Long-range plans call for I-74 to continue east and south of Cincinnati to North Carolina using SR 32 from Cincinnati to
Piketon, Ohio, and then the proposed I-73 from
Portsmouth, Ohio, through
West Virginia (along parts of current
US 52 and
WV Route 108) to I-77. It would then follow I-77 through
Virginia into North Carolina, where I-74 splits from
I-77 near the Virginia state line and runs eastward to northwest US 52, which it will eventually follow to
Winston-Salem, then through
High Point to I-73. I-73 and I-74
overlap to
Rockingham. In 1996, the
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) approved the signing of highways as I-74 along its proposed path east (south) of I-81 in
Wytheville, Virginia, where those highways meet Interstate Highway standards. North Carolina started putting up I-74 signs along its roadways in 1997. , I-74 is proposed to follow the path of I-77 through the state of Virginia but remains unsigned from the West Virginia border to the North Carolina border.
Ohio The 1991 plan to build
I-73 soon included an extension of I-74 from where it ended in
Hamilton County to I-73 at
Portsmouth, Ohio, possibly along
SR 32. In November 1991,
Congress passed the $151-billion (equivalent to $ in )
Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) that included the
I-73/74 North-South Corridor and made I-73 a priority and included an extension of I-74 from Hamilton County to I-73 at Portsmouth. On August 31, 1992, the
Ohio Turnpike Commission passed a resolution to study making the extension of I-74 a toll road. Congress had authorized paying for 80 percent of the cost, but the state would have to pay the remainder of the $56 million (equivalent to $ in ). The Ohio Turnpike Commission proposed that the extension run along SR 32; while Representative
Jim Bunning of
Kentucky wanted the road to begin in the west as part of a greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky bypass, returning to Ohio near
Maysville, Kentucky.
West Virginia , I-74 remains unbuilt in the state of
West Virginia. The
West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) is currently upgrading the
Tolsia Highway to four lanes but not to Interstate Highway standards. It was estimated that improving US 52 to Interstate standards in West Virginia would cost $2 billion (equivalent to $ in ). Still, by 1994, improvements to US 52 were planned, and future plans called for I-73 to follow that route. The I-74 extension seemed more certain.
North Carolina A section of I-74 in North Carolina is currently under construction. This is the eastern half of the
Winston-Salem Northern Beltway. The proposed path of I-74 east of I-95 in North Carolina is still being debated. The current plan takes the route along
US 74 to
NC 211 near
Bolton then south along
US 17 to near the
South Carolina border. These sections are not currently proposed to be built perhaps for another 20 to 30 years. The
North Carolina Turnpike Authority—at the request of officials in Brunswick County—are studying whether a toll road could get the section of I-74 in that county built faster. Starting west of
Rockingham and from
Laurinburg to
Maxton and to the east, I-74 runs concurrent with US 74. This was the first time that a
U.S. Route and Interstate Highway with the same number have been designated on the same highway. A similar situation occurred more recently in June 2015 when
Wisconsin started routing
I-41 along the route of
US 41.
South Carolina On February 11, 2005, the
North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) and
South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) came to an agreement over where I-74 (and I-73) would cross the border between the two states. It was decided that I-74 would cross the line as a northern extension of
South Carolina Highway 31 (SC 31). SC 31 is being used a temporaily placeholder designation until the I-74 from North Carolina connect the South Carolina proposed route. I-74 is then proposed to end south of
Myrtle Beach at
SC 707. In the 1990s, both I-73 and I-74 were to end at
Georgetown but funding cannot allow for the possible extensions to Georgetown or Charleston. In November 2019, both NCDOT and SCDOT released maps of where I-74 could go to from South Carolina to North Carolina. ==Junction list==