U.S. Route 13 (US 13) is a north–south U.S. highway established in 1926 that runs for from Interstate 95 (I-95) just north of Fayetteville, North Carolina to US 1 in the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in Morrisville. In all, it traverses five states in the Atlantic coastal plain region. It follows the Atlantic coast more closely than does the main north–south U.S. highway of the region, US 1. Due to this, its number is out of place on the general U.S. Route numbering grid, as it should be running west of US 11 but does not. Its routing is largely rural, the notable exceptions being the Hampton Roads area in Virginia and the northern end of the highway in Delaware and Pennsylvania. It is also notable for being the main thoroughfare for the Delmarva Peninsula and carrying the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel to it in Virginia. US 13's original plan in 1926 had the route serve no further south than the Delmarva Peninsula. However, it has been extended many times, connecting to the mainland via ferry service and eventually reaching North Carolina. This link across the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay became fixed in 1964 with a bridge-tunnel. The entire route on the Delmarva peninsula, except for a few sections in Accomack County, Virginia, has been dualized fully with four lanes, and further upgrades continue, such as a freeway section around the east side of Salisbury, Maryland. Route description |- |NC |185.52 |298.57 |- |VA |137.45 |221.20 |- |MD |42.01 |67.60 |- |DE |103.33 |166.29 |- |PA |49.50 |79.66 |- |Total |517.81 |833.33 |} North Carolina US 13 runs southwest to northeast through the eastern part of North Carolina. It begins at I-95 near Fayetteville as a continuation of I-295 (Fayetteville Outer Loop) and heads northeast, intersecting US 421 in Spivey's Corner and US 701 in Newton Grove. It passes over I-40 without an interchange; access is provided via US 701 or NC 50. It then passes through the city of Goldsboro, where it intersects US 70 and US 117. US 13 continues northeast and shares a brief concurrency with US 264 before passing through the city of Greenville. US 13 then heads north from Greenville, following the limited-access US 64 east between Bethel and Williamston and US 17 north between Williamston and Windsor. US 13 then heads north from Windsor towards Ahoskie and intersects with NC 11. It then