Interstate 485: Difference between revisions

For two unbuilt highways, see Interstate 485 (Georgia).

Interstate 485 (abbreviated I-485) is an Interstate highway and a partially-completed beltway around Charlotte, North Carolina. It is one of the newest members of the Interstate 85 family.

The western, southern and eastern segments of the beltway are complete and open to traffic. This leg runs south from NC 27(Mount Holly Road), crosses I-85 near Charlotte/Douglas International Airport and continues counter-clockwise to I-85 near Concord and UNC Charlotte, crossing I-77 south of Uptown Charlotte. During rush hour, this newly-opened roadway is an easy, but long, way around the I-77/I-85 interchange in north Charlotte.

The northwest segment from I-85 to I-77 is currently under construction and being opened in phases. The segment from I-85 to NC 27 opened December 15 2006. A segment from NC 27 to NC 16 is scheduled to open in mid-2007, and from NC 16 to NC 115, just beyond the I-77 interchange, in late 2007. Construction on the final segment—the northeast section from I-77 to I-85 near UNC Charlotte, is scheduled to begin in 2013.

Although I-485 is officially called the Charlotte Beltway, and unofficially the "Outerbelt", it also goes by two other names. One half is the Governor James G. Martin Freeway and the other half is the Rusty Goode Freeway, in honor of the men who helped make I-485 a reality. Seddon "Rusty" Goode served on the transportation board in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

Although part of the Southern Outerbelt runs within 1.5 miles (2.4km) of South Carolina, the entire Outerbelt is located in Mecklenburg County and never crosses into South Carolina or neighboring counties. It should be noted, however that I-485 does come within just 20 feet of the Cabarrus County line at the Rocky River Road exit. The Outerbelt traverses the towns of Mint Hill, Matthews and Pineville. This will be the first "true" loop road around Charlotte, as the I-277 freeway is an inner loop around "Uptown" or "Center City."

Orientation and Signage

Since Interstate 485, when completed, will be a beltway, compass orientations of the freeway are not uniform around the loop. Some sections of the loop are signed North/South and others are signed East/West, depending on the general compass directions traffic flow along. In addition to the compass directions, the Inner/Outer labeling system is also utilized, which can also be found on the I-440 Beltline in Raleigh. Usually when both systems are utilized on signs, the compass directional banner is placed above the number shield and the Inner/Outer banner is placed below.

Traffic traveling in a clockwise direction around the city of Charlotte is on the "Inner" loop and traffic traveling in a counterclockwise direction is on the "Outer" loop. This system can be confusing, but it is logical; since traffic in the United States generally travels on the right side of the road, the clockwise traveling lanes will always be the "Inner" lanes of a loop.

Volume, Capacity and Improvements

As of 2005, approximately 24 miles of I-485 between NC51 (Exit 65) and NC24-27 (Exit 41), has four travel lanes. Volume on this section varies widely from a maximum of 124,000 vpd east of NC51 to a 40,000 vpd south of NC24.

Approximately 10 miles of I-485 between NC24 (Exit 41) and I-85 (Exit 31) has between six and eight travel lanes. Volume on this section varies between 42,000 vpd and 49,000 vpd.

Approximately 10 miles of I-485 between I-77 (Exit 67) and I-85 (Exit 10) has between six and eight travel lanes. Volume on this section varies between 40,000 and 70,000 vpd.

Volume on the southern section of I-485 regularly exceeds capacity during peak travel times, particularly between I-77 (Exit 67) and NC16 (Exit 57). Many of the interchanges in this area were designed to accommodate large volumes of traffic, particular the massive interchange with I-77. However, with only two travel lanes in each direction, I-485 does a poor job of handeling through traffic when volume is heavy.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation has proposed to build additional travel lanes along a portion of this section of I-485. Construction is currently scheduled to begin in 2011.

Exit list

Mile numbering on Interstate 485 is awkward, as the numbers are set up for when the freeway is a completed loop. Numbering begins at Interstate 77 south of Charlotte, NC and continues clockwise to NC 27 (Mount Holly Road) on the west side of Charlotte. The road ends there for now. The interstate begins at Interstate 85 east of Charlotte, and continues as if the road had not ended, at mile 31 (in reality, a 17-mile gap exists between the two exits), and continues to Interstate 77 at mile 67.

All of the currently open highway is in Mecklenburg County.

#	Destinations	Notes
1	NC 49 (S.Tryon Street/ York Road)
3	Arrowood Road
4	Steele Creek Road
9	US 29/US 74 (Wilkinson Blvd.)
10A-B	Interstate 85
12	Moores Chapel Rd
14	NC 27 (Mount Holly Rd)	All traffic exit
Current end of roadway
18	Oakdale Rd	Under construction; scheduled for completion in 2007
21	Vance Rd
23A-B	Interstate 77
23C	NC 115 (Old Statesville Rd)
Roadway resumes
31	Interstate 85
32	US 29 (N. Tryon Street/Salisbury Road)
33	NC 49 (University City Blvd)
36	Rocky River Road
39	Harrisburg Road
41	NC 24/NC 27 (Albemarle Road)
43	NC 51 (Blair Road)
44	NC 218 (Fairview Road)
47	Lawyers Road
49	Idlewild Road
51A-B	US 74 (East Independence Blvd.)
52	East John Street
57	NC 16 (Providence Road)
59	Rea Road
61	US 521 South (Johnston Road)	Split into 61A (US 521 South) and 61B westbound (clockwise). After its recent truncation, northern terminus of US 521
64A-B	NC 51 (Pineville-Matthews Road)
65	South Blvd./Pineville Road	Split into 65B and 65A eastbound (counterclockwise)
67	Interstate 77/US 21