Interstate 285 (North Carolina)

Infobox road
state=NC
route=285
type=I


maint=
length_mi=23
length_round=2
length_ref=
year_established=2011 (projected completion date)
direction_a=South
terminus_a=Jct|state=NC|I|85|BL|85|dab2=Lexington|US|29|US|52 in Lexington
junction=Jct|state=NC|BL|85|dab1=Lexington|US|29|US|70 in Lexington
direction_b=North
terminus_b=Jct|state=NC|I|40|US|52|US|311|NC|8 in Winston-Salem
previous_type=NC
previous_route=284
next_type=NC
next_route=286

Interstate 285 (I-285) in North Carolina is a newly designated interstate route running 23 miles (37 km) from Lexington, NC "(Interstate 85: Exit 87)" to Winston-Salem, NC "(Interstate 40: Exit 193)". The route will be entirely concurrent with a portion of the existing U.S. Route 52 freeway. The route was approved by AASHTO in September 2005 after receiving earlier approval from the FHWA in July 2005. The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDoT) put up "Future Interstate 285 Corridor" signs along the route in February 2006. These signs will remain until improvements are made to bring the road up to interstate standards whereby the route will receive its Interstate 285 signs. The $2.5 million project to improve the roadway should be completed by 2011.

The I-285 route could be extended northward another 10 miles (16 km) to the U.S. Route 52 interchange with the future Winston-Salem Northern Beltway (Future Interstate 74) if the current freeway through Winston-Salem is upgraded to interstate standards. The estimated cost of this upgrade is $500 million and any project to do so will not start until at least 2013. Work on the Beltway is not scheduled to start until 2010.

External links

* [http://www.duke.edu/~rmalme/fut285.html Future I-285, I-85 Winston-Salem Connector website, accessed 11/9/06]
* [http://www.ncdot.org/planning/tpb/SHC/documents/ NCDOT, Strategic Highway Corridors]