North Carolina State Highway 98 is a semi-urban east-west thoroughfare running through central North Carolina. The highway runs from Durham to Spring Hope, traversing the towns of Bunn and Wake Forest, as well as a small portion of the city of Raleigh.

Route Description

The roadway begins at Roxboro Street in downtown Durham, traveling east along four lane undivded Holloway Street. NC 98 runs concurrent with Business US 70 east to Miami Boulevard. NC 98 continues through east Durham, has an interchange with US 70, then traverses a residential area. NC 98 reduces to two lanes as it leaves Durham along the Wake Forest Highway. The highway curves around a peninsula of Falls Lake before turning into Durham Road as it crosses into Wake County. Shortly thereafter, the roadway has an intersection with Old Creedmoor Road and passes by a Harris Teeter, has an interchange with NC 50, and continues through unincorporated Wake County. 98 crosses Falls Lake twice, then upgrades to a four-lane median-divided boulevard as it approaches Thompson Mill Road. The roadwat turns to the southeast as it enters Wake Forest, then has an intersection with Old Falls of Neuse Road and Business NC 98. NC 98 proper continues along the Dr Calvin Jones Highway as it curves around the northern tip of Raleigh, turns to the east at a SPUI interchange with US 1, and bypasses Wake Forest to the south. Business 98 meets NC 98 at Jones Dairy Road, where NC 98 reduces to two lanes as it turns into Wait Avenue. NC 98 then intersects NC 96 and US 401 on either side of the Wake/Franklin County line and travels through farmland on its way to Bunn. The highway travels through the town along Main Street, briefly overlapping NC 39. The highway then continues due southeast, forks onto Old US Highway 64, and ends at US 64 Alternate near Spring Hope.

NC 98 Corridor Study

The NC 98 Corridor Study is a regional effort initiated by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization in order to address issues with NC 98 between US 70 in Durham County and US 401 in Franklin County. The study was conducted between 2016 and 2018 and focuses on existing traffic congestion, future traffic congestion, vehicle, pedestrian and bicyclist crashes, and discusses the possibility of upgrading the facility to a four-lane median divided roadway. During the study, minor improvements were implemented in order to temporarily ease congestion, such as replacing the four-way stop at the intersection of NC 98 and NC 96 with a roundabout.