U.S. Route 74 Alternate (Asheville–Forest City, North Carolina)

U.S. Route 74 Alternate (US 74A or US 74-A) is an alternate route of U.S. Route 74 in Western North Carolina, running from the town of Forest City to the city of Asheville. It replaced US 74's former mainline route in 1994, when its parent highway was moved onto a new freeway alignment running from Forest City to I-26 in Columbus, North Carolina, and from there to I-40 and US 23 in Enka, North Carolina. Its alignment, a narrow, winding road, greatly differs from US 74 today, straying from its parent route by as much as ~14 miles, separated by as much as half an hour of driving time. Throughout its routing, it is in Buncombe, Henderson, and Rutherford counties.

US 74A was established in 1994, replacing the old mainline US 74 route when US 74 was moved onto the Solon David Smart Memorial Highway and I-26. The alignment of US 74A varies greatly from the current parent route. US 74A traverses through downtown Asheville, goes through the mountain resort communities of Chimney Rock and Lake Lure, continues to Ruth, passes between the towns of Rutherfordton and Spindale, and bypasses Forest City to the south. US 74, joins I-40 eastbound west of Asheville, and switches onto I-26 eastbound through Fletcher, bypassing most of urban Asheville. Continuing along a southeasterly course, the parent US 74 passes by Hendersonville and splits from I-26 at Columbus; after passing south of Rutherfordton, US 74 meets the eastern terminus of US 74A.

US 74A is concurrent with US 64 from Ruth in the east through Lake Lure, where NC 9 joins, and Chimney Rock; the three routes separate in Bat Cave. NC 9 splits to the north, US 64 to the south; US 74A alone continues west from that point. In Asheville, US 74A has many concurrencies; US 70 is concurrent with US 74A in east and downtown Asheville and Interstate 26, I-240, US 19/US 23 are concurrent with US 74A west of downtown. Near US 74A's western terminus, US 19/US 23 are concurrent with US 74A. NC 81 overlaps with US 74A for a short 1-mile (1.6 km) segment in southeast Asheville. Between Asheville and Gerton, US 74A bears the street name Charlotte Highway. East of Gerton, the road is named the Gerton Highway until arriving at Bat Cave. Through towns and cities, the road takes various names including Main Street and Railroad Avenue.

US 74A is overlapped by two North Carolina scenic byways: Drovers Road (Asheville to Bat Cave) and Black Mountain Rag (Bat Cave to Lake Lure).