NCRoads.com Annex: U.S. 25

U.S. 25
U.S. 25 Business | U.S. 25-A
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U.S. 25 76 miles

The Road:

Enters Henderson County from South Carolina below Tuxedo. Leaves Madison County into Tennessee near Antioch
Nationally, US 25 runs from US 17 Brunswick, GA to the Ohio River Bridge, Cincinnati, OH.

Towns and Attractions:

Henderson Co.: Flat Rock, Carl Sandburg Home, Hendersonville, Mountain Home

Buncombe Co.: Arden, Skyland, Biltmore Forest (Hendersonville Rd), The Biltmore Estate, Asheville (McDowell St, Merrimon Av, others), Thomas Wolfe Memorial, UNC-Asheville, EXIT for Weaverville

Madison Co.:Pisgah National Forest, Hot Springs (Bridge St), Marshall

History:

US 25 is an original 1927 US Route, and had some routing in North Carolina then. At that time, US 25 entered from South Carolina over Vance Mtn using today's "Old US 25" which it followed north to Tuxedo and Zirconia (now following today's NC 225). US 25 continued north through Flat Rock to Hendersonville. From there, US 25 followed today's US 25 Business through Mountain Home to Naples, where US 25 originally veered east on today's "Old Asheville Hwy" (now split by I-26) over to Fletcher. At Arden, US 25 used today's US 25-A through Skyland and up Sweeten Creek Rd to Biltmore Forest. US 25 then headed to downtwon Asheville via Biltmore St to Patton St (was US 19) where US 25 ended. US 25 was paired with NC 29 for all of this routing.
US 25 also existed from Knoxville, TN northward, and all maps I have seem to indicate a gap existed in the beginning. The earliest map I have showing the gap connected is the 1931 Official Maps for both N.C. and Va.
In 1928, US 25's dancing partner was renumbered from NC 29 to NC 69.
In 1931, US 25 was extended north along US 70/NC 20 from Asheville to the Tennessee State Line. At that time, US 25-70 used Broadway to Merrimon Ave to exit north of Asheville, then west on Heavner Rd to today's NC 251 north to Marshall, where US 25-70 used today's business route through town. Us 25 continued west along today's US 25 to Hot Springs and west on over to Tennessee.

The 1932 Texaco Map shows US 25 using newly constructed Hendersonville Rd, with the old alignment clearly labeled as NC 69 (later became US 25-A). Did US 25 here have a NC route multiplex on this for a few months? NC 696? The 1933 Esso and 1934 Conoco Maps show the same thing.

In 1933 US 25 was rerouted in Asheville. From Biltmore Forest, US 25 cut west on McDowell St over to Southside Ave back over to Biltmore Ave. The old alignment (all Biltmore Ave) became unnumbered and remains so today except for a very short piece of NC 81 today uses Biltmore Ave's bridge over the Swannanoa River.

1932 Texaco U.S. 25, original Asheville approach 1935 Conoco U.S. 25, new Asheville approach

In late 1934 all the NC-route multiplexes were removed from US 25: NC 69 from SC to Weaverville; NC 20 from Asheville to TN.

In 1961, US 25 was given its northerly bypass of Marshall, leaving behind US 25-70 Business.

In the mid-70's US 25 was taken off Heavner Rd and today's NC 251 and was instead placed on new freeway to Weaverville, then west on new construction back over to Marshall. This is when NC 251 was born. Heavner Rd has been secondary ever since.
Also in this timeframe, US 25 was rebuilt around the I-26 interchange north of Mountain Home leaving behind "Old Asheville Rd"

Around 1974, US 25 was given a new crossing into South Carolina, with new mostly freeway construction from Zirconia south to the state line at Panther Mountain. The old road became secondary "Old US 25", although in very recent times Zirconia to Tuxedo became part of NC 225.
Sometime between 1993-99, US 25-70 was rebuilt to a much straighter alignment between the Tennessee Line and Hot Springs.

In 2004, US 25 was routed around Hendersonville using existing freeways: replacing the relatively new NC 225 (the designation was recent, the freeway, however was 30+ years old) and multiplexing with I-26/US 74 from Exit 54 to Exit 44. The old route through Flat Rock, Hendersonville, and Mountain Home is now a second US 25-A.

2003 Official U.S. 25, original Hendersonville routing 2004 Official U.S. 25, new Hendersonville routing

US 25 is 4-laned between Marshall and the South Carolina line.
US 25 above Asheville is a good alternative to I-40 through the Smokies - there is not very much winding alignment left west of Marshall.
US 25's last cutout was located on I-240 WB and was removed about 1990.
For some reason, US 25 is allowed to remain on Merrimon even though all its friends are allowed to play in the freeway...

U.S. 25 Business 3 miles

The route:		US 25 Business for Marshall was created in 1960 or 1961 as a renumbering of mainline US 25. Follows the French Broad River, then Ivy Creek back out to US 25 through Marshall. Until the mid-70's, US 25 Business followed the French Broad River exclusively using today's NC 251. US 25 Business is multiplexed completely with US 70 Business here. US 25-70 Business had also been the route of NC 20, except the 1970's switch along Ivy Creek.

Last Update: 16 April 2005

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