Interstate 85 North

If you didn’t see it on the map, the directional inversion near Lexington is so that both sides can have right-side exits to rest areas which share access to a Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

There's also intersections with non-Interstate US highways, and US 321 in Gastonia is one of them. North Carolina signs Gastonia for that reason, because that's the fastest route to get to Hickory (Local traffic here). There's also the I-285/85 split in Lexington, and that's another justification for signing it (however, I'd replace the signs as "I-285 North High Point/Winston-Salem" no Lexington, and "I-85 North Greensboro/Durham"). But North Carolina still serves long distance traffic at huge system interchanges. However, I don't justify signing Burlington, Oxford, or Henderson because those are not where the Interstates split at all, nor are they big enough to be control cities (It's just North Carolina doing its thing again). And Concord... might as well replace that with Greensboro (because Concord is a suburb of Charlotte).

craziest road signs ive seen are on 85 around greensboro… they’re huge

Gainesville is a major city in northern Georgia so I’m okay with just “Gainesville “ for I-985. Since I live near there, I think it’d be appropriate to also place “The Great Smokey Mountains National Park “ on a brown sign since many travelers would be using I-985 to get there.

I heard that I-85 could extend from I-20 & I-85 near Cuba Alabama, just east of Alabama/Mississippi state line to I-65 in Downtown Montgomery Alabama. It is unlikely to have future I-14 in both Alabama and Georgia, recently.

I 85 in South Carolina goes past 2 cemeteries only accessible via the interstate. 1 grave sight is in between exit 66 and 63 on the Southbound shoulder. The other grave sight is in the median of the interstate near exit 95. It's interesting that they decided to build the road so close to burial sights. Good video as always. Glad you kept Spartanburg signed :)

I-75 actually signs Atlanta from the jump in Petersburg. A really good long-distance signage despite being 500 miles away.

To me, I-59 is the most “south” interstate since it goes through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, probably the 4 most “south” states in the country lol. It would be cool if I-20, I-59, and I-85 all met in Atlanta

When you said the Chattahoochee River, I immediately started singing that song. I'm definitely not as old as you! 😂😂

The entire route of I-85 is roughly 666 miles long. It's longest segment is in NC at a length of 234 miles. It's a very fascinating interstate, especially from Durham to Petersburg.

What is ironic about I-85 for me is I have only been on it's last few southernmost miles and northernmost miles. It starts in Montgomery AL which was the original capitol of the Confederacy and it ends in Petersburg VA near Richmond which would also later be the capitol of the Confederacy.

A wildcard sign they can put on I-985 is Asheville since that's a way you can take to get to Asheville or western North Carolina.

2:23 before they changed the signs on I-285, it use to say Macon and Tampa.

Interstate 85 is my favorite interstate. I have been on the entire interstate. My favorite scenery of I-85 is between Atlanta and Charlotte. I like looking at both the city skylines and the rivers and lakes.

NCDOT became a little less provincial in the Greensboro area when adding Martinsville and Danville, both in Virginia, as control cities at those exits.

I live along I-85 so this has been one of the roads I've been looking forward to the most or counting down to when you get to it.

I can only speculate the reason NC uses Concord as a control city is because that is where Charlotte Motor Speedway is located.

I don't think Gainesville needs the GA after it as its in Georgia. That's normally only done if the city on the sign is in another state. I don't think it would be confused with Gainesville, FL here.

This is one of very few interstates where I have been on its entire length. Traveling southbound on I-95 in Petersburg, 2 miles before the junction, that Atlanta-Durham sign always fascinated me because Atlanta is 500 miles away and depending on traffic, I-20 may be a faster route to get there!

This is one of my favorite highways to drive. It's scenic and generally flows pretty smoothly. Last time I drove it a couple years ago, shockingly, the pavement quality didn't even suck that badly!