Asheville–Forest City alternate route {{Infobox road small
U.S. Route 74 Alternate (
US 74A) was established in 1994, replaced the old mainline US 74 route when US 74 was moved onto the Solon David Smart Memorial Highway and
I-26. The alignment of US 74A varies greatly from the current parent route. US 74A traverses through downtown
Asheville, goes through the mountain resort communities of
Chimney Rock and
Lake Lure, continues to
Ruth, passes between the towns of
Rutherfordton and
Spindale, and bypasses
Forest City to the south. US 74, joins
I-40 eastbound west of Asheville, and switches onto I-26 eastbound through
Fletcher, bypassing most of urban Asheville. Continuing along a southeasterly course, the parent US 74 passes by
Hendersonville and splits from I-26 at
Columbus; after passing south of Rutherfordton, US 74 meets the eastern terminus of US 74A. US 74A is concurrent with
US 64 from Ruth in the east through Lake Lure, where
NC 9 joins, and Chimney Rock; the three routes separate in
Bat Cave. NC 9 splits to the north, US 64 to the south; US 74A alone continues west from that point. In Asheville, US 74A has many concurrencies;
US 70 is concurrent with US 74A in east and downtown Asheville and
Interstate 26,
I-240,
US 19/
US 23 are concurrent with US 74A west of downtown. Near US 74A's western terminus, US 19/US 23 are concurrent with US 74A.
NC 81 overlaps with US 74A for a short segment in southeast Asheville. Between Asheville and
Gerton, US 74A bears the street name Charlotte Highway. East of Gerton, the road is named the Gerton Highway until arriving at Bat Cave. Through towns and cities, the road takes various names including Main Street and Railroad Avenue. US 74A is overlapped by two North Carolina scenic byways:
Drovers Road (Asheville to Bat Cave) and
Black Mountain Rag (Bat Cave to Lake Lure). ;Major junctions
Rutherfordton–Forest City business loop /
Rutherford County line
U.S. Route 74 Business (
US 74 Bus) was established in 1960 as a renumbering of US 74A, it traversed along Washington Street and Charlotte Road in
Rutherfordton. In December 1970, US 74 was extended east through
Spindale,
Forest City, and
Ellenboro when US 74 was placed on new freeway bypass. In 1994, US 74 was moved south onto a new alignment towards
Columbus, converting the old mainline into US 74A; as a result, US 74 Business was rerouted in
Rutherfordton to go south in concurrency with
US 221 to the US 74 freeway. ;Major junctions {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint
Shelby Bypass U.S. Route 74 Bypass (
US 74 Byp.) is the future designation of the Shelby Bypass; currently being constructed in phases. The designation, listed on
NCDOT documents, has not been submitted/approved by
AASHTO. First segment opened in April 2020 from US 74, east of
Mooresboro, to NC 226 (Polkville Road). In June 2025, the second segment was opened, extending the bypass to NC 150 (Cherryville Road). The last segment of the bypass will reunite with US 74 east of Shelby, near Long Branch Road, with an anticipated completion date in 2029. ;Major junctions {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint
Kings Mountain business loop U.S. Route 74 Business (
US 74 Bus) was established in 1984, it was a renumbering of the old mainline US 74 through
Kings Mountain. US 74 Business begins at US 74 west of Kings Mountain. The route is routed along Shelby Road into the town. US 74 Business runs through the downtown of area Kings Mountain before reaching US 74 again on the eastern side of Kings Mountain. ;Major junctions {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint
Monroe Expressway U.S. Route 74 Bypass (
US 74 Byp.), also known as the
Monroe Expressway, is a toll road that bypass north of
Monroe, between Stallings and east of Wingate. The highway's purpose is to improve mobility and capacity along the US 74 corridor. At a cost of approximately $840 million and
right-of-way acquisition already completed, construction was originally to begin in October 2012; however, because of several environmental issues and litigation, the project was delayed until May 2015. On November 27, 2018, the Monroe Expressway opened to traffic. The Monroe Expressway uses
all-electronic tolling, with tolls payable with valid
transponder (
NC Quick Pass,
E-ZPass,
Peach Pass or
SunPass) or
Bill by mail, which uses
automatic license plate recognition. Tolls are collected per gantry, seven in total, which are located between each exit along the bypass. As of July 24, 2018, the total trip rate is $2.54 with valid transponder and $3.92 via bill by mail. ;Major junctions {{NCint|exit {{NCint|exit {{NCint|exit {{NCint|exit {{NCint|exit {{NCint|exit {{NCint|exit {{NCint|exit
Rockingham–Hamlet business loop U.S. Route 74 Business (
US 74 Bus) was established in 2003 as a renumbering of the mainline US 74 through Rockingham and Hamlet. ;Major junctions {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint
Laurinburg–Maxton business loop U.S. Route 74 Business (
US 74 Bus) was established in 1967 as a renumbering of mainline US 74 through
Laurinburg. In 1984, it was extended east replacing mainline US 74 through
Maxton. ;Major junctions {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint
Maxton–Lumberton alternate route U.S. Route 74 Alternate (
US 74 Alt) was established in 2007 when mainline US 74 and I-74 were realigned to a new freeway south of the old route, between
Maxton to near
Lumberton. The route, just south of the banks of the
Lumber River, goes through mostly farmland. In between, NC 710 connect travelers to
Pembroke, where the
University of North Carolina at Pembroke is located. Highway signs along the route are signed as "Alternate" or "ALT" above US 74; as opposed to US 74A, which is used in
Western North Carolina. ;Major junctions {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint
Chadbourn–Whiteville business loop U.S. Route 74 Business (
US 74 Bus) was established in 1975 to replace the old mainline US 74 through
Chadbourn and
Whiteville. The route is mostly in concurrency with
US 76 Business. ;Major junctions {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint {{NCint ==Former==