Interstate 85 Business (North Carolina) - History

History

Before Business 85 was established, the route had already existed as US 29 and US 70. During the 1960s, the route from Lexington to Greensboro was signed as Interstate 85. However, NCDOT was already planning of a new bypass route south of Lexington and even built (what was called then) the "bridge over nothing," what now serves as exit 87. In 1980, this planned bypass finally began construction, at the same time signage changed to Temporary I-85. In 1984, Interstate 85 moved south to its new 6-lane freeway, bypassing the cities of Lexington, Thomasville, and High Point; the former route was then resigned as Interstate 85 Business.

In 2004, Interstate 85 was redirected southeast around Greensboro (what is part of the Greensboro Urban Loop); the old route through Greensboro was then replaced by a 13-mile (21 km) extension of Business 85 (hidden on main I-85). On February 2008, Interstate 40 was rerouted south around Greensboro, it was replaced by an extension of Business 40 from Winston-Salem. Seven months later, Interstate 40 returned to its original routing through Greensboro, making the odd concurrency of an Interstate and Business Loop permanent in Greensboro.

Also in 2004, the High Point East Belt was partially completed to Business 85, creating a temporary routing of US 311 along Business 85 from South Main Street to the new freeway in High Point. This was ended when the East Belt Bypass was completed in November 2010.