U.S. Route 85B (US 85B) is an approximately temporary auxiliary route of
US 85 located entirely within
Williams County in the state of
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
. The highway serves as an eastern
bypass around the city of
Williston.
The establishment of the route was a temporary solution to the rapid increase in truck traffic in the area due to the
North Dakota oil boom The North Dakota oil boom refers to the period of rapidly expanding oil extraction from the Bakken Formation in the state of North Dakota that lasted from the discovery of Parshall Oil Field in 2006, and peaked in 2012, but with substantially less g ...
. The county plans on eventually replacing the highway with an
expressway
Expressway may refer to:
* Controlled-access highway, the highest-grade type of highway with access ramps, lane markings, etc., for high-speed traffic.
* Limited-access road, a lower grade of highway or arterial road.
*Expressway, the fictional s ...
bypass, dubbed the "Northeastern Truck Reliever Route", once funding is gathered.
US 85 already bypasses the city as an expressway to the west.
Route description
Starting from the north, US 85B follows 57th Street Northwest, traveling east from an intersection (located on the Williston city limits) with US 2 and US 85—
running concurrently with County Road 6 (CR 6)—before turning south after approximately , leaving the concurrency with CR 6. After turning south, the route continues in this direction for exactly , before reaching an intersection with 54th Street Northwest that marks the eastern terminus of CR 7B. The route then continues south for about before curving west and maintaining a straight path for about , and then curving back to the south. After this, the route continues south for just under before terminating at a
T intersection
A three-way junction (or three-way intersection) is a type of road intersection with three arms. A Y junction (or Y intersection) generally has three arms of equal size coming at an acute or obtuse angle to each other; while a T junction (or T ...
with
North Dakota Highway 1804
North Dakota Highway 1804 (ND 1804) is a state highway in the U.S. state of North Dakota. ND 1804 and ND 1806 were named to reflect the years of Lewis and Clark's travels through the area, and together constitute the portion of the Lewis and Cl ...
(ND 1804) within Williston
city limits
City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. Similarly, corporate limi ...
. The highway runs roughly parallel to the
Little Muddy River for most of its length.
Major intersections
See also
*
References
{{US 85
85B (Williams County)
B (Williams County, North Dakota)
Transportation in Williams County, North Dakota
85B (Williams County, North Dakota)
Williston, North Dakota