North Carolina Highway 42

North Carolina Highway 42
NC 42 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by NCDOT
Length	222.9 mi[1] (358.7 km)
Existed	1922[2]–present
Major junctions
West end	I-73 / I-74 / US 220 in Asheboro
Major intersections	US 1 / US 15 / US 501 in Sanford US 421 in Sanford I-40 near Cleveland I-42 in Clayton I-95 near Wilson I-587 / I-795 / US 264 near Wilson US 301 in Wilson US 258 near Pinetops US 64 near Conetoe US 13 in Ahoskie
East end	NC 45 in Colerain
Location
Country	United States
State	North Carolina
Counties	Randolph, Chatham, Lee, Harnett, Wake, Johnston, Wilson, Edgecombe, Martin, Bertie, Hertford
Highway system
North Carolina Highway System Interstate US State Scenic
← I-42 → NC 43

North Carolina Highway 42 (NC 42) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina and a semi-urban traffic artery connecting Asheboro, Sanford, Clayton, Wilson and Ahoskie as well as many small- to medium-sized towns throughout Central and Eastern North Carolina. The highway is primarily rural, avoiding larger cities such as Raleigh. NC 42 begins at I-73/I-74/US 220 on the western side of Asheboro. From there the highway runs southeast toward Sanford. Running through the heart of Sanford, NC 42 intersects several major highways such as US 1 and US 421. Leaving Sanford the highway runs along the southern side of the Triangle Area, while servicing the smaller towns of Fuquay-Varina and Clayton. Further east the highway intersects both I-95 and US 264, shortly before entering central Wilson. Leaving Wilson the highway continues to the northeast, and intersects US 258 near Crisp. North of intersecting US 64, NC 42 begins a concurrency with NC 11 from Hassell to western Ahoskie. Nearing Ahoskie the highway turns to the east and runs south of the center of the town. NC 42 follows concurrently with US 13 southeast to Powellsville. Nearing its eastern terminus the highway turns east along its own routing until reaching NC 45 in Colerain where the highway ends. NC 42 is the third longest state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina.

NC 42 was established as an original state highway running from NC 133 north of Wilson to NC 12 in Pinetops. Between 1934 and 1935 NC 42 was extended twice, first to NC 23 south of Emit, and then to US 15A west of McCullers. The western terminus of the highway was moved in 1948 to US 15A (Now US 401) in Fuquay-Varina, placing NC 42 on its modern routing south of Raleigh. Four years later, NC 42's eastern terminus was extended to US 64 in Conetoe. In 1960 the highway was extended to US 421 east of Sanford. However, in 1963 NC 42 was routed concurrently with US 421 through Sanford before following its own routing to NC 22. The highway then followed NC 22 to the northwest, and replaced NC 902 between Coleridge and Asheboro. The same year, NC 42 was extended along new routing through Hassell, ending at NC 125 south of Hamilton. The last major change to NC 42 was in 1976, when the highway was routed along NC 11 and US 13 through Ahoskie and then replaced NC 350 to NC 45 in Colerain.