Business Loop I-40 - Winston-Salem and Kernersville

This Business Loop Freeway was approved by AASHTO on October 2, 1992 as part of the Interstate 40 relocation around Winston-Salem. The new alignment for I-40 (Corporation Parkway) across the south side of Winston-Salem and through rural areas of Forsyth County was constructed to move through traffic away from the aging expressway. It opened in 1993.

The 23 mile long route of Business Loop I-40 ran concurrent with U.S. 421 and partially alongside U.S. 158 and North Carolina Route 150. The freeway shifts north from I-40 at Exit 188 to Downtown Winston-Salem, where it converges with the U.S. 52/Future I-285. Continuing east, Business Loop I-40 continued with U.S. 421 across the town of Kernersville to a wye interchange (Exit 206) with I-40 just west of the Greensboro city limits.

The Business 40 Project by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) underway from Fall 2017 to February 2020 addressed some of the substandard aspects of the Business 40 freeway from west of 4th Street to east of Church Street. The $99.2 million project included modernizing entrance and exit ramps, replacing bridges and resurfacing the roadway with new concrete. An announcement made on October 21, 2016 by Governor Pat McCrory indicated that the revamped roadway will be renamed Salem Parkway with U.S. 421 as the primary designation (Winston-Salem Journal, 2016).

Signs for Business Loop I-40 were subsequently removed by 2020 as part of the construction project. U.S. 421 was selected as the primary route due to motorist confusion between I-40 and Business Loop I-40 (Winston-Salem Journal, 2016).