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Interstate 85 (abbreviated I-85) is an interstate highway in the southeastern United States. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with Interstate 65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus intersects with Interstate 95 in Petersburg, Virginia, near Richmond (Map).

Length

Mileskm
80 130 Alabama
180 292 Georgia
106 172 South Carolina
233 377 North Carolina
69 112 Virginia
668 1,082 Total

Major cities

Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs. Non-bolded cities are unofficial control cities and are found sporadically on signs throughout the highway's corridor, particularly in North Carolina.

Intersections with other interstates

Auxiliary routes

Notes

  • In Georgia, I-85 is designated - but not signed - as State Route 403.

  • In North Carolina, I-85 merges with I-40 from Greensboro to Hillsborough, just west of Durham. In Alamance County, the highway is also known as the Sam Hunt Freeway. Because I-85 was recently rerouted around Greensboro, it splits with I-40 eight miles (13 km) east of the original departure point. This is only temporary though. When the southern portion of the Greensboro Urban Loop is completed, I-40 will be rerouted around Greensboro also, which will extend the concurrency 12 miles from the current split.

  • Through downtown Atlanta, I-85 merges with I-75 for a short time. This strip of highway, called the Downtown Connector, is infamous for its bad traffic, and rather confusing split at the north end. The northbound lanes split and then cross over each other. Thus, to head northeast (rightward) on I-85, a driver must be in the leftmost northbound lanes before the split. To head northwest (leftward) on I-75, a driver must be in the rightmost northbound lanes before the split.

  • Interstate 485 was supposed to have been an east-west connector route in the Atlanta area, but it was erased due to community opposition. Part of what would have been I-485 is now GA 10. I 485 was, according to the 1972 Atlanta Regional Transportation Plan, originally supposed to connect with I-420, a spur of I-20 that would have gone north, crossing I-285 (completed in 1968) and eventually going as far north as Dahlonega, Georgia. Only the stretch north of I-285 was originally built (being called Georgia SR 400 or simply Georgia 400), with a southbound (from I-285) extension coming a year before the Olympics to the current I-85 intersection northeast of Downtown Atlanta.

  • There is currently a plan to extend I-85 across western Alabama, where it will connect with I-20 near Cuba, Alabama. This extension is in the planning stages. This extension will roughly follow the route of US-80 via Selma.* This section is also envisioned by some as part of a proposed Interstate 14.

  • The junction between I-85 and I-77 in Charlotte is a strange configuration. When I-85 passes under I-77, the northbound lanes of I-77 are to the west (south on I-85) of the southbound lanes, and southbound I-77 is to the east (north on I-85) of northbound. The travel lanes on I-77 return to their proper positions north and south of this interchange.

  • At milepost 98 in North Carolina, the northbound lanes of I-85 cross under the southbound lanes, and cross back over them near milepost 102. This results in motorists driving to the left of opposing traffic for three-plus miles. The switch is not very noticeable, because the roadways are separated by several hundred feet of woods in this area. A rest area and Vietnam Veterans memorial are located in the median of this section, so the crossover allows for all exits into the rest area to be normal right-hand exits.

  • Virginia's portion of I-85 was to have its posted speed limit raised from 65 mph (105 km/h) to 70 mph (113 km/h), effective July 1, 2006. As a result of this legislation, I-85 becomes the only stretch of highway in Virginia legally able to post a speed limit greater than 65 mph, and I-85 as a whole now has at least one 70-mph stretch in each of the five states it traverses.

See also

Charlotte, North Carolina | Interstate Highway System | Interstate Highways in Alabama | Interstate Highways in Georgia | Interstate Highways in North Carolina | Interstate Highways in South Carolina | Interstate Highways in Virginia | The Triangle, North Carolina | U.S. Route 1

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Interstate 85".

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