North Carolina Roads - I-40/Bus. I-85/US 421

, I-40/Business I-85, I-40/US 421


Most photos (and accompanying information) on this page are courtesy Lou Corsaro. The next one below is courtesy H.B. Elkins, and there are some others I will call out toward the end. Most of my photos are on the separate Raleigh page, so make sure to go there.


What happened to the rest of US 64? Since when is Maggie Valley an exit number? And if the exit's leaving to the right from the gantry, why is it straight ahead in the right lane several hundred feet later? This exit from I-40 WB actually has two gore signs, the advance one being visible on the bridge ahead.


WB and EB in Winston-Salem, these BGS's once had US 311 on them.


One of the stages of construction in which I-840 (which heads to the left, northward) is getting its interchange constructed with I-40. Both currently and at the time and location of this photo, I-40 EB (and US 421 SB, for those coming from that page) continued straight along this ramp and on into its Greensboro multiplex with Business I-85 and a whole bunch of other routes (see the big link below). For a short time, though, that route was followed by Business 40 (and still US 421 SB), and I-40 itself continued straight through the cones and curves right to the southeast. I-40 then picked up I-85 and they both used the Urban Loop around southern Greensboro. Neither route was on its original track through the south side of the city, and that meant there was no justification for Federal funding, so NCDOT quickly reversed the situation and brought I-40 back.


Out of the Wendover Place Mall onto Wendover Ave. WB at I-73. Not I-40, which was moved onto the outer bypass here when the sign was made but in a reversal has just been moved back onto the old route through Greensboro. See, when I-40 moved out here to join 73 and 85, that left the route through the city as nothing but a Business route, over ten miles that is specifically not an Interstate highway. That means that it is no longer eligible for 90% Federal funding on projects. So NCDOT asked and was granted a mulligan, and will hopefully take more care in the future before moving highways about. After I-73 is complete from here north to Virginia, a destination will magically appear on the right sign, perhaps Martinsville, VA.


NCDOT didn't choose a big enough I-85 Business shield to replace the old I-85 regular shield. I wonder how they did on the brief I-40 replacement?


As you can see, I-40's exit numbers seem to be somewhat lower than they should be. I-85's numbering used to take over here (the old exit numbers), but now Business I-85's exit numbrs are the priority, hence the renumbering. I don't get why I-40's exit numbers didn't come take over this stretch once the other Interstate moved - why would a Business route take priority over a true Interstate? Of course, NCDOT looked like champions for the short time that I-40 moved and thus no longer had priority, and so they look like chumps again after bringing it back. The space in the second photo's center BGS may be for a TO I-785, which will extend northward, and the space in the third photo's BGS is for NORTH I-840, the beltway gradually taking shape around the north side of Greensboro.


East of all the US highways it's just I-40 and Business I-85. The second photo is mine, and may be the same sign as Lou's.


Thanks to the newly opened Urban Loop section, this new assembly was on the south side of Greensboro. Compare this to the previous photo, and anything that looks different (except shield color) was wrong. If NCDOT were on their game, they'd have removed this sign again when I-40 left the duplex again, but I bet they haven't.


By 2013, the old problem with exit numbers was corrected, and the freeway through Greensboro again uses I-40's mileage for exit numbers instead of any other highway. In my photo, the leg of "To US 70" heads north as future I-785, but also future I-840. So which shield earns the right to be posted?

One more of mine, I-40 EB/I-85 NB by Burlington.


This is courtesy Doug Kerr (a familiar phrase to veterans of this website), but via Adam Prince (which is becoming a theme as well). The diagrammatic is decent, but should undeniably have the exit tab over the right side of the BGS so it's clear which is the exit and which the through road. Also, the DOWNTOWN is a little cheap. This is as close to Raleigh as I'm getting before splitting off the page (see link at top or below).


WB nearing Raleigh, courtesy myself. There hasn't been overnight parking for quite some time.


So informative. These are the last two of my photos, WB.


WB at the future I-140, a bypass of Wilmington (the eastern terminus of I-40, but the bypass is for US 17).


The beginning of I-40 WB, which up till now was NC 132 NB (which obviously continues on its own way). I don't know if US 117 was rerouted or just an afterthought.

I-40 in Raleigh
Onto Business I-85 alone
Onto US 421 alone


Into Tennessee on I-40
Exit 27 to US 19, US 23, US 74, or (regular) US 64
Exit 195 to NC 109
Onto Future I-840
Onto I-73
Exit 39 to US 29
Exit 39 or 44 to US 70
Exit 44/227 to I-85
Onto US 220
Exit 279B to NC 147
Onto I-140
Exit 420B to US 117
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