North Carolina Highway System

Interstate 440 (abbreviated I-440) in North Carolina, also known as the Raleigh Beltline and the Cliff Benson Beltline, is a 16.4-mile (26.4-km) partial beltway that nearly encircles central Raleigh. Prior to August 2002, it was a complete loop and shared a concurrency with its parent, Interstate 40 along the loop's southern segment (Tom Bradshaw Freeway). I-440 was labeled with "Inner" and "Outer" lanes, making it one of the few Interstate Highways in the United States not primarily labeled with compass directions (e.g. east/west). It has now been truncated to avoid confusion, especially with the I-540 "Outer Loop" and is being relabeled with an east–west orientation.

I-440 is labeled as an east–west highway which forms a partial loop around the north of downtown Raleigh. Both the eastern and western terminus are at I-40. Exit numbers follow the standard Interstate pattern, increasing from west to east. At the western terminus, the mainline of the road continues on as the US 1/US 64 expressway through Cary. Other major junctions include the Raleigh-Chapel Hill Expressway at exit 4, US 70 at exit 7, US 1/US 401 at exit 11, and US 64/US 264 at exit 14. I-440 shares its route with U.S. 1 between exit 1 and exit 11, and with U.S. 64 between exit 14 and exit 16.

Prior to 2002, the route also followed I-40 south of downtown Raleigh and was labeled "inner" and "outer" rather than using the standard cardinal directions. With the opening of a second loop around Raleigh, I-440 was truncated to its current length, and its designation changed to the standard east/west labeling to avoid confusion with the new road. Signage has been slow to change on parts of the road, and in some places still reflects the old routing and designation. By 2009, many, but not all, of the signs had been changed.

Between US1-64 (Exit 1A) and Wade Ave. (Exit 4) west of Downtown Raleigh, I-440 has four travel lanes. As of 2005, average annual daily traffic volume varies between 78,000 vpd and 90,000 vpd on this section.

Between Wade Ave. (Exit 4) and Capital Blvd. (Exit 11) north of Downtown Raleigh, I-440 has between six and eight travel lanes. As of 2005, average annual traffic volume varies between 112,000 vpd and 138,000 vpd on this section.

Between Capital Blvd (Exit 11) and I-40 (Exit 16) east of Downtown Raleigh, I-440 has between six and eight travel lanes. As of 2005, average annual traffic volume varies between 88,000 vpd and 108,000 vpd on this section.

The four-lane northern section of the Raleigh Beltline was built first, with 3.5 miles opening between Wade Avenue and Walnut Street in 1960. The road was named the Cliff Benson Beltline to honor a developer and highway commissioner who played a major role in getting the road built. It was not built to interstate highway standards. The six-lane southern section, part of Interstate 40, came later and was designated the Tom Bradshaw Freeway, for the Raleigh mayor and state transportation secretary who helped get that road built. Before the addition of the southern leg, downtown had major traffic problems.

Different parts of the Beltline had different numbers, and people got lost easily. The northern section included sections designated US 1, US 64, US 70 and NC 50.

In 1991, state highway administrator William G. Marley Jr. asked the Federal Highway Administration to call the Raleigh Beltline Interstate 440.

That same year, much of the four-lane older section was about to be widened in a seven-year-long $53 million project which also included upgrading the road to interstate standards. US 70 and NC 50 were rerouted through Raleigh, which caused concerns about too much traffic on city streets.

In Summer 1991, work began on widening 3.6 miles of the Beltline from Glen Eden Road to Wake Forest Road to eight lanes, including the rebuilding of the 30-year-old Glenwood Avenue bridge.

Early in 1993, work began on widening 4.4 miles from near Wake Forest Road to beyond New Bern Avenue to six lanes.

On July 8, 1994, the state awarded the contract for widening 1.7 miles to six lanes, from Wade Avenue to Glen Eden Road. At that time, completion of the project's second phase was expected by June 1995, and phase three by 1996. Two more miles between New Bern Avenue and Poole Road would be widened starting in 1996. Plans called for widening 3.2 miles from Wade Avenue to I-40 several years later but even after several delays, the 2006-2012 N.C. Transportation Improvement Program did not include funding for the $77.3 million upgrade.

When signs for I-440 went up in 1996, instead of east and west, "inner" was used to designate clockwise and "outer" counterclockwise. In 2002, the North Carolina Department of Transportation decided to replace the inner/outer labeling with an east–west orientation and remove I-440 along its concurrency with I-40. This decision was primarily made to prevent confusion with the I-540 Outer Loop around Wake County. Lack of funding to make the change delayed the project until 2008. The FHWA route log has been updated to show the shortened distance. By 2009 many, but not all, signs reflecting the old routing and designation had been removed or updated. Signs were being changed as they were replaced; new signs placed on US 1 did not show I-440 on the southern segment and show I-440 with east/west compass directions.

Prior to 1991, the northern part of the beltline was designated, but unsigned, as Business Interstate 40 while the southern part remained Interstate 40. In 1996, the I-440 designation was approved and signed along the entire loop.

A 3.5-mile (5.6 km) stretch of Interstate 440, from Walnut Avenue to Wade Avenue, is to be redesigned and widen to six-lanes. Completed in 1960, it is the oldest section of the Raleigh beltline; it features the original four-lanes with narrow (or no) shoulders, substandard interchanges, and a merging left lane on-ramp. Currently in development, NCDOT has estimated the cost at $92 million, with right-of-way acquisition to start in 2016 and construction in 2018.

Exits are numbered by mile marker, beginning at Exit 1 in the southwest and continuing east. With the truncation of I-440 and assignment of east/west direction, exits are now numbered west to east.

The entire route is in Raleigh, Wake County.