U.S. Route 74 is an east–west United States highway that runs for 515 miles (829 km) from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.

Established in 1987, US-74's signposted western terminus is exit 20 on I-75 in Cleveland. After 1.5 miles (2.4 km), it is overlapped with US-64 for the remaining 42.3 miles (68.1 km) in Tennessee before entering North Carolina (a total of 43.8 miles (70.5 km)).

Signage for US-74 is poor, as it appears more as an after-thought by TDOT. Most highways that cross US-74 will typically only mention US-64 instead; I-75 even ignores US-74 at their intersection, showing instead a connector to US-64.

According to the 2012 official Tennessee road map, US-74 follows I-75 southwest to the I-24 interchange in Chattanooga.

From the Tennessee state line, US 74 traverses across the southern portion of the state, connecting the cities Asheville, Charlotte, and Wilmington, for a total of 451.8 miles (727.1 km). US 74 is a major North Carolina highway between Asheville and Wilmington.

Established in 1987, US 74 was overlapped on pre-existing highways in the region, specifically the: Appalachian Highway (at-grade expressway, except in the Nantahala Gorge) and the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway (controlled-access freeway, which is broken in three sections along the route). The alternating named highway (depending on grade of road) is considered the commercial back-bone and main truck route of Western North Carolina, connecting the cities of Murphy, Andrews, Bryson City, Cherokee, Sylva, and Waynesville. In or around October, the fall colors create an influx of more tourists in the region. In the winter months, the highway is the first to be salted and plowed; however, both the Nantahala Gorge and Balsam Gap tend to get the most snow and/or ice in the region and should be traveled with care.

At mile marker 108, it begins a 19 miles (31 km) overlap with I-40 till Asheville, where it switches partners with I-26 for an additional 36 miles (58 km) of interstate overlap. At Columbus, it separates with I-26, going east, on the Solon David Smart Memorial Highway, towards Shelby.

In Cleveland County, the freeway downgrades to an expressway. US 74 then goes through the city of Shelby, notorious for its traffic tie-ups; and then nearby Kings Mountain, where it returns to freeway grade. After the Interstate 85 weave intersection, it downgrades again to an expressway through the city and downtown area of Gastonia where it is referred to as Franklin Blvd.. Entering Mecklenburg County, the highway becomes known as Wilkinson Boulevard; in Uptown Charlotte, it becomes the John Belk Freeway; then followed promptly as Independence Freeway/Boulevard before exiting Mecklenburg county. Between Matthews and Monroe, the highway is known for its chronic rush hour traffic tie-ups; this is where the proposed new toll road, the Monroe Bypass, will be established to alleviate the traffic problem. After the city of Monroe (more specifically after US 601), the highway quickly becomes less stressful; the cities of Wingate, Marshville, Peachland, Polkton, Wadesboro and Lilesville follow before crossing the Pee Dee River.

In Rockingham, US 74 meets up with Future I-74 at mile marker 311; it will continue along the same route till Bolton. Majority of the highway in the Sandhills region is at freeway grade; however only the American Indian Highway, a 19 miles (31 km) section, is at Interstate standards allowing a true concurrency I-74. This is one of only two instances (along with proposed I-41 in Wisconsin) of similarly-numbered U.S. and Interstate routes being designated on the same road.

After Lumberton, the US 74 overlaps with US 76, which will continue mostly together till Wrightsville Beach, where US 74 will dead-end north and US 76 will dead-end south. The highway connects the cities and towns of Whiteville, Lake Waccamaw, and Wilmington. The road through the Cape Fear region is flat, surrounded by parts of the Green Swamp.

Nantahala Byway is an 43-mile (69 km) byway from Marble to Whittier; it is known for its scenic views of the Nantahala Gorge, The Great Smoky Mountain Railroad, and the whitewater rafting on the Nantahala River . US 74 overlaps 38 miles (61 km) of the byway from Marble to Bryson City. The byway also overlaps with US 19 and US 129.

Though the highway is commonly known as "US 74" throughout the state of North Carolina and "US-64" (or ignored) in Tennessee, the highway does have other known names it uses locally in areas.

Established as an original U.S. Route in late 1926, US 74 traversed from Asheville to Chadbourn, in North Carolina. It was extended eastward in late 1934 to Wilmington, replacing an old alignment of US 17.

In 1936, US 74 was extended eastward again from Wilmington, via Market Street, to Wrightsville Beach, then going north on Lumina Avenue to its current eastern terminus. US 74 also spawned two alternate routes the same year, the first and shortest (0.14 miles (0.23 km)) in Leland, and a second in Shelby; which eventually replace all of US 74 through the downtown area by 1949 (later renamed US 74 Business in 1960).

In 1937, US 74 was rerouted through Kings Mountain, replacing part of NC 7. Its old alignment became an alternate route, but was replaced a year later by both NC 161 and NC 274. This section would later become US 74 Business in 1984.

By 1949, US 74 was on its first bypass around Rutherfordton, via Ruth; its former route becoming an alternate route (later renamed US 74 Business in 1960). In 1952, the first Monroe Bypass was completed, leaving an short lived alternate route going through the downtown area. By 1953, the first bypass around Rockingham was completed, leaving a short lived alternate route through the downtown area.

In 1970, US 74 was placed on new freeway alignment bypassing Spindale, Forest City, Ellenboro, and Mooresboro; the old route was replaced by an extension of US 74 Business. In 1973, US 74 was realigned onto new road south of Lumberton. The following year, US 74 was placed on new freeway bypasses around Leland and Belville, and another around Chadbourn and Whiteville.

In 1985, Maxton was bypassed, replaced by an extension of US 74 Business. Around 1986-87, Hallsboro and Lake Waccamaw was bypassed; it's old alignment replaced by NC 214. By 1992, the bypass was extended around Bolton.

In 1987, US 74 was extended west from Asheville to Chattanooga, Tennessee. It followed US 19/US 23 to Lake Junaluska, where it replaced US 19A along the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway. South of Bryson City, it follows US 19 and later US 64 into Tennessee. From the state line, it continues in concurrence with US-64 to Cleveland, where it goes south to Chattanooga along I-75. It has been reported that in 1994 US-74 was truncated at I-75 in Cleveland but as of 2012[update] is still shown continuing with I-75.

In 1994, another major rerouting of US 74 occurred when it was placed on new freeway bypassing south of Rutherfordton to Columbus, where it then proceeded north in concurrency with I-26 to Asheville. The old alignment between Asheville to Forest City became US 74A. In 1998, US 74 was realigned west of Asheville to Clyde along I-40.

Late 2000, US 74 was placed on its second bypass around both Rockingham and Hamlet; renaming the old alignment US 74 Business. In 2005, US 74 was rerouted north of downtown Wilmington. In 2007, US 74 was placed on new freeway, in concurrency with I-74 from Maxton to just east of I-95; its old alignment becoming U.S. Route 74 Alternate.

Independence Boulevard and Independence Expressway are two major interconnected roads in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina that carry US 74. Originally constructed in the 1940s and early 1950s, Independence Boulevard was the city of Charlotte's first expressway. The road has undergone numerous realignments, extensions, upgrades, truncations, and renamings since the mid-20th century.

Ben Douglas, former mayor of Charlotte and member of the North Carolina State Highway Commission, helped lead the push for the urban highway project in the 1940s that would become Independence Boulevard. In 1946, Charlotte voters passed a referendum in favor of a $200,000 bond issue to fund the project; this was coupled with over $2 million in federal funding. The expressway was to be named after Independence Park that was largely demolished to make way for the road; the name suggestion was coined by City Clerk Lillian Hoffman on May 4, 1949 after a previous suggestion naming it after the current mayor, Herbert Baxter, was rejected. Construction commenced in the late 1940s and the new expressway which traversed east–west along the southern part of the city opened in two parts; the first opened to traffic in 1949 and the other opened in 1950. US 74 and NC 27 were subsequently shifted from their central business district alignments to the new expressway.

Major changes to Independence Boulevard occurred in the 1980s. A portion of West Independence Boulevard was converted from expressway to limited-access freeway and made a part of the John Belk Freeway and Interstate 277. The portion west of Interstate 77 was renamed Wilkinson Boulevard. A new intersection with I-277 was constructed and the connecting freeway along with the updated portion of East Independence Boulevard was given the name Independence Freeway; US 74 was shifted to this new alignment. After the massive transportation revamp, a few disconnected segments of the original Independence Boulevard remained. These segments were later reorganized and given the names Carson Boulevard, Stonewall Street, and South Independence Boulevard; the latter was downgraded to a surface street and renamed Charlottetown Avenue in 2007 to prevent confusion with the unconnected East Independence Boulevard.

The freeway and bus lanes of Independence Freeway were extended to Albemarle Road in 2005. The limited-access road extension has caused numerous businesses along the corridor to leave the area and vacate their commercial real estate, resulting in brownfield land.

In Robeson County, the highway is designated "American Indian Highway", a name that was the brain child of Robert M. Chavis, the Wolfclan chief of the NC Tuscarora; Cherokee Indians of Robeson County, and Nottoway Nation, whom authored the name in the late 1990s. American Indian people of Robeson county NC had attempted to remove Andrew Jackson's name from the highway for some sixty years. Knowing that the new HWY 74 was to come Robert M. Chavis started a campaign to change the name to American Indian Highway. Mr. Chavis did this in honor of all the Indian people that had lost their lives along the Trail of Tears during the Indian Removal Act of the 1830s that was authored by Andrew Jackson. Robert M. Chavis was cited in many newspapers across North Carolina stating that the name should be changed, because that name on this section of road was tantamount to having a major road named Adolf Hitler that ran across a Jewish State or county. Robert Chavis with the help of the Tuscarora East of the Mountains obtained the information on how to attempt the name change from Rep. Ronnie Sutton and the NC-DOT. Then Robert Chavis presented orally the concerns, reasons for the name change to all the cities of Robeson county and the Robeson County Commissioners. Mr. Chavis' presentations convinced all these governmental bodies to sign on to the name change. Once he obtained approval from these entities he presented the name change to the NC-DOT. Rep. Ronnie Sutton supported the name change at the state level and the name change was approved by the NC-DOT. The new signs of American Indian Highway were placed on the new sections of I-74 once the highway construction was completed. in recognition of Jackson's anti-Indian policies.

In addition to the expected concurrency with I-74 east of Rockingham, another controlled-access facility, called the Monroe Connector / Bypass, is also in the plans for U.S. 74. The bypass will run from Charlotte to Marshville in eastern Union County, allegedly to relieve traffic on the current alignment between these two cities, but there is little proof that it will. Several environmental issues have delayed this project for a number of years. The North Carolina Turnpike Authority has awarded the project and construction is scheduled to begin in October 2012.

There are also plans to build three new interchanges on Independence Boulevard. They will be located at Sharon-Amity Road, Idlewild Road and Conference Drive. Currently, all three junctions are signalized at-grade intersections.

A bypass of Shelby (west of Charlotte) is also planned. Once completed, U.S. 74 will be a continuous freeway from Waynesville (west of Asheville) to Kings Mountain and points east, pending the completion of those projects.

A 4-Lane Expressway with a tunnel and viaduct running from Almond in Swain County to Andrews around Robbinsville is in the planning stages. The road presently runs through Nantahala Gorge and is a bottleneck with two lanes, as on each end of the Gorge is a 4-lane highway presently, and the new highway would clear the bottleneck and make Robbinsville more accessible to the outside world and Cherokee County to the rest of North Carolina. This plan has been marked with controversy, however, as it would disrupt the environment, spoil some views, and be the first four lane highway in Graham County.

For junctions along the I-75 overlap, see Interstate 75 in Tennessee, exits 2 through 20

U.S. Route 74 was the inspiration for the song "Distraction #74," by the North Carolina band The Avett Brothers.[citation needed]