All photos are clockwise from west to east.


Look, I've seen about 20 photos of route shields and I've never seen a clear one. So let me just put this right up front and introduce you to what this really looks like (well, the "4" is the wrong font). Legend is that Route 4 was so numbered because it's approximately a 4-mile radius around downtown. The city designated it on a bunch of 2-lane roads and gradually began upgrading them to 4 lanes. NCDOT took interest, and I've heard that the entire route is now in the state secondary system.


This sure looks like state-issued signage, old enough to still be done with pleasing aesthetics, on Billy Graham Parkway SB. (Love or hate the guy, he was unquestionably influential. And rich; that always helps to get things named after you.)


For everyone who says the route is hard to find, I direct you to signs on intersecting streets splotched all over my pages, like I-85, NC 16, and NC 49. For everyone who says the route is hard to follow, I present to you shields at every turn in the road and periodically along the way. I actually only photographed the older ones, as there were so many I quickly realized they're not a photographic rarity to be preserved. The art is on the counterclockwise side at Randolph Rd.


Both ends of the route are at I-85, and some consider Route 4 to form a complete loop through a de facto connection along I-85 between Exits 33 and 41. Probably very few do, actually, because most people just don't think about these sorts of things. You are clearly someone who does, and I thank you for reading this page. Here, have a cocktail. Can you believe the news lately? How about those weird-looking overhead assemblies with the wrong fonts and sign sizes? And then there's that signal-wire sign that is just peeling so beautifully? Ugh, but enough about me, let's talk about your website and awesome photos.

To US 29
To US 74
Onto I-85
Back to North Carolina Roads
Back to Roads