Interstate 85 South - Durham

The Durham County line crosses I-85/U.S. 15 just north of the bridge over Falls Lake and the Neuse River.

12/27/22

Durham lies nine miles southwest of the Neuse River via I-85/U.S. 15 south. Chapel Hill, 22 miles away, is the destination for U.S. 15 beyond I-85 at Exit 174 A.

12/27/22

Redwood Road (SR 1637) meets I-85/U.S. 15 at a parclo B2 interchange (Exit 183) southwest of Falls Lake by Lake Ridge Aero Park.

12/27/22

Exit 183 leaves I-85/U.S. 15 south for Redwood Road (SR 1637). Redwood Road forms a rural loop northeast from Fletchers Chapel Road (SR 1815) at Glen Forest to Redwood, and northwest to I-85 and Tom Clark Road.

12/27/22

A 12.6 mile long stretch of Interstate 85, from Exit 191 southwest to Exit 178, was resurfaced between June 1, 2011 and July 15, 2012 at a cost of $8 million.¹

12/27/22

Meeting I-85/U.S. 15 next is Red Mill Road (SR 1632) north from adjacent Geer Street (old U.S. 15) to Tenika Parkway (SR 1794).

12/27/22

Exit 182 leaves I-85/U.S. 15 south for Red Mill Road. Parallel Geer Street, the former alignment of U.S. 15, runs southwest from SR 1632 to Burton and Gorman.

12/27/22

Advancing south, I-85/U.S. 15 connect with Glenn School Road (SR 1675) at a diamond interchange (Exit 180) in one mile.

12/27/22

Glenn School Road (SR 1675) connects I-85/U.S. 15 with Glenn Road (SR 1636) to the north and Geer Street (SR 1670) at Junction Road adjacent to big box retail to the south.

12/27/22

Exit 180 leaves I-85/U.S. 15 south for Glenn School Road (SR 1675). Junction Road continues SR 1675 south from Geer Street (old U.S. 15) to Cheek Road (SR 1800) on the east side of Durham.

12/27/22

The stretch of Interstate 85 leading into Durham was built as a new alignment of U.S. 15 between 1955 and 1957. The high frequency of interchanges is a result of those early expressway standards.

12/27/22

E Club Boulevard (SR 1671) extends Ferrell Road west from Geer Street to a diamond interchange (Exit 179) with I-85/U.S. 15 in one quarter mile.

05/29/21

E Club Boulevard (SR 1669) arcs west from Exit 179 into the Durham city limits by a nearby landfill. SR 1669 continues west to the Colonial Heights and Northgate Park and U.S. 501 Business (Roxboro Street).

05/29/21

Continuing 1.25 miles from E Club Boulevard, I-85/U.S. 15 converge with Interstate 885 and U.S. 70 at Exit 178.

12/27/22

Interstate 885 south leads to Research Triangle Park (RTP). NC 98 travels east from I-885/U.S. 70 to Falls Lake Recreation Area.

12/16/22

Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) lies southeast of Durham between I-40 and I-540 (Northern Wake Expressway).

12/16/22

Work on the $182 million East End Connector (I-885) broke ground in September 2014. The project upgraded U.S. 70 to limited access standards south from Exit 178 to Miami Boulevard at East End Avenue. Completed in Summer 2022, I-885 directly links U.S. 70 with the Durham Freeway.

12/16/22

A two lane flyover separates for I-885 south / U.S. 70 east. U.S. 70 west combines with I-85/U.S. 15 south to Exit 170. A business loop for U.S. 70 follows Miami Boulevard and Holloway Street west from the East End Connector to Downtown.

12/16/22

Forthcoming Exit 177, erroneously signed here as Exits 177 B/A from when separate ramps served both Avondale Drive and Roxboro Street, was converted into a split diamond interchange for both NC 55 and U.S. 15/501 Business.

05/29/21

The freeway expands to six overall lanes through the directional T interchange (Exit 178) with I-885/U.S. 70 south. The original exchange here consisted of a wye with a left entrance ramp bringing U.S. 70 onto I-85/U.S. 15 south.

05/29/21

I-85/U.S. 15-70 swells to ten overall lanes between Exit 178 and 177. U.S. 15 Business begins ahead, joining U.S. 501 Business south along Roxboro Street through Duke Park, Old North Durham and Downtown.

12/16/22

Traffic partitions from Exit 177 onto Avondale Drive to U.S. 501 Business north, NC 55 south through Duke Park to Alston Avenue, and Roxboro Street south to the Durham central business district.

12/16/22

NC 55 navigates southward through the Albright and Edgemont neighborhoods in Durham to Cary, Apex and ultimately Oriental off Pamlico Sound. NC 55 (Avondale Drive) concludes a 193 mile long route at Roxboro Street just north of I-85.

12/16/22

North from Exit 177, U.S. 501 Business (Roxboro Street) passes between the Northgate Park and Colonial Village neighborhoods to Stadium Heights and U.S. 501 (Duke Street).

12/16/22

A three quarter cloverleaf interchange (Exit 176) joins I-85/U.S. 15-70 with U.S. 501 (Duke Street) north and Gregson Street (SR 1327) at Northgate Mall.

05/29/21

U.S. 501 leads north from Exit 176 along Duke Street to Durham County Memorial Stadium and the Stadium Heights neighborhood. U.S. 501 links with Roxboro to the north as part of a 355 mile long route between Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Buena Vista, Virginia.
Gregson Street (SR 1327) and Duke Streets (SR 1445) form a one way couplet southward through Trinity Park, the Warehouse District and Downtown.

05/29/21

U.S. 501 combines with I-85/U.S. 15-70 ahead of the diamond interchange (Exit 175) with NC 157 north and SR 1332 south along Guess Road.

05/29/21

Guess Road leads southeast through the Watts Hospital-Hillandale and Walltown neighborhoods to Club Boulevard at Northgate Mall. NC 157 overtakes the roadway north by the Scardale Village and Omah Street communities. Measuring 29.3 miles overall, NC 157 forms an alternate route to U.S. 501 between Durham and Roxboro.

05/29/21

Interstate 85 expands to 12 overall lanes between Guess Road and the diamond interchange (Exit 174 B) with Hillandale Road (SR 1321).

05/29/21

Two lanes depart I-85/U.S. 70 for Hillandale Road south to Watts Hospital-Hillandale and north to Omah Street. U.S. 15/501 depart at the ensuing exit onto a freeway south to U.S. 70 Business (Hillsborough Road), NC 147 (Durham Freeway) and Duke University.

05/29/21

U.S. 15/501 travel south from Duke University to Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard (U.S. 15-501 Business), a four to six lane commercial arterial southwest to Chapel Hill. U.S. 15/501 overlap 106.8 miles I-85 at Exit 176 to I-74/U.S. 74-401 at Laurinburg.

05/29/21

A diamond interchange (Exit 173) quickly follows the wye with U.S. 15/501 south at Cole Mill Road (SR 1401).

05/29/21

Cole Mill Road (SR 1401) leads north from a commercial area along U.S. 70 Business (Hillsborough Road) to the Croasdaile and Waterford neighborhoods and Eno River State Park.

05/29/21

I-85/U.S. 70 converge with the north end of the Durham Freeway (NC 147) at a wye interchange along the succeeding stretch.

05/29/21

Two lanes merge onto I-85/U.S. 70 west from the ending NC 147. There is no direct connection to NC 147 south from I-85 north, instead U.S. 15/501 provide access toward Duke University and Downtown Durham.

07/09/10

Vacating the city of Durham for Orange County, I-85 south / U.S. 70 west continue 29 miles to Burlington, but on separate routes. Greensboro is 49 miles away via Interstate 40 west.

07/09/10

U.S. 70 parts ways with southbound I-85 at forthcoming Exit 170. U.S. 70 overtakes U.S. 70 Business west to Piney Grove, where the route partitions with the business route into Hillsborough.

07/09/10

U.S. 70 bypasses Hillsborough to the north, connecting with NC 86 at N Churton Street. NC 86 forms a multi state route with SR 86 north to Yanceyville and Danville, Virginia.

07/09/10

NC 86 meets Interstate 85 directly at the diamond interchange at Exit 165. A truck route for NC 86 follows I-85 south to Exit 161 / SR 1239.

07/09/10

NC 86 combines with U.S. 70 Business to Churton Street into Downtown Hillsborough. Southward, NC 86 travels 12.2 miles to U.S. 15-501/NC 54 in Chapel Hill.

07/09/10

Churton Street (SR 1009) extends southwest from U.S. 70 Business/NC 86 by a number of traveler services and retail line preceding a diamond interchange (Exit 164) with I-85. Southward Old NC 86 continues 1.5 miles to I-40 (Exit 261) and 9.2 miles to Calvander on the outskirts of Carrboro.

07/09/10

Occoneechee Mountain rises just north of Interstate 85 on the one mile approach to Exit 163 with I-40 east.

07/09/10

I-85 north and I-40 west combine for 30.9 miles to Burlington and Greensboro. Interstate 40 travels southeast from Exit 163 to Chapel Hill, south Durham, Cary and Raleigh.

07/09/10

A modified trumpet interchange (Exit 163) joins I-40/85 outside Hillsborough. Interstate 40 originates 162 miles to the southeast at Wilmington.

07/09/10