Interstate 85 Business (North Carolina)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Interstate 85 Business
Business loop of the Interstate Highway System.
Length:	Southern Segment: 30 miles (48 km) Northern Segment: 11 miles (18 km)
Formed:	North section added in 2004
Direction:	South/North
From:	I-85/US 70/29/52/Future I-285 near Lexington, NC
Major junctions:	I-73/I-85//US 421 in Greensboro I-40/US 29/US 70/US 220 in Greensboro
To:	I-40/85/Future Interstates 840/785 (Painter Blvd) near McLeansville, NC
Major cities:	Lexington, NC Thomasville, NC Trinity, NC High Point, NC Jamestown, NC Greensboro, NC
System:	Interstate Highway System

Interstate 85 Business (commonly known as just "Business 85") is a business loop of the Interstate Highway System, running from Interstate 85 southwest of Lexington, North Carolina through Lexington, Thomasville, High Point and Greensboro to I-85 east of Greensboro. It consists of two sections, separated by a 2-mile (3 km) hiatus along I-85. The southern section, the longer of the two, was once part of I-85 and later Temporary I-85; it includes several large non-freeway stretches. The northern section is a freeway, though not built to Interstate standards, and was I-85 until 2004, when that road was shifted to the Greensboro Bypass. Most of the northern section was still part of Interstate 40 until February 2008, when the southwestern section of the Greensboro Urban Loop opened and the old route became Interstate 40 Business (which has since been decommissioned, making the road I-40 once again). Except for the northernmost bit near Greensboro, the whole length is concurrent with U.S. Route 29 and U.S. Route 70. The southernmost 4 miles (6 km) are also part of U.S. Route 52, planned to become Interstate 285 in that area.

Business 85's junction with I-40 in Greensboro is commonly nicknamed "Death Valley" for its unusual design and high rate of traffic incidents. One of the main reasons I-85 was rerouted along the Greensboro Bypass (as was I-40 when the southern portion was completed) was to lighten traffic at the Death Valley interchange area.

The northern Greensboro segment of Business 85 was given the street name Preddy Boulevard after the Preddy Brothers (one of which is George Preddy) for their outstanding service in World War II.

Business 85 is co-signed with I-40 in Greensboro, although Business 40 once ran through the area after I-40 was routed onto the Greensboro Urban Loop. To make up for I-40's return to its original route, US 421 was rerouted onto the I-40 portion of the loop. The US 421 sign has since been removed to reflect this routing change.

In September 2008, the FHWA granted the NCDOT permission to return I-40 back to its former route through Greensboro after residents and motorists complained about the apparent confusion between green (Business I-40) and blue (I-40) signage, as well as increased traffic on the I-40 portion of the loop. As a result, Business I-40 has been truncated to its original endpoint in Kernersville, North Carolina, east of Winston-Salem. In its place, U.S. Route 421 has been rerouted onto the former alignment of I-40, which is also signed as Interstate 73. The restoration of I-40 on its original routing through the city re-creates the rare instance of a regular and Business Interstate sharing the same highway.

[edit] Exit list

Mile	#		Destinations	Notes
	Old
			I-85 south / US 29 south / US 52 south / US 70 west	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		84	Linwood
		85	Green Needles Road
		86	US 29 Bus. north / US 70 Bus. east – Downtown Lexington
		87	US 52 north – Winston-Salem	North end of US 52 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance
		88	Old US 64
		89	US 64 west – Mocksville	South end of US 64 overlap
		90	West Center Street
		92	NC 8 – Lexington, Winston-Salem
			US 29 Bus. south / US 70 Bus. west (North Main Street) – Lexington
			US 64 east – Asheboro	North end of US 64 overlap
North end of freeway
			Thomasville	Interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance
			NC 109 – Thomasville, Winston-Salem	Interchange
			NC 68 – PTI Airport, West High Point	Interchange
South end of freeway
			Old Thomasville Road – High Point
			Prospect Street
			West Green Drive
			Surrett Drive
			US 311 south – Asheboro, High Point	South end of US 311 overlap
			Brentwood Street
			US 311 north – Winston-Salem	North end of US 311 overlap
North end of freeway
			Baker Road	Interchange
			Kivett Drive – East High Point	Interchange
South end of freeway
			Vickrey Chapel Road – Jamestown, Sedgefield
			I-85 south – Salisbury, Charlotte	South end of I-85 overlap
	120	33	Groometown Road to Grandover Parkway	Signed as exit 119 northbound
			I-85 north – Durham, Raleigh	North end of I-85 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance
		33	I-73 north / US 421 north to I-40 west – Winston-Salem	Signed as exit 120B northbound
	121	34	Holden Road
	122A	35A	US 220 south – Asheboro
	122B	35B	US 220 north to I-40 west  – Coliseum Area	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	122C	35C	Rehobeth Church Road, Vandalia Road
	123 36A	219A (I-40)	I-40 west – Winston-Salem	South end of I-40 overlap; no northbound exit
	124 36B	219B (I-40)	Randleman Road	Once signed as exit 36 northbound on I-85 Bus.; now Exit 219 eastbound on I-40
	125 37	220 (I-40)	South Elm-Eugene Street – Downtown Greensboro
	126 38	221A (I-40)	Sanford	Formerly US 421 south
	127 39	221B (I-40)	US 29 north / US 70 east / US 220 north – Reidsville	North end of US 29/US 70/US 220 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance
	128 41	223 (I-40)	NC 6 (East Lee Street) to US 29 north / US 220 north
	130 43	226 (I-40)	McConnell Road
	131A 44	227A (I-40)	To US 70 (via I-840)
	44B	227B (I-40)	I-85 south	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
			I-40 east / I-85 north – Durham	Northbound exit and southbound entrance

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Interstate 85 Business (North Carolina)

• I-40 Business
• Death Valley (North Carolina)

v • d • e Piedmont Triad Location North Carolina • Piedmont • Piedmont Crescent • I-85 Corridor • NW Piedmont C.O.G. • Piedmont Triad C.O.G. Cities Greensboro • Winston-Salem • High Point Asheboro • Burlington • Clemmons • Eden • Graham • Kernersville • Lexington • Reidsville • Thomasville Counties Alamance • Davie • Davidson • Forsyth • Guilford • Randolph • Rockingham • Stokes • Surry • Yadkin Newspapers Greensboro News & Record • Winston-Salem Journal • High Point Enterprise • Burlington Times-News • Thomasville Times • Archdale-Trinity News Higher education Wake Forest University • Salem College • Winston-Salem State University • University of North Carolina School of the Arts • High Point University • Guilford College • University of North Carolina at Greensboro • Greensboro College • Bennett College • North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University • Elon University Transportation I-40 • I-85 • I-73 • I-74 • Bus I-40 • Bus I-85 • US 29 • US 52 • US 64 • US 220 • US 311 • US 421 • Piedmont Triad International Airport • Greensboro Urban Loop • Winston-Salem Beltway