NC 14 begins at exit 153 of the US 29 freeway east of Reidsville. US 29 in this area is proposed to become part of I-785. US 158 heads east from this point but NC 14 and US 158 travel in a northwestern direction through woodlands as a four-lane wide highway with a center turn lane. The road enters the city after a one-quadrant interchange with East Market Street and passing under a railroad. The route then crosses US 29 Business, where US 158 leaves the right of way to the west, following US 29 Business. NC 14 then exits the city after passing through a small commercial strip, entering a mix of woods, homes, and farmland. The road through here remains a five-lane roadway. Most junctions here are at-grade intersections though the northernmost junction with Bethlehem Church Road, an overpass carries the road over NC 14 with a single on-ramp to NC 14 southbound. After a long, straight stretch, the route intersects US 311, NC 87, and NC 770 (Harrington Highway) just before it crosses the Dan River and enters Eden.[1][2]
The four roads pass through eastern Eden as Van Buren Road along a commercial strip as a five-lane arterial road. It interchanges with Meadow Road at a partial cloverleaf interchange, where US 311 and NC 770 exit off to the east and NC 700 begins east. NC 14 and NC 87 narrow to two lanes and begin to curve to the west, intersecting many of the city's streets and paralleling the Smith River. Northwest of the city, the road intersects a former alignment of NC 87. At the Virginia state line, NC 87 and NC 14 end and the road becomes VA 87 to continue to Ridgeway, Virginia, south of Martinsville, Virginia.[1][2]
History
The original NC 14 was renumbered to NC 86 in the 1940 renumbering that matched North Carolina route numbers to those of Virginia. NC 65 was renumbered to NC 14 concurrently with that change.[3]
In 1968, most of NC 14 was rebuilt as a new roadway, though it still connected Reidsville with Eden.[3]
^ abNorth Carolina Department of Transportation (2015). 2015-2016 State Transportation Map (Map) (2015–16 ed.). 1:823,680. Cartography by North Carolina State Tax Commission. North Carolina Department of Transportation.
