Interstate 85 South - Charlotte

A turbine interchange (Exit 48) joins I-85 with Interstate 485 just beyond the Cabarrus County line.

05/31/21

I-485 encircles the city of Charlotte along a 65.64 mile long course, providing both a commuter route and bypass to I-77 south to Rock Hill and I-77 north to Huntersville and Statesville.

05/31/21

Construction underway between Summer 2011 and June 2014 completed the the final 5.7 mile long stretch of I-485 west from Exit 48 to NC 115 near Huntersville. Matthews is a town along I-485 south at U.S. 74 (Independence Boulevard).

05/31/21

West from I-485, Interstate 85 south continues to a parclo interchange (Exit 46) with Mallard Creek Church Road (SR 2472).

08/06/13

Mallard Creek Church Road travels south from Exit 46 to University City North, U.S. 29 (N Tryon Street) and NC 49 (University City Boulevard) east of UNC-Charlotte.

05/31/21

I-85 enters the Queen City of Charlotte ahead of Exit 46 to Mallard Creek Church Road (SR 2472). Connecting the freeway with a number of residential subdivisions, SR 2742 constitutes an arterial northwest to the commercialized intersection with Mallard Creek Road (SR 2467).

05/31/21

Reassurance sign for Interstate 85 south posted before the bridge over Mallard Creek.

08/06/12

With five southbound lanes, Interstate 85 south approaches a six-ramp parclo interchange (Exit 45) with NC 24 (Harris Boulevard).

08/06/12

Separate ramps (Exits 45B/A) join Harris Boulevard from I-85 south within the next 0.75 miles. University City Boulevard (SR 5383) carries NC 49 by the UNC Charlotte campus to the Belgate retail area adjacent to Exit 43 in two miles.

08/06/12

NC 24 follows Harris Boulevard west to University Research Park, Croft, I-77 at Northlake Mall. NC 24 measures 278 miles from I-485 at Exit 21 to U.S. 70 in Morehead City.

08/06/12

Exit 45A loops onto NC 24 (Harris Boulevard) east to UNC-Charlotte and the Newell section of the city. NC 24 combines with NC 27 east at the Hickory Ridge neighborhood for a 108 mile overlap to Ablemarle and Johnsonville.

08/06/12

University City Boulevard (SR 5383) ties into Interstate 85 at a parclo interchange (Exit 43) west from the merge of NC 49 south onto U.S. 29 (N Tryon Street).

08/06/12

Exit 43 departs in a half mile for University City Boulevard and the Belgate Shopping Center, a 900,000 square foot power center between I-85 and parallel U.S. 29 (Tryon Street). Exits follow for the Hidden Valley and Sugar Creek neighborhoods.

08/06/12

Interstate 85 is ten lanes wide between the exchanges with NC 24 and University City Boulevard (SR 5383).

08/06/12

University City Boulevard (SR 5383) initially only traveled west from I-85 to Neal Road. An extension east to U.S. 29 (Tryon Street) opened in 2009 as part of the $25.5 million U.S. 29/NC 49 Roadway Improvement Project.¹ The arterial was subsequently extended west to Graham Street (SR 2540). Ikea Boulevard serves the adjacent retail area from McCullough Drive south to McFarlane Boulevard.

08/06/12

Traffic merges onto Interstate 85 south from the U.S. 29/NC 49 connector (SR 2772) at a wye interchange.

08/06/12

The U.S. 29/NC 49 Connector (SR 2772) merges onto I-85 southbound nearly a mile ahead of Exit 41 for Sugar Creek Road.

09/17/21

Sugar Creek Road (SR 2480) meets I-85 next at a diamond interchange (Exit 41) south of the Mineral Springs and Hemphill Heights neighborhoods.

09/17/21

Sugar Creek Road is a part of Charlotte City Route 4 south between the Sugar Creek and Hidden Valley communities to Eastway Drive at Shannon Park. City Route 4 constitutes a 18.6 mile loop along a series of arterials and avenues encircling Uptown Charlotte.

09/17/21

Graham Street (SR 2540) angles southwest from Sugar Creek Road along the Statesville neighborhood to a folded diamond interchange (Exit 40) with I-85.

09/17/21

An auxiliary lane from Sugar Creek Road departs for Exit 40 to Graham Street (SR 2540). The four lane boulevard lines the Druid Hills and Sugar Creek industrial areas southwest to Tryon Hills and Lockwood.

09/17/21

Graham Street (SR 2540) carries U.S. 29/NC 49 south from Dalton Avenue into the Fourth Ward and Downtown Charlotte.

09/17/21

Graham Street and a Norfolk Southern Railroad span I-85, 1.75 miles east of the exchange with I-77/U.S. 21. The ensuing exit is for Statesville Road (former U.S. 21) north and Statesville Avenue (SR 2691) south.

09/17/21

Statesville Road (SR 2691) leads north from Exit 39 to the Statesville and Slater Road industrial areas while Statesville Avenue continues the boulevard south to the Double Oaks and Druid Hills neighborhoods.

09/17/21

The parclo interchange (Exit 39) with Statesville Avenue / Road overlays a part of the ramp system with I-77/U.S. 21 north to Statesville and south to Downtown Charlotte and Columbia, South Carolina.

09/17/21

Exit 38 departs from below the Statesville Avenue overpass for both directions of I-77/U.S. 21. Traveling 102 miles in the state, I-77 links Charlotte with Rock Hill and Columbia to the south and Statesville and Wytheville, Virginia to the north. Express toll lanes accompany the freeway from Downtown to Huntersville, Lake Norman and Mooresville.

09/17/21

Immediately west of Interstate 77 is a folded diamond interchange (Exit 37) joining I-85 with Beatties Ford Road.

03/11/22

Beatties Ford Road constitutes a commercial boulevard between the Garden and University Park neighborhoods to the west and Wilson and Lincoln Heights to the east.

09/17/21

Beatties Ford Road parallels I-77/U.S. 21 southward from Exit 37 to Johnson C. Smith University and 5th Street at the Biddleville neighborhood.

01/17/19

Beatties Ford Road (SR 2074) extends north from I-85 to the Trinity neighborhood and beyond Charlotte to NC 73 at Lake Norman.

03/11/22

Interstate 85 lowers to cross Stewart Creek between the Thomasboro and University Park communities.

03/11/22

NC 16 branches northwest from U.S. 74 (Independence Expressway) to bypass Downtown Charlotte with I-277 along the Brookshire Freeway to I-77. The Brookshire Freeway extends along NC 16 northwest from McCrorey Heights to Idaho Drive.

03/11/22

NC 16 transitions onto Brookshire Boulevard three blocks southeast of the SPUI (Exit 36) with Interstate 85.

03/11/22

NC 16 (Brookshire Boulevard) leads west from Exit 36 to the Thomasboro neighborhood and east to Oakview Terrace.

03/11/22

NC 16 travels northwest from Charlotte along a four lane corridor to Lucia, Lowesville and Denver.

03/11/22

NC 16 measures 115 miles, from Waxhaw in Union County to Charlotte, Newton, Wilkesboro and the Virginia state line at Grassy Creek.

03/11/22

Proceeding southwest from NC 16, I-85 advances a quarter mile to a diamond interchange (Exit 35) with Glenwood Drive at the Enderly Park and Thomasboro neighborhoods.

09/17/21

Exit 35 leaves Interstate 85 south for Glenwood Drive, one half mile from the SPUI (Exit 34) with NC 27 (Freedom Drive).

09/17/21

Widening of I-85 between 1991 and August 1995 included reconstructing the cloverleaf interchange with NC 27 and adjacent Tuckaseegee Road into a SPUI.² NC 27 (Freedom Drive) leads northwest from Exit 34 to the Westchester neighborhood.

09/17/21

NC 27 (Freedom Drive) angles southeast along a commercial boulevard by Ashley Park to combine with U.S. 29 (Morehead Street) north at Wesley Heights. NC 27 stretches 198 miles across the state from Benson and NC 10 near Toluca.

09/17/21

Passing under the SPUI for NC 27 (Exit 34) along Interstate 85 south.

09/17/21

Turning westward between the Toddville Road and Westerly Hills neighborhoods, I-85 continues to a parclo interchange (Exit 33) with Billy Graham Parkway (SR 5901) south and Mulberry Church Road north. Billy Graham Parkway was a part of U.S. 521 north from Woodlawn Road at NC 49 to I-85 until 2003, when it was truncated south to I-485 at Exit 61.

01/17/19

Billy Graham Parkway is named after Charlotte native and Christian evangelist Billy Graham (1918-2018). A library documenting the life and ministry of Graham lies off SR 5901 and Westmont Drive, midway between CLT Airport and Tryon Street (NC 49).

09/17/21

Billy Graham Parkway (SR 5901) is Charlotte City Route 4 southward to Josh Birmingham Parkway (SR 1490) west into CLT Airport and Woodlawn Road near the Regional Farmers Market.

09/17/21

Reassurance marker posted for I-85 south ahead of the SPUI with Little Rock Road (SR 1641) north to Toddville Road and NC 27 (Freedom Drive) at Paw Creek.

09/17/21

Started in August 2012, a $21.5 million project realigned Little Rock Road onto a new roadway to provide direct access from I-85 to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) passenger terminal.³

09/17/21

Little Rock Road south from Exit 32 links I-85 with parallel U.S. 29/74 (Wilkinson Boulevard) and a 200-acre Norfolk Southern Railroad intermodel facility, constructed between May 2, 2012 and late 2013.⁴ The new alignment to CLT Airport was completed in December 2013.³

09/17/21

Beyond Charlotte, I-85 continues to Gastonia and Kings Mountain ahead of Upstate South Carolina. Business Center Drive (SR 1819) parallels nearby.

01/17/19

Interstate 85 converges with the west side of the Charlotte Beltway at a cloverstack interchange (Exit 30) in one mile.

09/17/21

Interstate 485 serves suburbs in Wildwood and the Paw Creek area northward to I-77 near Huntersville. I-485 south lines the west side of Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) to Yorkmount in south Charlotte.

09/17/21

Interstate 485 was completed northward from Exit 30B to NC 16 (Brookshire Boulevard) on May 8, 2007 and from NC 16 to I-77 and NC 115 on December 5, 2008.

09/17/21

Interstate 85 continues with eight overall lanes through the systems interchange with I-485. Exit 30A follows onto I-485 south to I-77 at Montclaire South, Pineville, and Fort Mill, South Carolina.

09/17/21

I-485 opened to traffic southward from Exit 30A on October 19, 2004. The Charlotte beltway reaches I-77 in ten miles near the South Carolina state line. I-77 heads south from there to Rock Hill and Columbia, South Carolina.

09/17/21

Exit 29 to Sam Wilson Road (SR 1625) departs I-85 south from within exchange at I-485 for the U.S. National Whitewater Center. Opened to the public on November 4, 2006, the $38 million facility lies to the northwest of Moores Chapel Road at the end of Whitewater Parkway (SR 1677). The facility is an official training site for Olympic whitewater slalom racing.⁵

08/06/13

Sam Wilson Road travels south from Exit 38 to U.S. 29/74 (Wilkinson Boulevard) and Old Dowd Road (SR 1191) and north to Moores Chapel Road (SR 1601) by an assortment of subdivisions and industrial parks.

08/06/13

A set of truck weigh stations line Interstate 85 one mile to the west beyond the Moores Chapel Road (SR 1641) overpass.

03/12/22

The main corridor between Belmont and Mt. Holly, NC 273 meets I-85 at the first of two exits for the two Gaston County cities in 1.75 miles.

03/12/22

The Interstate 85 weigh stations east of the Catawba River replaced a set of rest areas.

08/06/13

A fifth southbound lane opens along I-85 from the weigh station to the diamond interchange (Exit 27) with NC 273 (Beatty Drive north / Park Street south).

08/06/13

Interstate 85 spans the Catawba River across the Cameron Morrison Bridge into Gaston County.

08/06/13