final section of freeway opened in 1976, bypassing east of
Bryson City to
US 441. By 1979, the two gap sections were widened and improved to
expressway grade, completing a four-lane highway from Bryson City to I-40. To make the highway more consistent, in 1982,
NCDOT submitted a request to
AASHTO to swap US 19 and US 19A between Bryson City and Lake Junaluska; but was later withdrawn before the vote, in thanks to opposition by businesses in the resort town of
Maggie Valley, who opposed losing US 19. In 1984, NCDOT made a new request to redesignate US 19A into
US 19 Bypass; it was so approved.
Post-designation Established on September 16, 1983, the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway was designated along
US 19,
US 19 Bypass and the I-40 Connector, between Alarka Road and
Interstate 40. Unofficially, US 19A was still designated along most of the route between Bryson City and Lake Junaluska, despite the official redesignation; this would continue to persist till the mid-1990s. In 1986,
US 74 was extended west from
Asheville to
Chattanooga, Tennessee, which overlapped nearly all of the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway, via US 19 and US 19 Bypass; the following year, US 19 Bypass was decommissioned in favor of US 74. In late 1997, US 74 was rerouted onto the I-40 Connector, in
Clyde, clinching all of Great Smoky Mountains Expressway. Over the years, expressway sections of the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway have been improved by adding
Superstreet designs, designating
u-turns and eliminating
traffic signal along the route. ==Junction list==