Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...
that runs from
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...
, to
Petersburg, Virginia
Petersburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights) with Din ...
. In
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, the Interstate Highway runs from the
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
I-95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the Canadia ...
in Petersburg. I-85 passes through the eastern part of
Southside Southside or South Side may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Southside, Queensland, a semi-rural locality in the Gympie Region
Canada
* South Side, Newfoundland and Labrador, a community in the St. George's Bay area on the southwest coast of New ...
, where it parallels US Route 1 (US 1) from Petersburg, where the highway runs concurrently with US 460, to south of South Hill, where the highway intersects Southside's major east–west highway, US 58. The Interstate Highway is the primary connection between the
Greater Richmond Region
The Greater Richmond Region, the Richmond metropolitan area or Central Virginia, is a region and metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Virginia, centered on Richmond, Virginia, Richmond. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines the ...
and
Research Triangle
The Research Triangle, or simply The Triangle, are both common nicknames for a metropolitan area in the Piedmont region of North Carolina in the United States, anchored by the cities of Raleigh and Durham and the town of Chapel Hill, home to ...
and other major metropolitan areas of North Carolina. Like all mainline Interstate Highways, I-85 is a part of the National Highway System for its entire length in Virginia.
Route description
I-85 enters Virginia in Mecklenburg County southwest of Bracey. The Interstate Highway continues southwest toward
Henderson Henderson may refer to:
People
*Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname
*Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan
Places Argentina
*Henderson, Buenos Aires
Australia
*Henderson, Western Australia
Canada
* H ...
and
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
*Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...
. Northbound I-85 has a
welcome center
A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors.
Types of visitor center
A visi ...
before the highway crosses
Lake Gaston
Lake Gaston is a hydroelectric reservoir in the eastern United States. Part of the lake is in the North Carolina counties of Halifax, Northampton, and Warren. The part extending into Virginia lies in Brunswick and Mecklenburg counties. Lake Gas ...
, an impoundment of the
Roanoke River
The Roanoke River ( ) runs long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the App ...
, on a causeway and bridge before reaching an interchange with State Route 903 (SR 903) at Bracey. The freeway passes through the town of South Hill, where the highway has a
cloverleaf interchange
A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange in which all turns are handled by slip roads. To go left (in right-hand traffic; reverse directions in left-driving regions), vehicles first continue as one road passes over or under the ...
with US 58 (Atlantic Avenue). US 58 serves as the major east–west highway of Southside; the US Route provides access to
La Crosse
La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's populat ...
Chase City
Chase City is a town in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, United States. Chase City was incorporated in 1873 and named for Salmon P. Chase, United States Chief Justice and Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury. The population was 2,351 at the 2010 censu ...
. North of the town of South Hill, I-85 has a junction with US 1 (Mecklenburg Avenue), which parallels the Interstate Highway from Henderson to Petersburg. The US 1 interchange also provides access to SR 138, which heads north toward Kenbridge.
North of US 1, I-85 enters Brunswick County just before the highway crosses the
Meherrin River
The Meherrin River is a long 6th order tributary to the Chowan River that joins in Hertford County, North Carolina.
A twenty-foot-high dam on the river creates a reservoir in Emporia. For most of its length, the Meherrin is not large enough f ...
. The Interstate Highway has an interchange with SR 644 (Brunswick Drive) at Meredithville and a partial interchange with SR 46 (Christanna Highway) before the freeway crosses to the east side of US 1 (Boydton Plank Road) at an interchange southwest of the town of
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
. The SR 46 and US 1 interchanges provide access to St. Paul's College in Lawrenceville and the Christanna campus of
Southside Virginia Community College
Southside Virginia Community College (SVCC) is a public community college with two campuses in Virginia, one near Alberta in Brunswick County, and the John H. Daniel Campus, just outside Keysville in Charlotte County. It is part of the Virgin ...
at the US 1/SR 46 intersection. Northeast of Alberta, I-85 has
rest area
A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names include motorway servi ...
s in both directions and interchanges with SR 630 (Sturgeon Road) at Sturgeonville and SR 712 (Old Stage Road) near
Rawlings Rawlings may refer to:
*Rawlings (company), a U.S. sports equipment company
*Rawlings, Maryland, an unincorporated community in Allegany County, Maryland
*Rawlings (surname)
Rawlings is an English-language surname. Notable people with the name in ...
.
I-85 crosses the
Nottoway River
The Nottoway River is a river in the U.S. state, U.S. State of Virginia and northeastern North Carolina that is 155 miles (249 kilometers) in length. The river begins in Prince Edward County, Virginia, Prince Edward County and merges with the Bla ...
partial cloverleaf interchange
A partial cloverleaf interchange or parclo is a modification of a cloverleaf interchange.
The design has been well received, and has since become one of the most popular freeway-to-arterial interchange designs in North America. It has also bee ...
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
of Dinwiddie County and another pair of rest areas. The Dinwiddie interchange and the following interchange with US 460 (Cox Road) provide access to
Virginia Motorsports Park
Virginia Motorsports Park (VMP) is a 1/4 mile (0.402 km) dragstrip in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, just outside of Petersburg.Dinwiddie County Airport, the Interstate Highway and US Route start to run concurrently toward Petersburg. Both the US 460 interchange and the following partial cloverleaf junction with US 1 (Boydton Plank Road) provide access to the
National Museum of the Civil War Soldier The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier, part of Pamplin Historical Park, is located in Petersburg, Virginia. A Civil War museum that has won a number of US and international awards and recognition, the museum is ''Duty Called Me Here'' as we ...
at
Pamplin Historical Park
Pamplin Historical Park is a 424-acre private sector historical park located near Petersburg, Virginia. The park preserves open space near Richmond, Virginia in Dinwiddie County, Virginia and serves the dual use of preserving a significant frag ...
. East of US 1, the freeway curves to the east and changes from having a wide, forested median to a
Jersey barrier
A Jersey barrier, Jersey wall, or Jersey bump is a modular concrete or plastic barrier employed to separate lanes of traffic. It is designed to minimize vehicle damage in cases of incidental contact while still preventing vehicle crossovers resu ...
separating the twin carriageways.
I-85 enters the city of Petersburg prior to its junction with Squirrel Level Road. South of downtown Petersburg, I-85 reaches its northern terminus at a
trumpet interchange
In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...
with I-95. The southern end of the interchange has a ramp from northbound I-85 to southbound I-95. Here, US 460 joins I-95 south through an interchange with US 301 (Crater Road), south of which the US Route separates from I-95 on its way to
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
. I-85 curves north and merges with I-95 in the direction of Richmond adjacent to the loop ramp from northbound I-95 to southbound I-85. Just before merging with northbound I-95, I-85 has its final exit, a ramp that leads to the
one-way pair
A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities.
Descriptio ...
of eastbound Wythe Street and westbound Washington Street in Historic Old Towne Petersburg. Wythe Street leads to
Petersburg National Battlefield
Petersburg National Battlefield is a National Park Service unit preserving sites related to the American Civil War Siege of Petersburg (1864–65). The Battlefield is centered on the city of Petersburg, Virginia, and also includes outlying compon ...