Interstate 485

This article is about the freeway in North Carolina. For the two unbuilt highways in the US state of Georgia, see Interstate 485 (Georgia).

Interstate 485
Charlotte Outerbelt
Route information
Maintained by NCDOT
Length:	59 mi (95 km)
Existed:	1988 – present
Major junctions
Beltway around Charlotte
	I-77 / US 21 near Pineville I-85 near Charlotte I-77 in Huntersville I-85 near Concord US 74 in Matthews
Location
Counties:	Mecklenburg
Highway system
Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System Main • Auxiliary • Business North Carolina Highway System ← NC 481 US 501 →

Interstate 485 (I-485) is an Interstate Highway and a nearly completed beltway around Charlotte, North Carolina.

Route description

The western, southern and eastern segments of the beltway are complete and open to traffic. The current path runs west from NC 115 (Old Statesville Road), crosses I-77 turns south and crosses I-85 near Charlotte/Douglas International Airport then continues counter-clockwise back to I-85 near the Charlotte Motor Speedway, the city of Concord and Concord Mills, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, crossing I-77 again south of uptown Charlotte. During rush hour, this newly opened roadway is an easy, but long, way around the I-77/I-85 interchange in north Charlotte.

The northwest segment from I-85 to I-77 was opened in phases. The segment from NC 27 (Mount Holly Road) to NC 16 (Brookshire Boulevard) opened on May 9, 2007; the segment from NC 16 to NC 115 (Old Statesville Road), just beyond the I-77 interchange, originally scheduled to open in March 2007, opened on December 5, 2008, after numerous delays, the most recent being a cold and wet late summer/ early fall. The final segment, from I-77 to I-85 near UNC Charlotte, has begun the Right of Way Acquisition phase with contracts awarded in June 2010.

Although the loop runs within 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of the South Carolina state line, and within 20 feet (6.1 m) of the Cabarrus County line at the Rocky River Road exit, the entire Outerbelt is in within Mecklenburg County's boundaries, and never crosses into South Carolina or any neighboring counties. The Outerbelt traverses the towns of Mint Hill, Matthews, Pineville, and Huntersville. This will be the first "true" loop road around Charlotte, since the present I-277 freeway is an inner business loop around uptown Charlotte.

Orientation and signage

Since Interstate 485, when completed, will be a beltway, the compass orientation of the freeway is not uniform around the loop. To remedy the uniformity issue, the inner/outer orientation system was implemented and became the primary method of signing the direction of travel around the loop. Some sections of the loop are signed with additional north/south or east/west labels (depending on the general direction of travel along a particular stretch) to aid drivers familiar with compass directions. Usually when both systems are utilized on signs, the compass directional banner is placed above the number shield and the inner/outer banner is placed below. Officials originally decided to use only "north" and "south" compass directions when signing the route, but because this would be confusing with multiple "norths" and "souths", "inner" and "outer" designations were included. Althouth "east" and "west" signs exist, these will be phased out in favor of "inner" and "outer" designations.

Traffic traveling in a clockwise direction around the city of Charlotte is on the "Inner" loop and traffic traveling in a counterclockwise direction is on the "Outer" loop. This system can be confusing, but it is logical; since traffic in the United States generally travels on the right side of the road, the clockwise traveling lanes will always be the "Inner" lanes of a loop.

Alternate names

Though the highway is commonly known as either "I-485" or "Charlotte Outerbelt" throughout the state, the highway does have other names posted to honor various important citizens. Even though the names are present, not many local residents use them.

• Charlotte Beltway – alternate name given to entire freeway.
• Craig Lawing Freeway – official name of the northwest section, named for Craig Lawing from mile marker 10 to 23 (approved: February 2, 2001).
• Doctor Jay Robinson Freeway – official name of the northeast section, from mile marker 23 to 31; named after a former superintendent of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools system (approved: January 5, 2001).
• Governor James G. Martin Freeway – official name of the southeast section, from mile marker 31 to 67. Named in honor of Governor James G. Martin that served North Carolina from 1985 to 1993 (approved: December 4, 1992).
• Seddon "Rusty" Goode Freeway – official name of the southwest section, from mile marker 0 to 10. Seddon Goode served on the transportation board in Mecklenburg County and helped bring I-485 as a reality (approved: March 7, 1997).

Volume and capacity

As of 2006, approximately 24 miles (39 km) of I-485 between NC 51 (Exit 65) and NC 24-27 (Exit 41), has four travel lanes. Volume on this section varies widely from a maximum of 120,000 vehicles per day (vpd) east of NC 51 to a 50,000 vpd south of NC 24.

Approximately 10 miles (16 km) of I-485 between NC 24-27 (Exit 41) and I-85 (Exit 31) has between six and eight travel lanes. Volume on this section varies between 50,000 vpd and 55,000 vpd.

Approximately 10 miles (16 km) of I-485 between I-77 (Exit 67) and I-85 (Exit 10) has between six and eight travel lanes. Volume on this section varies between 50,000 and 80,000 vpd.

Volume on the southern section of I-485 regularly exceeds capacity during peak travel times, particularly between I-77 (Exit 67) and NC 16 (Exit 57). Many of the interchanges in this area were designed to accommodate large volumes of traffic, particular the massive interchange with I-77. However, with only two travel lanes in each direction, I-485 does a poor job of handling through traffic when volume is heavy.

Future

Governor Bev Perdue was pushing to have the final section of the loop (connecting NC 115 to I-85) started in the year 2009 and completed within three years, possibly utilizing funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This project will coincide with a planned widening of I-85 through Cabarrus County and convert the current trumpet interchange (exit 48 off I-85), from what was originally planned as a stack interchange, into a turbine interchange.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation has proposed to build additional travel and auxiliary lanes along the southern section of I-485 between US 521/Johnston Road (exit 61) and I-77/US 21 (exit 67). Construction is currently scheduled to begin in 2012. On November 18, 2011, it was reported in the local news that NCDOT is considering adding an additional toll lane along the current project, making it eight travel lanes and extend the widening project from four to six travel lanes from Providence Road (exit 57) to US 521/Johnston Road (exit 61). The new toll lane would use the electronic toll collection system, same as used on the Triangle Expressway. It is unknown at this time if it will be a toll only lane or a HOT lane.

In addition, NCDOT is planning to convert the existing grade separation at Weddington Road (located between Exit 57 and Exit 52) to an interchange beginning in 2013. The proposed design is a folded-diamond style interchange with all four ramps located to one side of the existing grade separation, similar to the existing interchange of I-485 & NC 24/NC 27. The westbound (inner) ramps are proposed to intersect Weddington Road directly opposite Plantation Drive. The future interchange will likely be designated Exit 54.

Exit list

Mile numbering on Interstate 485 is set up for when the freeway is a completed loop. Numbering begins at Interstate 77 south of Charlotte and continues clockwise to NC 115 (Old Statesville Rd) on the Northeast side of Charlotte. The road ends there for now. I-485 begins again at Interstate 85 northeast of Charlotte, and continues as if the road had not ended, at mile 31 (in reality, an 8-mile (14-kilometre) gap exists between the two exits), and continues to Interstate 77 at mile 67.

The entire route is in Mecklenburg County.

Location	#	Destinations	Notes
Charlotte	1	NC 49 (S. Tryon Street)
	3	Arrowood Road
	4	NC 160 (Steele Creek Road) – Fort Mill
	6	West Boulevard
	9	US 29 / US 74 (Wilkinson Boulevard) Charlotte/Douglas International Airport	Exit is part of exit 10 southbound
	10	I-85 – Greensboro, Spartanburg	Signed as exits 10A (north) and 10B (south) on exit collector lanes
Charlotte	12	Moores Chapel Road
	14	NC 27 (Mount Holly Road)
	16	NC 16 (Brookshire Boulevard) – Newton
		Oakdale Road	Future exit (partially constructed, no timetable for completion)
	21	NC 24 (Harris Boulevard)	To Northlake Mall
Huntersville	23	I-77 – Charlotte, Statesville	Signed as exits 23A (south) and 23B (north) southbound
	23C	NC 115 (Old Statesville Road)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Charlotte		Prosperity Church Road	Proposed new freeway (funded, to be completed 2014)
		Mallard Creek Road
	31	I-85 – Greensboro, Spartanburg	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	32	US 29 (N. Tryon Street) – Charlotte, Concord	To Charlotte Motor Speedway
	33	NC 49 (University City Boulevard) – Harrisburg	To UNC Charlotte
	36	Rocky River Road
	39	Harrisburg Road
Mint Hill	41	NC 24 / NC 27 (Albemarle Road) – Albemarle
	43	NC 51 (Blair Road) – Mint Hill
	44	NC 218 (Fairview Road) – Mint Hill
	47	Lawyers Road
Matthews	49	Idlewild Road
	51	US 74 – Charlotte, Monroe	Signed as exits 51A (west) and 51B (east) southbound
	52	East John Street – Matthews
		Weddington Road	Future exit (funded, no timetable for completion)
Charlotte	57	NC 16 (Providence Road) – Weddington
	59	Rea Road
	61	US 521 south (Johnston Road)	Signed as exits 61A (north) and 61B (south) northbound; to Ballantyne
Pineville	64	NC 51 (Pineville-Matthews Road) – Pineville, Matthews	Signed as exits 64A (north) and 64B (south) northbound; to Carolina Place Mall
	65	South Boulevard – Pineville	Signed as exits 65A (south) and 65B (north) southbound
Charlotte	67	I-77 / US 21 – Charlotte, Columbia
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

Photo gallery

• 

  NC 24 End at Interstate 485 in Charlotte.

See also

• Carolina Place Mall
• Carowinds
• Charlotte Motor Speedway
• I-485 / South Boulevard (LYNX station)
• Northlake Mall (Charlotte)
• U.S. National Whitewater Center
• University of North Carolina at Charlotte
• Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte