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

Primarily in North Carolina, it serves as an important highway from the mountains to the sea, connecting the cities of Asheville, Charlotte and Wilmington.

The 63-mile (101 km) route travels from the I-24/I-75 interchange, in Chattanooga, northeast to Cleveland, where it then continues east, along with US 64, to the North Carolina state line.

Routed along 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); it shares a revolving door of concurrency changes with US 19, US 129, US 441 and US 23.

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.

After crossing a unique weave intersection with Interstate 85, it joins with US 29 and travels through downtown Gastonia along Franklin Boulevard.

After leaving the Charlotte city limits, the route turns southeast as it goes through Stallings, Indian Trail and Monroe, where it briefly overlaps with US 601, before continuing east again through Wingate, Marshville, Peachland, Polkton, Wadesboro and Lilesville.

After a future interchange near NC 38 that will end its overlap with Interstate 73, US 74/Future I-74 continues southeast, bypassing Laurinburg and Maxton.

Approximately 1.7 miles (2.7 km) on North Lumina, US 74 reaches its eastern terminus at a dead end circle with an entrance to the local Shell Island Resort hotel.

[11] 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 replaced all of US 74 through the downtown area by 1949 (later renamed US 74 Business in 1960).

[11][12][13] 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.

The routing extension started at its former western terminus with US 70, going northerly, in concurrency with US 70, to I-240, where it overlapped briefly before joining US 19/US 23.

Heading west, in concurrency with US 64, it enters Tennessee; traversing through Ducktown, it reaches Cleveland, where it then follows the US 64 Bypass to I-75.

In 2021, Stonewall Street was renamed to Brooklyn Village Avenue to honor a Charlotte neighborhood that had been demolished for expansion of the Uptown area.

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, who 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 US 74 was to come, Chavis started a campaign to change the name to American Indian Highway.

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 NCDOT.

[42] On April 10, 2023, a bill was introduced to further upgrade the entire stretch of US 74 from I-26 in Columbus, and I-85 in Kings Mountain to interstate highway standards.

[45] In Mooresboro, there are plans to convert the last remaining at-grade intersections (US 74 Business/Lattimore Road/Academy Street) into an interchange, as well as improving the bridges over Sandy Run Creek.

Public input from the community on these improvements, which gave four alternatives construction plans (1, 1A, 2, and 2A) as well as three options for service roads, was requested from late August to early September 2022.

This alternative will transform the US 74 Business/Lattimore Road/Academy Street intersection with a parclo interchange that will include a roundabout on the ramps to and from eastbound lanes.

[46] The Independence Widening project, in Mecklenburg County, is to enhance and improve traffic flow and safety along US 74 in east Charlotte, by converting the corridor into an expressway grade highway from Center City to Matthews.

[47] NCDOT is now planning to add two-way grade-separated express lanes to this segment along with converting it to an expressway with additional interchanges as well.

[48][49] Partial funding for part of the project was provided in the NCDOT's 2024-2033 State Transportation Improvement Program and right-of-way acquisition is scheduled to start in 2024; construction will begin in 2028.

[50] The Wadesboro Bypass project remains only partially funded, but it was included in the NCDOT's 2024-2033 State Transportation Improvement Program.