I-85 Widening Project

Description

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) plans to add four additional travel lanes and make other improvements to Interstate 85 in Cabarrus and Rowan Counties to make I-85 more efficient and relieve congestion from Charlotte to Greensboro.

The improvements will start at from NC 73 (Exit 55) where a previous widening project left off, in Concord near Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. It will extend northeast, through Kannapolis, to the US 29/601 Connector in China Grove.

The plans also include upgrading several interchanges – at US 29/601 (map), Dale Earnhardt Boulevard (map), Lane Street (map), NC 152 (map).

In conjunction with this project, the NCDOT plans to reconstruct the existing interchange at US 29/601 and NC 152 interchange (NCDOT Project TIP # I-3610) and replace two bridges – one over the Norfolk Southern Railroad and one over US 29 in China Grove (NCDOT Project TIP # B-5365)

The project is divided into two sections:

• Section I-3802A – Begins at NC 73 (Exit 55) and extends 7.4 miles to Lane Street (Exit 63), in Cabarrus County
• Section I-3802B – Picks up at Lane Street (Exit 63) and extends 6.5 miles to the US 29-601 Connector (Exit 68) in Rowan County

The entire project has undergone several redesigns, including adding the “Winecoff School Road” grade separation in 2013. This new design will eliminate the existing railroad crossing at South Ridge Avenue in Concord and replace it with a new bridge. There were several alternatives for the Winecoff School Road project (map of Alt 2A, map of Alt 2B, and map of Alt 24A). The final route (map of chosen route) avoids the historic Barrier House, but may divert traffic from some businesses.

The I-85 widening is a design-build project, meaning design, right-of-way and construction are all being conducted by the same company, and therefore the design may be subject to change.