Interstate 485

Interstate 485
Charlotte Outerbelt
Route information
Maintained by NCDOT
Length: 59 mi[1] (95 km)
Existed: 1988 – present
Major junctions
Beltway around Charlotte
  I-77 / US 21 near Pineville
I-85 near Charlotte
I-77 in Huntersville
I-85 near Concord
US 74 in Matthews
Location
Counties: Mecklenburg
Highway system

Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
Main • Auxiliary • Business

North Carolina Highway System

← NC 481 US 501 →

Interstate 485 (I-485) is an Interstate Highway and a nearly completed beltway around Charlotte, North Carolina.

Contents

Route description

The western, southern and eastern segments of the beltway are complete and open to traffic. The current path runs west from NC 115 (Old Statesville Road), crosses I-77 turns south and crosses I-85 near Charlotte/Douglas International Airport then continues counter-clockwise back to I-85 near the Charlotte Motor Speedway, the city of Concord and Concord Mills, and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, crossing I-77 again 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 was opened in phases. The segment from NC 27 (Mount Holly Road) to NC 16 (Brookshire Boulevard) opened on May 9, 2007; the segment from NC 16 to NC 115 (Old Statesville Road), just beyond the I-77 interchange, originally scheduled to open in March 2007, opened on December 5, 2008, after numerous delays, the most recent being a cold and wet late summer/ early fall.[2] The final segment, from I-77 to I-85 near UNC Charlotte, has begun the Right of Way Acquisition phase with contracts awarded in June 2010.[3][4]

Although the loop runs within 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of the South Carolina state line, and within 20 feet (6.1 m) of the Cabarrus County line at the Rocky River Road exit, the entire Outerbelt is in within Mecklenburg County's boundaries, and never crosses into South Carolina or any neighboring counties. The Outerbelt traverses the towns of Mint Hill, Matthews, Pineville, and Huntersville. This will be the first "true" loop road around Charlotte, since the present I-277 freeway is an inner business loop around uptown Charlotte.

Orientation and signage

Since Interstate 485, when completed, will be a beltway, the compass orientation of the freeway is not uniform around the loop. To remedy the uniformity issue, the inner/outer orientation system was implemented and became the primary method of signing the direction of travel around the loop. Some sections of the loop are signed with additional north/south or east/west labels (depending on the general direction of travel along a particular stretch) to aid drivers familiar with compass directions. 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.[5] Officials originally decided to use only "north" and "south" compass directions when signing the route, but because this would be confusing with multiple "norths" and "souths", "inner" and "outer" designations were included. Althouth "east" and "west" signs exist, these will be phased out in favor of "inner" and "outer" designations.[6]

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.[7] 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.[5]

Alternate names

Though the highway is commonly known as either "I-485" or "Charlotte Outerbelt" throughout the state, the highway does have other names posted to honor various important citizens. Even though the names are present, not many local residents use them.

Volume and capacity

As of 2006, approximately 24 miles (39 km) of I-485 between NC 51 (Exit 65) and NC 24-27 (Exit 41), has four travel lanes. Volume on this section varies widely from a maximum of 120,000 vehicles per day (vpd) east of NC 51 to a 50,000 vpd south of NC 24.

Approximately 10 miles (16 km) of I-485 between NC 24-27 (Exit 41) and I-85 (Exit 31) has between six and eight travel lanes. Volume on this section varies between 50,000 vpd and 55,000 vpd.

Approximately 10 miles (16 km) 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 50,000 and 80,000 vpd.

Volume on the southern section of I-485 regularly exceeds capacity during peak travel times, particularly between I-77 (Exit 67) and NC 16 (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 handling through traffic when volume is heavy.

Future

Governor Bev Perdue was pushing to have the final section of the loop (connecting NC 115 to I-85) started in the year 2009 and completed within three years, possibly utilizing funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This project will coincide with a planned widening of I-85 through Cabarrus County and convert the current trumpet interchange (exit 48 off I-85), from what was originally planned as a stack interchange, into a turbine interchange[3].

The North Carolina Department of Transportation has proposed to build additional travel and auxiliary lanes along the southern section of I-485 between US 521/Johnston Road (exit 61) and I-77/US 21 (exit 67). Construction is currently scheduled to begin in 2012.[9] On November 18, 2011, it was reported in the local news that NCDOT is considering adding an additional toll lane along the current project, making it eight travel lanes and extend the widening project from four to six travel lanes from Providence Road (exit 57) to US 521/Johnston Road (exit 61). The new toll lane would use the electronic toll collection system, same as used on the Triangle Expressway. It is unknown at this time if it will be a toll only lane or a HOT lane.[10]

In addition, NCDOT is planning to convert the existing grade separation at Weddington Road (located between Exit 57 and Exit 52) to an interchange beginning in 2013. The proposed design is a folded-diamond style interchange with all four ramps located to one side of the existing grade separation, similar to the existing interchange of I-485 & NC 24/NC 27. The westbound (inner) ramps are proposed to intersect Weddington Road directly opposite Plantation Drive. The future interchange will likely be designated Exit 54.

Exit list

Mile numbering on Interstate 485 is set up for when the freeway is a completed loop. Numbering begins at Interstate 77 south of Charlotte and continues clockwise to NC 115 (Old Statesville Rd) on the Northeast side of Charlotte. The road ends there for now. I-485 begins again at Interstate 85 northeast of Charlotte, and continues as if the road had not ended, at mile 31 (in reality, an 8-mile (14-kilometre) gap exists between the two exits), and continues to Interstate 77 at mile 67.

The entire route is in Mecklenburg County.

Location # Destinations Notes
Charlotte 1 NC 49 (S. Tryon Street)
3 Arrowood Road
4 NC 160 (Steele Creek Road) – Fort Mill
6 West Boulevard
9 US 29 / US 74 (Wilkinson Boulevard)
Charlotte/Douglas International Airport		 Exit is part of exit 10 southbound
10 I-85 – Greensboro, Spartanburg Signed as exits 10A (north) and 10B (south) on exit collector lanes
Charlotte 12 Moores Chapel Road
14 NC 27 (Mount Holly Road)
16 NC 16 (Brookshire Boulevard) – Newton
Oakdale Road Future exit (partially constructed, no timetable for completion)[11]
21 NC 24 (Harris Boulevard) To Northlake Mall
Huntersville 23 I-77 – Charlotte, Statesville Signed as exits 23A (south) and 23B (north) southbound
23C NC 115 (Old Statesville Road) Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Charlotte Prosperity Church Road Proposed new freeway (funded, to be completed 2014)[3]
Mallard Creek Road
31 I-85 – Greensboro, Spartanburg Northbound exit and southbound entrance
32 US 29 (N. Tryon Street) – Charlotte, Concord To Charlotte Motor Speedway
33 NC 49 (University City Boulevard) – Harrisburg To UNC Charlotte
36 Rocky River Road
39 Harrisburg Road
Mint Hill 41 NC 24 / NC 27 (Albemarle Road) – Albemarle
43 NC 51 (Blair Road) – Mint Hill
44 NC 218 (Fairview Road) – Mint Hill
47 Lawyers Road
Matthews 49 Idlewild Road
51 US 74 – Charlotte, Monroe Signed as exits 51A (west) and 51B (east) southbound
52 East John Street – Matthews
Weddington Road Future exit (funded, no timetable for completion)[12]
Charlotte 57 NC 16 (Providence Road) – Weddington
59 Rea Road
61 US 521 south (Johnston Road) Signed as exits 61A (north) and 61B (south) northbound; to Ballantyne
Pineville 64 NC 51 (Pineville-Matthews Road) – Pineville, Matthews Signed as exits 64A (north) and 64B (south) northbound; to Carolina Place Mall
65 South Boulevard – Pineville Signed as exits 65A (south) and 65B (north) southbound
Charlotte 67 I-77 / US 21 – Charlotte, Columbia
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
     Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

Photo gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ "Google Maps". http://maps.google.com/. Retrieved 2011-01-25. 
  2. ^ "24 hour local news". News 14. http://news14.com/Default.aspx?ArID=600558. Retrieved 2011-09-19. 
  3. ^ a b c "NCDOT: I-485 Charlotte Outer Loop". Ncdot.gov. http://www.ncdot.gov/projects/charlotteouterloop/. Retrieved 2011-09-19. 
  4. ^ "Charlotte company awarded contract for I-485 completion | WCNC.com Charlotte". Wcnc.com. 2010-06-03. http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/NC-gov-to-unveil-contract-award-for-Charlotte-loop-95501449.html. Retrieved 2011-09-19. 
  5. ^ a b Interstate Guide - I-485 Outer / Wilkinson Blvd sign picture
  6. ^ Dr. Traffic (2006-05-14). "Making heads or tails of inner, outer loops". The Charlotte Observer. 
  7. ^ WSOC-TV News: State has new way to identify location on I-485 (Accessed Dec 2006)
  8. ^ a b c d "North Carolina Memorial Highways and other Named Facilities". http://www.ncdot.org/doh/preconstruct/traffic/TEPPL/Topics/N-01/Sorted%20by%20County.pdf. Retrieved 2011-12-09. 
  9. ^ "NCDOT: Project R-4902". http://www.ncdot.org/projects/search/details.html#id=1759. Retrieved 2011-10-31. 
  10. ^ "N.C. considers adding toll lane to I-485". http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/11/18/2785708/toll-lane-for-southern-outerbelt.html. Retrieved 2011-11-18. 
  11. ^ "NCDOT: Project R-2248". http://www.ncdot.org/projects/search/details.html#id=1419. Retrieved 2011-10-31. 
  12. ^ "NCDOT: Project R-0211". http://www.ncdot.org/projects/search/details.html#id=1342. Retrieved 2011-10-31. 
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