Interstate 85 Business (North Carolina)

Business 85, which shares a complete concurrency with US 29 and US 70, begins at a partial Y interchange with I-85 (exit 87) in Lexington. Heading north for 4.4 miles (7.1 km), along with I-285 and US 52, it goes through another partial Y interchange (exit 87) before leaving the freeway. Changing to a semi-limited expressway, it serves as a northern bypass of downtown Lexington, sharing a brief concurrency with US 64.[2] After leaving the city limits, Business 85 heads in a northeast direction in parallel to I-85 further south. After it travels through Thomasville, it enters the city of High Point in Davidson–Randolph county line.[3] Briefly in Randolph County for 1.6 miles (2.6 km), it enters Guilford County.[4] East of downtown High Point, Business 85 shares a unique three-level diamond interchange with I-74/US 311 before leaving the city limits.[5] At the Greensboro city limit, Business 85 completes its 30.7 miles (49.4 km) journey with a trumpet interchange with I-85 (exit 118).[6]

I-40/I-85 Business overhead sign

Established in 1984 as redesignation of Temp I-85, Business 85 traversed from Lexington to Greensboro, with 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 Business 85, extending it from 29.8 miles (48.0 km) to 43 miles (69 km).[7][8] The extension included a hidden 2-mile (3.2 km) concurrency along I-85 (between exits 118-120A) before split-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. In October 2018, Business 85 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]

Temporary Interstate 85

Interstate 85 Temporary
Location	Lexington–Greensboro, NC
Length	30.8 mi[11] (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.[12] 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.[13][14] In 1984, I-85 was completed on new primary routing between Lexington and Greensboro; Temp I-85 was replaced by I-85 Business.

On Saturday, October 5, 2019, NCDOT submitted an application to the AASHTO, and received approval, for the decommissioning of I-85 Business along its entire route [15], as well as the re-routing of US 70 to continue along Wendover Avenue west-bound through Greensboro to NC Highway 68 (Eastchester Drive) in High Point, and then onto NC 68, south-bound from High Point to Thomasville. [16]. Under the state plan, all I-85 Business and US 70 signs will be removed from the freeway stretch traveling southwesterly from Interstate 40 in Greensboro to NC 68 in Thomasville, and the freeway will remain US 29. The state's justification for this is that the route changes will provide a single continuous route as an alternative (US 70 will take on more direct routing through town), simplify overhead signage on the freeway (eliminate confusion between the I-85 bypass and I-85 Business), and remove traffic from interstate concurrencies in order to improve safety and regional connectivity.[17].

• Media related to Interstate 85 Business (North Carolina) at Wikimedia Commons
• NCRoads.com: I-85 Business
• NCRoads.com: I-85 Temp