text: north carolina highway 68 north carolina highway 68 ( nc 68 ) is a north – south state highway in north carolina . it serves as a connector between interstate 40 ( i - 40 ) and piedmont triad international airport ( via bryan boulevard ) . on its routing from thomasville to stokesdale , nc 68 passes through urban high point , the western outskirts of greensboro , and the town of oak ridge . the segment from just north of the i - 40 interchange to pleasant ridge road in guilford county is a limited access freeway . route description beginning in the south at business i - 85 / us 29 / us 70 , the route travels north out of thomasville in davidson county as national highway , a name which referred to the former routing of us 29 / 70 ( later us 29a / 70a ) along this segment . crossing from davidson county into neighboring guilford county and the city of high point , nc 68 is cosigned with english road . approximately one mile within the city limits , nc 68 turns left onto westchester drive , a boulevard that bypasses high point 's downtown area . arriving at the main street interchange , the city 's busiest , nc 68 continues onto eastchester drive , another boulevard . after passing oak hollow mall , i - 74 / us 311 ( high point east belt ) , and the wendover avenue interchange , nc 68 and eastchester drive continue north into neighboring greensboro . shortly after entering greensboro , nc 68 meets interstate 40 / us 421 , and becomes a limited access freeway after a traffic signal at triad center drive . continuing north as a divided four - lane highway , nc 68 has junctions with w. market street ( colfax exit ) and bryan boulevard , the exit for piedmont triad international airport . the road downgrades to an undivided primary road at the pleasant ridge road junction . from there , the route heads north through the heart of oak ridge , north carolina , passing the oak ridge military academy at the route 's intersection with nc 150 . after crossing the haw river into stokesdale , nc 68 crosses us 158 and joins nc 65 for a short 1 - mile ( 1 . 6 km ) concurrency , before splitting to the northeast en route to its northern terminus at nc 220 in rockingham county . history the first nc 68 was an original state highway that traversed from nc 60 , in millers creek ( west of wilkesboro ) , northwest through glendale springs , jefferson and crumpler , before crossing into virginia . by 1928 , nc 68 was rerouted west of jefferson onto new primary routing west to the tennessee state line ; the old alignment becoming nc 681 . in 1929 , all of nc 68 was replaced by an extension of nc 16 . the second and current nc 68 was established in 1930 as a new primary routing from us 70 / us 170 / nc 10 , northeast of high point , to nc 65 , in stokesdale . in 1936 , nc 68 was rerouted south through high point to us 29a / us 70a ( lexington avenue ) ; its old alignment , along penny road , became a secondary road . in 1941 , nc 68 was extended north on new primary routing to us 220 ( sylvania road ) . in 1952 , nc 68 was extended north to its current terminus with us 220 , replacing part of old us 220 . between 1950 - 1953 , nc 68 was extended south to english street . in 1956 or 1957 , nc 68 was extended to its current southern terminus , sharing a concurrency with us 29a / us 70a , until 1991 . in 1982 , nc 68 was placed on new freeway connecting i - 40 and the piedmont triad international airport , its old alignment along bull road ( today 's regional road ) a secondary road . future future ncdot plans call for the construction of a new four - lane highway connecting nc 68 and us 220 . starting with a new interchange with i - 73 ( near pleasant ridge road ) , improvements will be made along a short section of existing nc 68 before going northwest onto new construction that will bypass east of oak ridge and connect with us 220 in summerfield . this section will become part of i - 73 . north of oak ridge , safety improvements are to be done between east harrell road ( sr ) and drive ( sr ) . the estimated cost is $ 1 . 96 million . property acquisition is expected to start in december 2014 . junction list