North Carolina Highway 54

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North Carolina Highway 54
Route information
Maintained by NCDOT
Length	55.0 mi[1] (88.5 km)
Existed	1929–present
Major junctions
West end	US 70 / NC 62 in Burlington
Major intersections	I-40 / I-85 in Graham US 15 / US 501 / NC 86 in Chapel Hill I-40 in Chapel Hill NC 540 in Morrisville I-40 near Raleigh
East end	I-440 / US 1 in Raleigh
Location
Country	United States
State	North Carolina
Counties	Alamance, Orange, Durham, Wake
Highway system
North Carolina Highway System Interstate US State Scenic
← NC 53 → NC 55

North Carolina Highway 54 (NC 54) is a 55.0-mile-long (88.5 km) primary state highway in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The highway serves the Research Triangle area, between Burlington and Raleigh, connecting the cities and towns of Chapel Hill, Durham, Morrisville and Cary. The highway also links the campuses of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University.

NC 54 runs from US 70 in Burlington along Chapel Hill Road through the downtown area of Graham. Turning to the southeast the route runs through some of the outskirts of Burlington before moving through a predominantly rural area. Approaching Chapel Hill, the highway follows the NC 54 "Bypass" around the town and runs concurrently with US 15/US 501 until reaching Raleigh Road. At Raleigh Road, NC 54 continues to the east crossing I-40 and running through the outskirts of Durham. The road parallels I-40 as it enters into Research Triangle Park. From Morrisville, NC 54 follows Chapel Hill Road until reaching the downtown area of Cary where it uses Maynard Road as a bypass. On the eastern side of Cary, NC 54 turns back onto Chapel Hill Road and follows the road until reaching Hillsborough Street near Raleigh. At Hillsborough Street, NC 54 turns to the east to follow the street through west Raleigh and along the NC State Fairgrounds. The highway ends at I-440/US 1 west of downtown Raleigh.

NC 54 first appeared as an original state highway running from NC 75 in Pittsboro to Moncure. However, by 1928 the route was recommissioned as a secondary road which remains today as Moncure Pittsboro Road. The current NC 54 was signed in 1929 from Graham to US 70 south of Durham. In 1930 it was further extended through Rockingham to the Virginia border, however in 1940 much of that routing was renumbered as NC 87. The route was further extended in 1953 where it ran concurrent along US 70A until reaching US 1 in Cary. The Chapel Hill Bypass was completed in 1956 and NC 54 was rerouted from its downtown Chapel Hill routing to the new bypass. The last major change to the routing occurred in 1963 when NC 54 was extended along Hillsborough Street to the then-new US 1 freeway (present day I-440).