The Shelby Bypass, planned to be designated as U.S. Route 74 Bypass (US 74 Byp.), is a future four-lane freeway bypass of the city of Shelby along U.S. Route 74 (US 74) in Cleveland County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It will begin at a trumpet interchange with US 74 west of Shelby, running along its northern city limits, before terminating at another trumpet interchange with US 74 on the southeast city limits of Shelby. The project will also include upgrading a stretch of US 74 from the eastern Shelby Bypass interchange to the diamond interchange with U.S. Route 74 Business (US 74 Bus.) just west of Kings Mountain. The bypass is currently under construction in six sections and is currently expected to be fully open to traffic in 2024.
As of 2023, currently, the only segment of the bypass that is open to traffic is the segment between US 74 west of Shelby to North Carolina Highway 226 (NC 226; Polkville Road) on the northwestern edge of Shelby. This segment opened to traffic on April 13, 2020, but currently has no designation. The next segment, from NC 226 to North Carolina Highway 150 (NC 150; Cherryville Road) on the northeastern edge of Shelby is currently under construction and expected to open in 2023. The last segment from west of Stony Point Road to US 74 Bus. in Kings Mountain is expected to begin construction in 2024, with the entire bypass expected to be completed in 2027.
Route description
The Shelby Bypass will begin at a trumpet interchange with U.S. Route 74 (US 74) west of Shelby, east of the town of Mooresboro. US 74 will exit the mainline highway, with through traffic following onto the bypass. The bypass then will curve northeastward, following the northwestern city limits of Shelby. It will have its first service interchange with Washburn Switch Road just outside the northwest tip of the Shelby city limits, with which it will have a parclo AB2 interchange with before crossing the Charlotte Subdivision. Continuing northeast, it will have another parclo AB2 interchange with North Carolina Highway 226 (NC 226; Polkville Road) northwest of Shelby city limits. It will continue on its trek northeastward, running alongside and just outside of Shelby city limits. At its diamond interchange with North Carolina Highway 18 (NC 18; Fallston Road) on the north side of Shelby, the bypass changes direction and begins traveling southeastward. Crossing the Charlotte Subdivision again, the bypass has another diamond interchange with North Carolina Highway 150 (NC 150; Cherryville Road) on the northeastern city limits of Shelby. Here, the bypass curves slightly more due south, running along the eastern side of Shelby and the western side of the Kings Mountain Reservoir (Moss Lake), through the unincorporated area of Light Oak. The bypass will end at another trumpet interchange with US 74 southeast of Shelby, with US 74 entering the mainline highway.
While not part of the bypass itself, the project will also include improving and converting the stretch of US 74 between the eastern terminus of the Shelby Bypass to the diamond interchange with U.S. Route 74 Business (US 74 Bus.) just west of Kings Mountain to a freeway. This will create a continuous freeway from just east of Mooresboro to Interstate 85 (I-85) and U.S. Route 29 (US 29) in Kings Mountain.
History
The Shelby Bypass was planned in response to the growing traffic delays and accident rates along U.S. Route 74 (US 74) in the Shelby area, as well as stimulate local economic development. The current alignment of US 74 through Shelby is itself a bypass built to bypass Downtown Shelby. This was also done as part of the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT)'s plan to upgrade US 74 between Interstate 26 (I-26) at Columbus and Interstate 85 (I-85) and U.S. Route 29 (US 29) in Kings Mountain to a complete four-lane Interstate standard freeway. The Shelby Bypass is known by NCDOT as "Project #R-2707" and is expected to cost $284 million.