Route information | ||||
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Maintained by NCDOT | ||||
Length | 43.7 mi[1] (70.3 km) | |||
Existed | 1934–present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
West end | US 15 Bus. / US 70 Bus. / US 501 Bus. in Durham | |||
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East end | US 64 Alt. / NC 231 near Spring Hope | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | North Carolina | |||
Counties | Durham, Wake, Franklin, Nash | |||
Highway system | ||||
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North Carolina Highway 98 (NC 98) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina and a semi-urban traffic artery connecting Durham, Wake Forest, and Bunn as well as many small to medium-sized towns in the north portion of The Triangle region of North Carolina. Running from downtown Durham, the route leaves the city to the east, running into a rural area near Falls Lake. As the road approaches Wake Forest, it widens to a four-lane divided highway and runs along the southern side of the city. Once leaving Wake Forest NC 98 becomes a two lane road again, running through rural areas east of Bunn. After a short concurrency with NC 39, NC 98 continues southeast to reach its eastern terminus at US 64 Alternate and NC 231 west of Spring Hope.
NC 98 first appeared in 1930 as a state route connecting NC 91 and NC 102 in the coastal region of North Carolina. That routing was abolished in 1931 in favor of an extended NC 58. The current routing of NC 98 was established in 1934 with the road's western terminus at NC 91 (present-day Jones Dairy Road) to US 64 west of Spring Hope. In 1941, NC 98 was moved to a new section of road running from Zebulon Road to US 1 in Youngsville, which would later become part of NC 96. In 1952, NC 98 was again relocated along NC 264 through Wake Forest to Durham, and NC 96 took over its abandoned section. In 2003, a bypass was completed around Wake Forest leading to the rerouting of mainline NC 98 to the bypass and the establishment of a business route through the town center.