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Interstate 85 Business (I-85 Bus.) in the U.S. state of North Carolina was a 29.8-mile-long (48.0 km) business loop of Interstate 85 (I-85) which served several cities in the Piedmont Triad. At its peak, the highway, which was commonly referred to by locals as Business 85, was 43.3 miles (69.7 km) long.
 Interstate 85 Business | |
|---|---|
 I-85 Bus. highlighted in green | |
| Route information | |
| Business route of I-85 | |
| Maintained by NCDOT | |
| Length | 43.3 mi[1] (69.7 km) |
| Existed | 1984–2019 |
| Major junctions | |
| South end |     I-85 / US 29 / US 52 / US 70 in Lexington |
| North end |  I-40 / I-85 in Greensboro |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | North Carolina |
| Counties | Davidson, Randolph, Guilford |
| Highway system | |
I-85 Bus. began at a partial wye interchange with I-85 (exit 87) in Lexington. Heading north for 4.4 miles (7.1 km), in a concurrency with US 29, US 52, and US 70, it went through another partial wye interchange (US 52 exit 87) before leaving the freeway. Changing to a semi-limited expressway, it served as a northern bypass of downtown Lexington, briefly running concurrently with US 64.[2] After leaving the city limits, I-85 Bus. headed in a northeast direction parallel to I-85 further south. After it traveled through Thomasville, it entered the city of High Point at the Davidson–Randolph county line.[3] Briefly in Randolph County for 1.6 miles (2.6 km), it entered Guilford County.[4] East of downtown High Point, I-85 Bus. shared a unique three-level diamond interchange with I-74/US 311 before leaving the city limits.[5] At the Greensboro city limit, I-85 Bus. completed its 30.7-mile (49.4 km) journey with a trumpet interchange with I-85 (exit 118).[6]
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Established in 1984 as re-designation of Temp I-85 (see below), I-85 Bus. traveled from Lexington to Greensboro, in a complete concurrency with US 29 and US 70, when I-85 was completed on a more southern parallel routing.
In May 2005, I-85 was redirected southeast around Greensboro along the Greensboro Urban Loop; its old routing through Greensboro became an extension of I-85 Bus, extending it from 29.8 miles (48.0 km) to 43 miles (69 km).[7][8] The extension included a hidden two-mile (3.2 km) concurrency along I-85 (between exits 118–120A) before splitting off again with US 29 and US 70. In merging onto I-40 (exit 219), it continued easterly before meeting back with I-85 (exit 227) near McLeansville. For a brief period in 2008, I-40 was also decommissioned through Greensboro and rerouted around the Urban Loop, with its old routing replaced by I-40 Bus, but its former in-town route was eventually restored, resulting once again in a regular and business Interstate sharing the same alignment. In October 2018, I-85 Bus was reverted to its original 29.8-mile (48.0 km) alignment, ending near Jamestown. The justification was to eliminate a redundant route and decrease the number of routing shields and overhead signs through Greensboro.[9][10]
Decommissioning
On October 5, 2019, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) submitted an application to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and received approval to decommission I-85 Bus. along its entire route,[11] as well as to reroute US 70 along Wendover Avenue westbound through Greensboro to NC 68 (Eastchester Drive) in High Point, and then onto NC 68, southbound from High Point to Thomasville.[12] Under the state plan, all I-85 Bus. and US 70 signs were removed from the freeway stretch traveling southwesterly from I-40 in Greensboro to NC 68 in Thomasville, but the freeway would remain US 29. The state's justification was that the route changes would: provide a single continuous route as an alternative (US 70 now takes a more direct routing through Greensboro), simplify overhead signage on the freeway (eliminate confusion between the I-85 mainline and I-85 Bus.), and remove traffic from Interstate concurrencies in order to improve safety and regional connectivity.[12] All signage for I-85 Bus. was eventually removed by late 2023.
Temporary Interstate 85
  Temporary Interstate 85 | |
|---|---|
| Location | Lexington–Greensboro, NC |
| Length | 30.8 mi[13] (49.6 km) |
| Existed | 1961–1984 |
Temporary Interstate 85 (Temp I-85) was established by 1961 as a temporary designation that directed travelers along US 29/US 70, from the Yadkin River to Greensboro.[14] In 1977, a flyover bridge was completed (dubbed "bridge over nothing", it later became part of I-85 exit 87), truncating Temp I-85 south-end near Lexington.[15][16] In 1984, I-85 was completed on new primary routing between Lexington and Greensboro; Temp I-85 was replaced by I-85 Bus.
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| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davidson | Lexington | 0.00 | 0.00 |    I-85 south / US 29 south / US 52 south / US 70 west | Continuation beyond southern terminus; south end of US 29/US 52/US 70 overlap; I-85 exit 87; no access to I-85 north/US 29 north/US 52 north/US 70 east | |
| 0.6 | 0.97 | 84 |    NC 47 to I-85 north | Exit numbers based on US 52 mileage | ||
| 1.5 | 2.4 | 85 | Green Needles Road | |||
| 2.8 | 4.5 | 86 | Lexington, Downtown | |||
| 3.7 | 6.0 | — |  US 52 north – Winston-Salem | North end of US 52 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance; US 52 exit 87 | ||
| 4.7 | 7.6 | — | Old US 64 | |||
| 5.2 | 8.4 | — |  US 64 west – Mocksville | South end of US 64 overlap | ||
| — | Smokehouse Lane | Right-in/right-out; southbound exit and entrance; exit unsigned | ||||
| 6.2 | 10.0 | — |  NC 8 (Winston Road) – Lexington, Winston-Salem | North end of freeway section | ||
| 7.1 | 11.4 |  US 64 east – Asheboro | Interchange; north end of US 64 overlap | |||
| Thomasville | 14.3 | 23.0 | Thomasville | Interchange northbound; former US 29 north; southbound access via Kanoy Road | ||
| 16.7 | 26.9 |  NC 109 (Salem Street) – Thomasville, Winston-Salem | Interchange | |||
| 18.4 | 29.6 |  NC 68 (National Highway) – Thomasville, West High Point | Interchange; to PTI Airport | |||
| Randolph | High Point | 19.5 | 31.4 | — | Old Thomasville Road – High Point | South end of expressway section |
| Guilford | 20.3 | 32.7 | — | Prospect Street | ||
| 21.3 | 34.3 | — | West Green Drive | |||
| 22.1 | 35.6 | — | Surrett Drive | |||
| 22.8 | 36.7 | — | Main Street – High Point | |||
| 24.0 | 38.6 | — |   I-74 / US 311 / Brentwood Street – Winston-Salem, Asheboro | North end of expressway section; Brentwood Street had a separate exit northbound; three-level diamond interchange; I-74 exit 71B | ||
| 25.2 | 40.6 | Baker Road | Interchange | |||
| 26.2 | 42.2 | Kivett Drive – East High Point | Interchange | |||
| Greensboro | 28.8 | 46.3 | — | Vickrey Chapel Road / Guilford College Road – Jamestown | South end of freeway section | |
| 29.8 | 48.0 | — | I-85 south – Charlotte, Salisbury | South end of I-85 overlap; I-85 exit 118 | ||
| 31.0 | 49.9 | 33A | Groometown Road to Grandover Parkway | Signed as exit 119 northbound; southbound exit ramp shared with exit 33B | ||
| 31.8 | 51.2 | — |    I-85 north to US 421 south / I-40 east – Durham, Sanford | North end of I-85 overlap; southbound left exit and northbound left entrance; I-85 exit 120A | ||
| 33B |   I-73 / US 421 north to I-40 west – Winston-Salem | No northbound exit; I-73 exit 97; I-85 exit 120B | ||||
| 32.8 | 52.8 | 34 | Holden Road | |||
| 33.8 | 54.4 | 35A |  US 220 south – Asheboro | US 220 north exits 79A-B | ||
| 34.0 | 54.7 | 35B | US 220 north to I-40 west – Coliseum Area | Northbound exit and southbound entrance; US 220 south exit 79 | ||
| 34.6 | 55.7 | 35C | Rehobeth Church Road / Vandalia Road | |||
| 220 | Randleman Road | Northbound exit and southbound left entrance; exit numbers followed I-40 | ||||
| 35.8 | 57.6 | — | I-40 west / US 220 south – Winston-Salem | No northbound exit; south end of I-40/US 220 overlap; I-40 exit 219 | ||
| 36.1 | 58.1 | 220 | Randleman Road | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
| 36.7 | 59.1 | 221 | South Elm-Eugene Street – Downtown Greensboro | |||
| 37.8 | 60.8 | 222 | Sanford | Former US 421 south | ||
| 37.9 | 61.0 | 223 | 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 | ||
| 40.1 | 64.5 | 224 | Gate City Boulevard / Lee Street | |||
| 42.5 | 68.4 | 226 | McConnell Road | |||
| 43.3 | 69.7 | 227 | I-85 south – High Point, Charlotte I-785 north – Danville | I-85 exit 131; I-785 exit 21 | ||
| 132 | Mt. Hope Church Road | Northbound exit only; exit number based on I-85 mileage | ||||
| I-40 east / I-85 north | Continuation beyond northern terminus; north end of I-40 overlap; I-85 exit 131 | |||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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