page_title: Interstate 85 in North Carolina
section_title: Route description
hierarchical_section_title: Interstate 85 in North Carolina / Route description
caption_attribution_description: Northbound Interstate 85 at the exit for U.S. Route 29/North Carolina Highway 49 (exit 42) in Charlotte, North Carolina
context_page_description: In the U.S. state of North Carolina, Interstate 85 scales the state for 234.6 miles from the South Carolina border to the Virginia border. As the second-longest interstate in the state, it links the three largest metropolitan areas in North Carolina: Metrolina, the Piedmont Triad, and the Research Triangle. Nine of the twenty largest municipalities in the state lie along I-85, and it connects those cities to Richmond, Virginia to the north, and Upstate South Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia to the south.
context_section_description: I-85 enters the state from Cherokee County, South Carolina near Grover in Cleveland County, an outer suburb of the Charlotte metropolitan area. After only a few miles, the highway enters Gaston County. Near Kings Mountain, I-85 turns from a northeast trajectory to an eastward one and goes through Gastonia, where it widens from four to six lanes.  It stays at six lanes until it reaches Belmont, where the highway widens again to eight lanes.
  The highway crosses the Catawba River as it enters Mecklenburg County, then interchanges with I-485 as it passes north of Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. After crossing I-485, it turns northeastward again, bypassing Uptown Charlotte to the west and north.  While the route does not enter Uptown, several exits do provide access to the area. An interchange with Interstate 77 north of Uptown provides direct freeway access.  The route through Charlotte traverses the northern portion of the city and is more suburban than urban in character, with light industry such as truck terminals, warehouses, small manufacturing facilities, and small office parks lining the highway.  It also passes by the University City area and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
  North of Charlotte, I-85 interchanges with I-485 a second time as it continues northeastward into Cabarrus County. In Concord, it passes through a dense commercial district and provides access to both Concord Mills shopping mall and Charlotte Motor Speedway, afterwards passing south and east of Kannapolis. As of February 2019, the highway between exit 58 (near Concord) and exit 68 near the Rowan County town of China Grove is being rebuilt and expanded from 4 lanes total (two in each direction) with no shoulders.  When complete, the route will have 8 total lanes through to its junction with Business 85 south of Lexington.
  Between Exits 96 and 102, the northbound and southbound lanes switch places. The southbound lane crosses over the northbound lane just before the northbound lane passes over a small bridge over Hamby Creek. East of the northbound overpass and southbound underpass with Squire Bowers Road, a pair of rest areas which contain the North Carolina Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park are entered from the right, but are still in the median. Only after the underpasses beneath Johnsontown Road does the northbound lane run over the southbound one returning to its proper location.
  Approximately 70 miles (110 km) northeast of the Charlotte area is the Triad area, anchored by the cities of Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point. I-85 bypasses High Point and also largely bypasses Greensboro. Up until February 2004, I-85 went through the heart of Greensboro and joined Interstate 40 near downtown. Today, I-85 is routed along the Greensboro Urban Loop and meets I-40 east of downtown. Its former route is now known as Business 85.
  Interstates 85 and 40 remain joined as they continue eastward to the Triangle region, anchored by the cities of Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh. West of Durham near Hillsborough, the two highways split, with I-40 heading southeast through Chapel Hill, Durham and Raleigh while I-85 continues eastward through Durham, then northeastward as it exits the city. In between Greensboro and Durham, 85/40 is 8 lanes wide even through the more suburban stretches. Once 85 hits Durham it temporarily widens to 10 lanes. It takes on a more suburban character once it leaves Durham and then heads into rural areas, bypassing Oxford and Henderson before crossing into Mecklenburg County, Virginia.
caption: I-85 northbound at the exit for US 29/NC 49 in Charlotte
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPhone SE", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "12.1", "Image DateTime": "2019:06:29 14:27:46", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "204", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[35, 16, 5779/100]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "W", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[80, 46, 2161/50]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSAltitude": "673316/2887", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[18, 27, 46]", "GPS GPSSpeedRef": "K", "GPS GPSSpeed": "147/5", "GPS GPSImgDirectionRef": "T", "GPS GPSImgDirection": "35882/107", "GPS GPSDestBearingRef": "T", "GPS GPSDestBearing": "35882/107", "GPS GPSDate": "2019:06:29", "GPS Tag 0x001F": "5", "Image GPSInfo": "1698", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2102", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8968", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1876", "EXIF FNumber": "11/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "25", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2019:06:29 14:27:46", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2019:06:29 14:27:46", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "45843/4216", "EXIF ApertureValue": "193685/85136", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "85743/7825", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "83/20", "EXIF SubjectArea": "[2010, 1512, 2215, 1329]", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "662", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "662", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4032", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3024", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "56/27", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "60", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[83/20, 83/20, 11/5, 11/5]", "EXIF LensMake": "Apple", "EXIF LensModel": "iPhone SE back camera 4.15mm f/2.2"}