U.S. Route 19 in North Carolina

US 19/US 74/US 129 (Corridor K), in Murphy

US 19/US 19E switch at Cane River

US 19 begins at the Georgia state line overlapped with US 129 and continues toward Cherokee as Lee Highway. Four miles (6.4 km) into North Carolina, it joins with US 64/US 74 in Ranger. From Ranger to Andrews, the highway is a four-lane expressway that bypasses all the towns and communities along its route. After Andrews, US 19 reverts to two-lane through the Nantahala Gorge, which both have a scenic and somewhat curvy 21-mile (34 km) route until Almond.

At the start of the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway, US 19 exits off toward the towns of Bryson City and Cherokee. At Cherokee, travelers may go north on US 441 to Great Smoky Mountains National Park or to the Blue Ridge Parkway before traveling through the rest of the Qualla Boundary.

The highway expands back into a four-lane expressway in Maggie Valley, where it then merges with the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway for three miles (4.8 km) before exiting back off toward Clyde. From here, US 19 parallels with I-40 to Asheville. US 19 joins other highways in Asheville crossing over the French Broad River, then follows I-26 to Mars Hill. At exit 9, US 19 splits from I-26/US 23; after 10 miles (16 km), US 19 splits into US 19E and US 19W at Cane River. US 19 travels a total of 145 miles (233 km) from the Georgia state line to Cane River.[1]

US 19 also makes up part of Corridor A, Corridor B, and Corridor K in the Appalachian Development Highway System (ADHS). Corridor A connects I-285, in Sandy Springs, Georgia, to I-40, near Clyde, overlapping 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of US 19. Corridor B connects I-40, in Asheville, with US 23, near Lucasville, Ohio, overlapping 19 miles (31 km) of US 19. Corridor K connects I-75, in Cleveland, Tennessee, with US 23, in Dillsboro, overlapping 49 miles (79 km) of US 19. The ADHS provides additional funds, as authorized by Congress, which have enabled US 19 to benefit from the successive improvements along its routing through each corridor. The white-on-blue banner "Appalachian Highway" is used to mark the ADHS corridor.[2]

Established in 1927, US 19 traversed from the Georgia state line (at Bellview) to the Tennessee state line (at Elk Park), roughly similar to the route seen today. In 1930, US 19 was truncated at Cane River, where it was split into US 19E and US 19W; US 19E follows the original US 19 routing north. In 1932, it was rerouted in Asheville from Haywood Road to Clingman Avenue, to Hilliard Avenue to Biltmore Avenue toward Broadway Street. In 1937, US 19 was rerouted south of Almond to its current alignment today; while it was rerouted through downtown Asheville again: from Haywood Road to Clingman Avenue to Patton Avenue to College Avenue to Biltmore Avenue toward Broadway Street.[5]

In the 1940s, additional construction work on US 19 was assured by a compromise made with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in return for right-of-way through the Qualla Boundary for the Blue Ridge Parkway.

In 1947, US 19 was rerouted from Ela, traversing through Dillsboro, Sylva, and Waynesville, to Lake Junaluska. The old route, through Cherokee and Maggie Valley became US 19A. In 1948, it was switched, having US 19 back along the original route and US 19A going south to Lake Junaluska.[5]

In 1949, US 19 was moved onto the Smokey Park Highway/Patton Avenue as a bypass in western Asheville. The old alignment became US 19A (today's US 19 Business, or US 19 Bus.). In 1952, US 19 was rerouted off Martins Creek Road and onto Blairsville Highway, near Ranger. In 1954, US 19 was realigned to its current route from Lake Junaluska to Clyde and Canton; 0.5 miles (0.80 km) of the old route was replaced by NC 209. Between 1955–1957, US 19 was split onto one-way streets in downtown Asheville: northbound used Patton, to Market, to Woodfin, to Broadway, and southbound used Broadway to College, to Patton. In 1961, US 19 removed from downtown Asheville and put on the East–West Expressway, north at Marrimon Avenue. Between 1963–1968, US 19 was split onto one-way streets in downtown Canton (Park Street and Main Street). In 1961, US 19 was moved onto new freeway west of Weaverville; the old route became US 19 Bus.[5]

In 1973, US 19 was removed from Marrimon Avenue to its current alignment north of Asheville. In 1975, the freeway US 19 traversed was extended from Weaverville to Mars Hill. In 1979, US 19 bypassed Andrews; US 19 Bus. replaced the old route. In 1980, US 19 bypassed Murphy; US 19 Bus. replaced the old route. In 1984, US 19 was realigned in Yancey County to its current routing and US 19W was extended 0.4 miles (0.64 km) south.[5]

In 1982, the North Carolina Department of Transportation submitted a request to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials to swap US 19 and US 19A between Bryson City and Lake Junaluska; opposition by businesses in the resort town of Maggie Valley, who opposed losing US 19, prevented this.[6][7] In 1986, US 74 was extended west from Asheville to Chattanooga, Tennessee, which overlapped nearly all of the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway, via US 19 and US 19 Bypass (US 19 Byp.); the following year, US 19 Byp. was decommissioned in favor of US 74.[8][9][10][11][12]

On November 2, 2012, US 19/US 19E was widened from I-26 to Jacks Creek Road, just west of Burnsville. At $107.9 million (equivalent to $128 million in 2021[13]), the 13.6-mile (21.9 km) two-lane mountain road was upgraded to a four-lane highway, and the first for Yancey County. Governor Bev Perdue was on hand at the ribbon-cutting ceremony opening the highway.[14][15]

US 19/US 74, from Andrews to Almond, is to be realigned onto a new multilane highway west of the Nantahala Gorge. The project is broken into several sections, all subject to reprioritization.[16]

US 19/US 23, from Canton to Candler, is to be widened to a multilane highway and its bridge replaced over the Pigeon River. This project is currently funded.[17][18]

US 19, in concurrency with I-26 and US 23, is planned to be realigned onto a new interchange at I-240 and freeway improvements north from it. Right-of-way purchases are to begin in 2023; however, the project is unfunded.[19][20]

Two bridges over Richland Creek are planned to be replaced in Lake Junaluska, and the interchange with US 23/US 74 is to be redesigned to make it safer.[21]

{{NCint|exit {{NCint|exit

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Cherokee	Bellview	0.0	0.0		US 19 south / US 129 south / SR 11 south – Blairsville	Georgia state line
	Ranger	4.0	6.4		US 64 west / US 74 west – Cleveland	West end of US 64/74 overlap
	Murphy	9.0	14.5		US 19 Bus. north (Hiwassee Street)
		9.5	15.3		US 64 east – Hayesville, Franklin	East end of US 64 overlap
	​	12.0	19.3		US 19 Bus. south (Pleasant Valley Road)
	Marble	18.0	29.0		NC 141 south
	Andrews	23.5	37.8		US 19 Bus. north (Main Street) / Airport Road – Western Carolina Regional Airport
		26.5	42.6		US 19 Bus. south (Main Street)
	Topton	33.5	53.9		US 129 north (Tallulah Road) – Robbinsville	North end of US 129 overlap
Macon	No major junctions
Swain	Almond	48.0	77.2		NC 28 north – Robbinsville, Fontana	North end of NC 28 overlap; also to Fontana Dam
	Lauada	51.0	82.1		NC 28 south – Franklin	South end of NC 28 overlap
	​	53.0	85.3	64	US 74 east (Great Smoky Mountains Expressway) – Dillsboro, Waynesville	East end of US 74 overlap
	Bryson City	56.3	90.6		US 19 Conn. (Veterans Boulevard) to US 74
Jackson	No major junctions
Swain	Cherokee	66.0	106.2		US 441 south – Dillsboro, Franklin, Atlanta	South end of US 441 overlap
		66.5	107.0		US 441 north / US 441 Bus. south – Blue Ridge Parkway, Great Smoky Mountains National Park	North end of US 441 and south end of US 441 Business overlap
Jackson		67.0	107.8		US 441 Bus. south	South end of US 441 Business overlap
Haywood	​	78.0	125.5		Blue Ridge Parkway
	Dellwood	87.0	140.0		US 276 north (Jonathan Creek Road)	North end of US 276 overlap
	Lake Junaluska	89.0	143.2		US 276 south (Russ Road) – Waynesville	South end of US 276 overlap
		90.0	144.8	103	US 23 south / US 74 west (Great Smoky Mountains Expressway) – Waynesville, Sylva	South end of US 23 and west end of US 74 overlap, northbound exit and Southbound entrance
		91.0	146.5	104	US 23 Bus. / NC 209 – Lake Junaluska, Waynesville, Hot Springs
		92.0	148.1	105	West Jones Cove	No southbound entrance
	Clyde	93.0	149.7	106	US 74 east (Great Smoky Mountains Expressway) to I-40 – Asheville, Knoxville	East end of US 74 overlap
	Canton	97.0	156.1		NC 215 north (Blackwell Drive)	North end of NC 215 overlap
		98.0	157.7		NC 215 south (Reed Street)	South end of NC 215 overlap
		98.2	158.0		NC 110 south (Pisgah Drive)
Buncombe	Candler	107.0	172.2		NC 151 south (Pisgah Highway)
	Enka	109.0	175.4		NC 112 east (Sand Hills Road)
	Asheville	110.0	177.0		I-40 / US 74 / US 74A – Statesville, Knoxville	West end of US 74A overlap
		113.0	181.9		US 19 Bus. north / US 23 Bus. north (Haywood Road)
		114.0	183.5		NC 63 north (Leicester Highway) – Leicester
		115.0	185.1		Future I-26 east / I-240 west / US 19 Bus. south / US 23 Bus. south	East end of Future I-26 overlap, west end of I-240 overlap; business routes hidden at intersection
US 19 overlaps with Interstate 26 (exits 3A to 9).
Madison	​	134.0	215.7		I-26 / US 23 / US 23A north – Asheville, Wolf Laurel, Johnson City	West end of I-26 overlap, north end of US 23 overlap, brief US 23A overlap
Yancey	Cane River	145.0	233.4		US 19E north / US 19W north – Burnsville, Erwin	US 19 ends; US 19E and US 19W begin
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

• Special routes of U.S. Route 19

• Media related to U.S. Route 19 in North Carolina at Wikimedia Commons
• NCRoads.com: US 19
• NCRoads.com: US 19A
• NCRoads.com: US 19E
• NCRoads.com: US 19W
• NCRoads.com: US 19 Business