Interstate 85 is an interstate highway in the southeastern United States. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with Interstate 65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus intersects with Interstate 95 in Petersburg, Virginia, near Richmond.

Length

Major Cities Along the Route

• Montgomery, Alabama
• Auburn, Alabama
• Atlanta, Georgia
• Greenville, South Carolina
• Charlotte, North Carolina
• Greensboro, North Carolina
• Durham, North Carolina
• Petersburg, Virginia

Intersections with other Interstates

• Interstate 65 in Montgomery, Alabama
• Interstate 75 in Atlanta, Georgia (concurrent through downtown)
• Interstate 20 in Atlanta, Georgia
• Interstate 26 in Spartanburg, South Carolina
• Interstate 77 in Charlotte, North Carolina
• Interstate 40 in Greensboro, North Carolina. They stay connected until Durham, North Carolina.
• Interstate 95 in Petersburg, Virginia

Spur Routes

• I-185 - Spur to Columbus, Georgia
• I-285 - Atlanta, Georgia
• I-985 - Spur to Gainesville, Georgia
• I-185 - Greenville, South Carolina
• I-385 - Spur to Clinton, South Carolina, 42 miles (67.6 km)
  • I-385 stretches from Clinton at Interstate 26 to Greenville, South Carolina at U.S. Highway 29. After exit 42, Interstate 385 turns into a Business Spur that then promptly ends at U.S. 29 near the Bi-Lo Center in Downtown Greenville.
• I-585 - Spartanburg, South Carolina, 2.25 miles (3.62 km)
  • I-585 stretches from the I-85 Business Loop to U.S. Highway 221. I-585 is co-signed the entire length with U.S. Highway 176 and uses its exit number system instead of its own. Between exits 23 and 24 the Interstate is considered "at-grade" before its exit with U.S. 221 and then quickly ends at the stoplight. The spur was once connected to Interstate 85 from 1957 till 1997. That year, I-85 was moved north to by-pass Spartanburg, leaving I-585 an orphan. There are plans in the future to extend I-585 along U.S. 176 to I-85's new location.
• I-485 - Charlotte, North Carolina

Notes

• The former Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike formed the northernmost portion of Interstate 85 near Petersburg, Virginia when completed in 1958. The tolls were removed in the mid 1980s. .

• Interstate 85 has two business routes, one in Spartanburg, South Carolina and the other in Lexington to Greensboro, North Carolina.

• Interstate 85 has also been rerouted on three different occasions: in northeastern Atlanta, north of Spartanburg, and around Greensboro. The former I-85 in Atlanta is now part of Georgia State Highway 13 , and the other two reroutings have produced the aforementioned business routes. Additionally, a portion of I-85 southwest of Atlanta was rerouted - and the old roadbed removed - in order to accomodate an expansion of Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport in the early 1980s.

• Future Interstate 785 is currently planned from Greensboro, North Carolina to Danville, Virginia; along the current U.S. Highway 29 route.

• Future Interstate 285 is also planned to follow part of the U.S. Highway 52 freeway from Lexington to Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

• In North Carolina, I-85 merges with I-40 from Greensboro to Hillsborough, just west of Durham. In Alamance County, the highway is also known as the Sam Hunt Freeway. Because I-85 was recently rerouted around Greensboro, it splits with I-40 eight miles (13 km) east of the original departure point.

• Through downtown Atlanta, I-85 merges with I-75 for a short time. This strip of highway, called the Downtown Connector, is infamous for its bad traffic, and rather confusing split at the north end. The northbound lanes split and then cross over each other. Thus, to head northeast (rightward) on I-85, a driver must be in the leftmost northbound lanes before the split. To head northwest (leftward) on I-75, a driver must be in the rightmost northbound lanes before the split.

• Interstate 485 was supposed to have been an east-west connector route in the Atlanta area, but it was erased due to community opposition. Part of what would have been I-485 is now GA 10, and the I-485 designation itself has been assigned to a new beltway around Charlotte.

• There is currently a plan to extend I-85 across western Alabama, where it will connect with I-20 near Cuba, Alabama. This extension is in the planning stages. This extension will roughly follow the route of US-80 via Selma.[1] This section is also envisioned by some as part of a proposed Interstate 14.

• The junction between I-85 and I-77 in Charlotte is a strange configuration. When I-85 passes under I-77, the northbound lanes of I-77 are to the west (south on I-85) of the southbound lanes, and southbound I-77 is to the east (north on I-85) of northbound. The travel lanes on I-77 return to their proper positions north and south of this interchange.

• Recently I-85 has been widened from four to six lanes between Exits 19 (US 76, Clemson/Anderson, South Carolina) and 34 (US 29, Piedmont, South Carolina).