RALEIGH – Motorists are urged to use extra caution if they travel along U.S. 1, N.C. 211, and U.S. 401 as participants in the NAACP March for Justice make their way along those highways through North Carolina from Saturday, Aug. 29, through Sunday, Sept. 6. It is a part of an 860-mile march from Selma, Alabama to Washington D.C. that started earlier this month.
The North Carolina segment of the march will begin south of Rockingham in Richmond County on Saturday afternoon. It will make its way into Virginia north of Norlina in Warren County eight days later. The plan calls for marchers to go about 20 miles a day.
The path of the march will follow U.S. 1 through Rockingham, turn on N.C. 211 to go to Raeford, switch over to U.S. 401 and travel through Fayetteville and into Raleigh for a downtown rally on Sept 3. The march will continue on U.S. 401 through Louisburg, Warrenton and into Virginia.
Because the marchers will be walking along the three often busy highways, the N.C. Highway Patrol, N.C. Department of Transportation, and local law enforcement agencies have established an escort plan for the safety of the marchers and drivers along those roads.
The plan calls for use of Highway Patrol cars and NCDOT IMAP Safety Patrol vehicles to serve as escorts in front and behind the marchers for most of the route. They will be joined when needed by local law enforcement, including the Raleigh Police Department.