North Carolina Highway System

Interstate 485 (I-485) is an incomplete beltway around Charlotte, North Carolina; it is part of the Interstate Highway System.

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.

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.

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. 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. Although "east" and "west" signs exist, these will be phased out in favor of "inner" and "outer" designations.

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.

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.

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.

The first section of what would become Interstate 485 opened in the early 1970s,[citation needed] connecting a newly opened section of I-85 with U.S. 29 near the Cabarrus-Mecklenburg county line. This section became a part of Interstate 485 on May 5, 1999, the first section of the highway on the north end of the county.

In 1975, planning began for the Charlotte outerbelt.

On July 8, 1988, Gov. Jim Martin and state transportation secretary Seddon Goode attended a groundbreaking near U.S. 521, marking the start of construction on the first 1.3-mile section between U.S. 521 and N.C. 51. Martin also announced the designation "Interstate 485" for what had previously been called the outerbelt. The section opened November 1, 1990, two months earlier than planned.

A 2.6 mile, $67.2 million section of I-485 from U.S. 521 to I-77 opened October 24, 1994. The section included a four-level interchange at I-77. On December 9, 1994, the section from N.C. 51 to Rea Road opened.

On July 1, 1997, a $13.9 million 2-mile section of I-485 opened between I-77 and N.C. 49, a section designated The Seddon "Rusty" Goode Jr. Freeway, named for a member of the N.C. Board of Transportation who helped decide where I-485 would be built.

On August 15, 1997, 2.3 miles of I-485 opened between Rea Road and N.C. 16 (Providence Road). An $8.6 million 1.4-mile section from N.C. 49 to Brown-Grier Road in the Steele Creek community opened in two stages August 26 and 27; the name of Brown-Grier Road changed to Arrowood Road when that road was extended. Seven more miles opened September 15, connecting N.C. 16 to U.S. 74.

After the upgrade to the section between I-85 and U.S. 29 was finished in May 1999, the section from U.S. 29 to N.C. 49 opened August 13, 1999. 2.3 miles from U.S. 74 to Idlewild Road opened in December 1999.

A $10.2 million, three-mile section opened between Idlewild Road and Lawyers Road in Mint Hill In June 2000.

A 7.5-mile, $55.4 million section opened September 3, 2003. It was hoped that 12.5 miles could open, connecting N.C. 49 to Lawyers Road, but only the section north of N.C. 27 (Albemarle Road) opened at that time. I-485 reached an important milestone November 19, 2003, when the last five miles opened between. I-485 finally connected I-85 on the north end of Charlotte to I-77 on the south end. In all, the outerbelt stretched 37 miles.

On October 19, 2004, I-485 reached another milestone, with a $100 million, seven-mile section opening from Arrowood Road to I-85 west of Charlotte. The outerbelt provided a connection between I-77 south of the city to I-85 and would relieve traffic on Billy Graham Parkway.

2.3 miles from I-85 to N.C. 27 (Mount Holly Road) opened December 15, 2006. A mile and a half opened from N.C. 27 to N.C. 16 (Brookshire Boulevard) on May 9, 2007. I-485 reached I-77 as 5.5 miles opened December 4, 2008 more than a year late between N.C. 16 and N.C. 115.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

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 (13 km) gap exists between the two exits), and continues to Interstate 77 at mile 67.

The entire route is in Mecklenburg County.