Business Loop I-85 - Lexington, High Point, Greensboro

Former Business Route

Business Loop I-85 superseded U.S. 29/70 along the Temporary section of I-85 through Lexington, Thomasville and High Point. Portions of the route included 1950s era expressways built to join the three cities with Greensboro to the northeast. This section traveled 30.8 miles from a wye interchange (Exit 87) in southwest Lexington to a trumpet interchange (Exit 118) on the outskirts of Greensboro. U.S. 29/70 overlapped with the entire route, while the southern four miles coincided with U.S. 52 and Interstate 285.

With the completion of the Interstate 85 bypass around Greensboro (Painter Boulevard) on February 22, 2004, Business Loop I-85 was extended northward over the former I-85 route through the city. This included an implied overlap with I-85 between Exits 118 and 120 A extended the Business Loop mileage, and exit number sequence, through Greensboro to the exchange with I-40 south of Downtown.

Interstate 40 and Business Loop I-85 combined for eight miles east to I-85 at Exit 131 and I-785/840 on the east side of Greensboro.

Completion of the southwest leg of Painter Boulevard on February 21, 2008 shifted I-40 to bypass the city to the south, partially alongside I-85. This coincided with the redesignation of the original Interstate 40 across Greensboro as new Business Loop for I-40. The sign changes lasted just seven months before I-40 was returned northward.

The new alignment of Interstate 85 around Greensboro was approved by AASHTO on May 14, 2004. The old alignment of Interstate 85 was approved as an extension of Business Loop I-85 at the same meeting. Guide sign changes following the completion of Interstate 840 (Greensboro Urban Loop) in 2023 remove all references of the business route in Greensboro. Sign changes further south also drop Business Loop I-85.