 Interstate 85 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Route information | |
| Length | 666.05 mi[1] (1,071.90 km) |
| Existed | August 14, 1957 (1957-08-14)[2]–present |
| NHS | Entire route |
| Major junctions | |
| South end |   I-65 /US 82 inMontgomery, AL |
| Major intersections |
|
| North end |   I-95 /US 460 inPetersburg, VA |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| States | Alabama,Georgia,South Carolina,North Carolina,Virginia |
| Highway system | |
Interstate 85 (I-85) is a majorInterstate Highway in theSoutheastern United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange withI-65 inMontgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus is an interchange withI-95 inPetersburg, Virginia, nearRichmond. It is nominally north–south as it carries an odd number, but it is physically oriented northeast–southwest and covers a larger east–west span than north–south. While most Interstates that end in a "5" are cross-country, I-85 is primarily a regional route serving five southeastern states:Virginia,North Carolina,South Carolina,Georgia, andAlabama.
Major metropolitan areas served by I-85 include theGreater Richmond Region in Virginia, theResearch Triangle,Piedmont Triad, andCharlotte metropolitan area regions of North Carolina,Upstate South Carolina, theAtlanta metropolitan area in Georgia, and theMontgomery metropolitan area in Alabama. There are plans to extend I-85 along theUS Route 80 (US 80) corridor intoMississippi. Because of its unusually diagonal nature, portions of I-85 are to the west ofI-75, which puts I-85 out of the Interstate grid.
| mi[1] | km | |
|---|---|---|
| AL | 80.00 | 128.75 |
| GA | 179.90 | 289.52 |
| SC | 106.28 | 171.04 |
| NC | 231.23 | 372.13 |
| VA | 68.64 | 110.47 |
| Total | 666.05 | 1,071.90 |
I-85 is a route that serves several major locations in the Southeastern United States, stretching from Alabama to Virginia serving major metropolitan areas such asAtlanta andCharlotte.
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I-85 begins as aT intersection offI-65 inMontgomery. From there, I-85 parallelsUS 80 until the highway nearsTuskegee. At Tuskegee, I-85 leaves US 80 and starts to parallelUS 29, which the highway parallels for much of its length.
I-85 also passes nearAuburn,Opelika,Valley, andLanett before crossing theChattahoochee River intoGeorgia.
I-85 is planned to be rerouted southward just east of Montgomery, where it will intersect with I-65 just south of downtown Montgomery and then have a future southern terminus at the concurrency ofI-20/I-59 just northeast ofCuba. FutureI-685 will be the new designation for the route of current I-85, which leads directly to I-65 in downtown Montgomery.
In Georgia, I-85 (unsigned State Route 403 [SR 403]) bypassesWest Point before coming into theLaGrange area. East of LaGrange, I-85 intersectsI-185 which connects toColumbus andFort Benning. In the Atlanta area, I-85 intersectsI-20 and merges withI-75 (Downtown Connector) through the downtown area. North of Atlanta,I-985 provides a link toGainesville before I-85 continues through northeastern Georgia and then crosses intoSouth Carolina.
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I-85 provides the major transportation route forthe Upstate ofSouth Carolina, linking together the major centers ofGreenville andSpartanburg with regional centers of importance. In Spartanburg,BMW has a major manufacturing plant that can be seen from the highway. In South Carolina, I-85 bypassesClemson andAnderson on the way to Greenville. Beginning at Anderson, I-85 widens from four to six lanes. NearPowdersville, US 29 joins I-85 and theyrun concurrently until they cross theSaluda River. I-85 bypasses just south of Greenville but provides two links into the city via spur routesI-185 andI-385.
I-85 also has direct exits toGreenville–Spartanburg International Airport, which serves the Greenville–Spartanburg metropolitan area. I-85 then bypasses the city of Spartanburg to the north. Its original route is now signed asI-85 Business (I-85 Bus) and was approved by theAmerican Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) on April 22, 1995.[3][self-published source] Near milemarker 70, I-85 intersects with I-26. The exits are signed as exits 70A for eastbound traffic and 70B for westbound traffic. North of Spartanburg, I-85 narrows from six lanes back to four lanes and bypassesGaffney. Much of the terrain between Spartanburg and the North Carolina border is rural in nature but congested to the state line due to its location near Charlotte.
In North Carolina, I-85 enters a relatively rural area near Kings Mountain before entering the Gastonia and Charlotte areas. In Charlotte, I-85 bypassesCharlotte Douglas International Airport and turns northeastward just before reachingUptown Charlotte; thus, I-85 just bypasses uptown to the north where it junctions withI-77. North of Charlotte, the highway passes nearConcord,Salisbury,Lexington, andHigh Point before reachingGreensboro.
At Greensboro, I-85 shifts away from downtown I-85 Bus (old I-85 through town). I-85 then joins I-40 east of downtown, and the two highways are cosigned as they pass throughBurlington,Graham, andMebane then separate nearHillsborough whereI-40 turns towardChapel Hill,Cary, andRaleigh. After the split with I-40, I-85 continues toDurham, before turning northeastward throughOxford thenHenderson towardVirginia.
Starting from the Virginia border, the route passesSouth Hill andMcKenney before heading into a large forest. After the forest, I-85 reaches Petersburg and ends atI-95. The highway is briefly cosigned withUS 460 from a few miles west of Petersburg inDinwiddie County to I-95. I-85 follows the same general path asUS 1 (Boydton Plank Road andJefferson Davis Highway), as the two cross several times between the North Carolina border and the northern terminus outside Petersburg.
In the northern half of I-85, the route roughly parallels an ancient Indian trading path documented since colonial times from Petersburg, Virginia, to theCatawba Indian territory.
I-85 near Petersburg once formed the southern end of theRichmond–Petersburg Turnpike, which was completed in 1958. The tolls were removed in 1992 afterI-295 was completed.[4][self-published source]
Before a 2010 decision to raise the speed limit in the state to 70 mph (110 km/h), Virginia's portion of I-85 was also the only Interstate Highway in the state with a postedspeed limit greater than 65 mph (105 km/h). It was raised from 65 to 70 mph (105 to 113 km/h) on July 1, 2006, by the state legislature.
In 2004, I-85 was rerouted around Greensboro; and it split with I-40 eight miles (13 km) east of the original departure point. I-40 ran with I-85 along the bypass to the southern/western end and I-40 continued on a new freeway alignment at exit 121 until September 2008, when it was rerouted back to its old alignment through the city. Despite its reroute around Greensboro, the overall length for I-85 in North Carolina remains the same as before.
On the evening of March 30, 2017 a massive firecollapsed a bridge on I-85 in Atlanta. As a result, I-85 was closed to traffic for approximately two miles (3.2 km) between its split with I-75 and the interchange withSR 400.
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2023) |
An extension of I-85 has been proposed west fromMontgomery to intersectI-20/I-59 just east of theMississippi–Alabama state line,[5] where it will connect with I-20/I-59 nearCuba, Alabama. This extension will roughly follow the route ofUS 80, going through or bypassingSelma andDemopolis.[6] TheFederal Highway Administration (FHWA) approved the alignment on February 17, 2011, afterAASHTO approved at its Fall 2010 meeting inBiloxi, Mississippi. Also approved was the proposal to redesignate part of existing I-85 south and east of Montgomery to be bypassed as part of the extension of I-85 asI-685. Alabama has permission to cosign this part of I-85 as I-685 until the new alignment is built.[7] This section is also envisioned by some as part of a proposedI-14. If this extension were to be completed, I-85 and I-20 would meet each other twice.
There are plans for I-85 fromAnderson County toSpartanburg County, South Carolina, to become four to five lanes in each direction includinghigh-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV lanes).
There are also plans in Georgia for I-85 to have three lanes in each direction from the state line inHart County to meet up with the newly expanded portions just outside of the Atlanta metropolitan area inJackson County.[8]
I-65 /US 82 inMontgomery
US 80 /US 231 in Montgomery. I-85/US 80 travels concurrently toWaugh.US 80 in Waugh
US 29 inAuburn. The highway travels concurrently toOpelika.
US 280 in Opelika. The highway travels concurrently through Opelika.
US 280 /US 431 in OpelikaUS 29 in OpelikaUS 29 inValley
US 27 inLaGrange
I-185 near LaGrangeUS 29 inGrantville
US 27 Alt. /US 29 inNewnan
I-285 nearCollege Park
US 19 /US 41 inAtlanta
I-75 in Atlanta. The highway travels concurrently through Atlanta.
I-20 in Atlanta
US 29 /US 78 /US 278 in Atlanta
US 23 near AtlantaI-285 nearDoraville
I-985 nearBuford
US 129 nearJefferson
US 441 nearCommerce
US 76 north ofAnderson
US 178 north of AndersonUS 29 northeast of Anderson. The highway travels concurrently to I-185.I-185 /US 29 nearGreenville
US 25 in Greenville
US 276 in Greenville
I-385 in GreenvilleUS 29 nearGreer
I-26 nearSpartanburg
US 176 near Spartanburg
US 221 nearCherokee SpringsUS 29 nearGrover, North CarolinaUS 29 nearKings Mountain. The highway travels concurrently to US 74.
US 29 /US 74 in Kings Mountain
US 321 inGastonia
I-485 inCharlotte
I-77 /US 21 in CharlotteI-485 in Charlotte
US 29 /US 601 inConcord. I-85/US 601 travels concurrently toSalisbury.US 601 in Salisbury
US 52 in Salisbury. The highway travels concurrently to I-285.
US 29 /US 70 nearSpencer. The highway travels concurrently to I-285.I-285 /US 29 /US 52 /US 70 inLexington
US 64 southeast of Lexington
I-74 nearArchdaleUS 29 inGreensboro. The highway travels concurrently to I-73/US 421.
I-73 /US 29 /US 421 in Greensboro. I-73/I-85/US 421 travels concurrently through Greensboro.
I-73 /US 220 in GreensboroUS 421 in Greensboro
I-40 /I-785 /I-840 in Greensboro. I-40/I-85 travels concurrently until reachingHillsborough.US 70 inEno. The highway travels concurrently toDurham.
US 15 /US 501 in Durham. I-85/US 15 travels concurrently to nearButner. I-85/US 501 travels concurrently through Durham.US 501 in Durham
I-885 /US 70 in DurhamUS 15 near ButnerUS 15 nearOxford
US 158 in OxfordUS 158 inHenderson. The highway travels concurrently through Henderson.
US 1 in HendersonUS 1 /US 158 inMiddleburg
US 1 /US 401 northeast ofManson
US 58 nearSouth HillUS 1 in South HillUS 1 nearSturgeonvilleUS 460 nearPetersburg. The highways travel concurrently to I-95.US 1 near PetersburgI-95 /US 460 in Petersburg | ||
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Geographic data related toInterstate 85 atOpenStreetMap 
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| Unsigned | |
| Lists | |
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