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Interstate 40
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I-40: Michael Jordan sign | Distance to Barstow
Maps: N.C. highway map | 1998 Raleigh map

Interstate 40 420 miles

The Road: Enters the state from Tennessee in Haywood County, just east of GSMNP.
Ends just north of Wilmington, New Hanover County, where the road becomes N.C. 132.
Nationally, I-40's western terminus is at I-15 in Barstow, California.

Towns and
Attractions: Follows the Pigeon River near the eastern boundary of GSMNP. Tunnels near mileposts 5 (both eastbound and westbound) and 8 (westbound only). Passing is permitted in both tunnels.
East of the tunnels: Asheville, Hickory, Statesville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro (Fordham Boulevard, Preddy Boulevard), Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Benson, Wilmington

Multilane
Segments: Six lanes, three in each direction up Black Mountain.
Six lanes around Winston-Salem.
Six lanes just west of the I-85 merge in Greensboro.
Six lanes, then eight from Greensboro to the I-85 split near Hillsborough. (See the I-85 entry for a full discussion of this stretch.)
Six lanes from the Durham Freeway (exit 279) to Wade Avenue (exit 289). Construction to add an additional lane in each direction on the segment started in mid-1998.
Six to eight lanes while multiplexed with I-440 to the south of Raleigh, and six lanes for several miles south of the Raleigh area.

History: The first part of I-40 to be built was the Downtown Expressway in Winston-Salem in the late 1950s. This road, of course, is no longer designated as I-40.
By 1961, I-40 was finished between U.S. 221 (exit 85) and the Burke-Catawba line (around mile 119); between N.C. 16 (131) and U.S. 21 (151); and from N.C. 801 (180) to the U.S. 158/421 split east of downtown Winston-Salem. The stretch of I-85 from Greensboro to Durham was finished by this time as well, but 40 would not be multiplexed along it for many years to come.
By 1965, more of I-40 had been completed: between Clyde (mile 27) and Enka (mile 44) and from Black Mountain to the aforementioned U.S. 221 in Marion. Also, the road between W-S and I-85 in Greensboro was opened.
The Pigeon River stretch, from the Tennessee line to Exit 20, was opened in 1968. However, no connection existed between the eastern end of this road (in Cove Creek) and the resumption of 40 in Clyde for many years. Motorists had to take what we now call U.S. 276 and U.S. 19 to to connect between the two stretches of 40.
By 1969, a few more miles of 40 opened south of Asheville (from the older road's terminus in Enka to U.S. 25, Exit 50). Much of I-26 was also finished at this time.
In the early 1970s (by 1974), the missing link between mileposts 20 and 27 was finished, as was the road between Statesville and W-S. Also by this time, I-40 was completed between Durham and Raleigh. This "new 40" had its western terminus at Chapel Hill Road in Durham, ran along what was then the East-West Expressway (now N.C. 147), and continued into Raleigh along today's I-40 and Wade Avenue. This original I-40 ended at Wade's intersection with what we now call I-440, or the Beltline (but what was then U.S. 1/64).
When I-40 to the south of Hickory (miles 119 to 131) and in the Swannanoa area (around mile 60) opened in the late 1970s, the first phase of I-40's construction was complete. Note here that at this point, 40 existed in two disjoint segments (Tennessee to Greensboro and Durham to Raleigh), and contained three different stretches of road (in W-S, Durham and Raleigh) that aren't signed as I-40 anymore.
By 1985, the southern leg of the Raleigh Beltline was completed, along with the connector between Wade Avenue and U.S. 1/64 (miles 289 to 301). Also around this time, the "easternmost" stretch of 40 near Wilmington was finished, from N.C. 132 north to the U.S. 117/N.C. 53 area (about miles 398 to 420). So for a few years in the 1980s, three disjoint sections of 40 existed, with two of them separated by about 100 miles.
In 1986, a mile-long stretch of I-40 opened from junction with the Durham Freeway to N.C. 55 (miles 278 to 279). The East-West Expressway became N.C. 147. Around this time, the "original " 40 between Durham and Raleigh, miles 280 to 289, was widened to six lanes.
In 1987, a short stretch of 40 was opened from the Raleigh Beltline to U.S. 70 near Garner (miles 301 to 305). 40 was also extended further east, to U.S. 15/501 (mile 270), that year. Writes Bob Goudreau, on the portion between exits 270 and 278:
[The road] to US 15/501 didn't open until the summer of 1987. I remember it well, because the Triangle was playing host that year to the US Olympic Festival (the quadrennial national "warm-up" to the Olympics, held one year in advance of the actual Olympic Games). The contractors had to scramble to get the road done in time for the festival; they were working 18 hour days near the end, and they made it just in time. Even so, they did a somewhat rushed job pouring the concrete, and the state made them go back a few months later and grind down some of the bumps!
In October 1988, I-40 completely opened between the I-85 junction and U.S. 15-501 (miles 263 to 270). This stretch of road actually opened in two segments; the stretch from New Hope Church Road (exit 263) to 15/501 was done first. Once all of 40 was open to Raleigh, 40 was multiplexed with I-85 back west to Greensboro. Finally, I-40 was all one road in North Carolina, and Raleigh had a direct connection to the rest of the Interstate system.
In October 1989, I-40 opened between U.S. 70 near Garner and I-95 near Benson (miles 306 to 328). By October 1990, 40 was finally finished all the way to Wilmington (miles 328 to about 400). Sure, this stretch isn't east-west, but it's a lot better than dealing with U.S. 117. The "Barstow 2554" sign above above stands as a commemoration of I-40's completion.
Late in 1992, the 18-mile bypass to the south of Winston-Salem (miles 188 to 206) opened. This had been promised for years; the W-S Downtown Expressway was never intended to carry Interstate traffic in the long term. The old road was renamed Green 40.
In the mid 1990s, I-40 received an upgrade in Greensboro. Between High Point Road and I-85 (miles 217 to 219), the road was widened to six lanes, and a couple of interchanges were added: for the new U.S. 220 that was extended north from I-85 and for a new shopping mall.
And that brings us to today. Phew, we're done. In the immediate future, a third hillclimb lane is planned for westbound I-40 in the Canton area (vicinity of exit 33). [JL]

Comments: It took many years to get this way, but I-40 nowadays does a good job of providing access to major locales without actually going through most of them. Through most of the areas it serves, I-40 forgoes much of the intra-city traffic to other roads such as I-240, Green 40, U.S. 15/501, N.C. 147 and I-440. Greensboro is a notable exception, but at least the road's been widened through Greensboro, and a bypass is planned.
The road along the Pigeon River, while certainly in a mountainous area, doesn't experience major elevation changes. It ranges from about 1600 feet at the Tennessee line to about 2900 feet (40's highest elevation east of the Mississippi) near milepost 22. The river is located in a deep valley, so while the road's scenic, you don't get sweeping mountain vistas. There are stretches where one roadway is many feet higher than the other.
At Exit 420, if you stay on the mainline road without taking the exit, the road's designation switches from I-40 to N.C. 132 or vice versa. About 1/2 mile after exit 420 is a traffic light for Kings Drive, followed by a light for U.S. 17/74 (Market Street).
The easternmost stretch of I-40 is named in honor of Wilmington native son and former Tar Heel Michael Jordan. (photo) No, not the CEO of CBS; the other Michael Jordan.
Some strange destination cities are used on I-40 guide signs, although this situation has gotten better. Until late 1997, I-40 eastbound out of Raleigh was signed only for Benson; Wilmington was never mentioned. (Granted, the signs were a holdover from 1989-90, when 40 only went as far as I-95.) The same is also true on the other end of 40; Raleigh never received mention in Wilmington. Recently, however, new signs at the 40/440 junction (exit 301) read "40 East/Benson/Wilmington". Worse yet, in the foothills, Hickory and Statesville are used as destinations, rather than much larger Asheville or Winston-Salem (photo). West of Asheville, westbound 40 is (appropriately) signed for Knoxville.
Along the Pigeon River, several rock slides over the years have closed stretches of I-40 from time to time. In the late 1980s, one rockslide blocked a tunnel entrance. More recently, early in the morning of July 1, 1997, a slide within a mile of the Tennessee line shut down both directions of 40. Nobody was seriously injured, and I-40 was cleared the next day, but the road was kept closed for much longer. Writes John Lansford:
The actual volume of removed material [from the mountainside] was around 150,000 cubic yards. Removing it alone wouldn't have taken a long time to accomplish. The problem was they found that the rest of the rock above the slide was unstable and had to come down too. Specialized rock climbers and blasting experts had to be brought in to carefully remove the slide material from the bottom up to the top of the region. It became very time consuming and the road could not be opened due to the hazardousnature of the procedures.
The summer tourist season was effectively wiped out, as motorists were forced to use alternate routes around and through the Smokies for several months. The entire stretch of I-40 from Newport, Tennessee to U.S. 276 in Cove Creek had to be closed, because the roads off I-40 in the Smokies mostly go nowhere useful, so you can't just have a one-exit detour. Two lanes were opened in September, and all four were opened by November.
In 1998, part of the fill upon which eastbound I-40 is built in the Canton area (mile 33) subsided. For a while, the subsidance required traffic to share lanes of westbound 40 while the road was rebuilt and a new retaining was put into place. [JL]

Sources: This page wouldn't be anything close to complete without the help of John Lansford ("JL"), Scott D. Rhodes, Bob Goudreau, Kevin Johnson and J.N.B Jr. Their contributions are sprinkled throughout these entries.

Last Update: 19 September 1998 (minor update 27 August 2000)

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Interstate 40 420 miles

The Road:		Enters the state from Tennessee in Haywood County, just east of GSMNP. Ends just north of Wilmington, New Hanover County, where the road becomes N.C. 132. Nationally, I-40's western terminus is at I-15 in Barstow, California.

Towns and Attractions:		Follows the Pigeon River near the eastern boundary of GSMNP. Tunnels near mileposts 5 (both eastbound and westbound) and 8 (westbound only). Passing is permitted in both tunnels. East of the tunnels: Asheville, Hickory, Statesville, Winston-Salem, Greensboro (Fordham Boulevard, Preddy Boulevard), Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Benson, Wilmington

Multilane Segments:		Six lanes, three in each direction up Black Mountain. Six lanes around Winston-Salem. Six lanes just west of the I-85 merge in Greensboro. Six lanes, then eight from Greensboro to the I-85 split near Hillsborough. (See the I-85 entry for a full discussion of this stretch.) Six lanes from the Durham Freeway (exit 279) to Wade Avenue (exit 289). Construction to add an additional lane in each direction on the segment started in mid-1998. Six to eight lanes while multiplexed with I-440 to the south of Raleigh, and six lanes for several miles south of the Raleigh area.

History:		The first part of I-40 to be built was the Downtown Expressway in Winston-Salem in the late 1950s. This road, of course, is no longer designated as I-40. By 1961, I-40 was finished between U.S. 221 (exit 85) and the Burke-Catawba line (around mile 119); between N.C. 16 (131) and U.S. 21 (151); and from N.C. 801 (180) to the U.S. 158/421 split east of downtown Winston-Salem. The stretch of I-85 from Greensboro to Durham was finished by this time as well, but 40 would not be multiplexed along it for many years to come. By 1965, more of I-40 had been completed: between Clyde (mile 27) and Enka (mile 44) and from Black Mountain to the aforementioned U.S. 221 in Marion. Also, the road between W-S and I-85 in Greensboro was opened. The Pigeon River stretch, from the Tennessee line to Exit 20, was opened in 1968. However, no connection existed between the eastern end of this road (in Cove Creek) and the resumption of 40 in Clyde for many years. Motorists had to take what we now call U.S. 276 and U.S. 19 to to connect between the two stretches of 40. By 1969, a few more miles of 40 opened south of Asheville (from the older road's terminus in Enka to U.S. 25, Exit 50). Much of I-26 was also finished at this time. In the early 1970s (by 1974), the missing link between mileposts 20 and 27 was finished, as was the road between Statesville and W-S. Also by this time, I-40 was completed between Durham and Raleigh. This "new 40" had its western terminus at Chapel Hill Road in Durham, ran along what was then the East-West Expressway (now N.C. 147), and continued into Raleigh along today's I-40 and Wade Avenue. This original I-40 ended at Wade's intersection with what we now call I-440, or the Beltline (but what was then U.S. 1/64). When I-40 to the south of Hickory (miles 119 to 131) and in the Swannanoa area (around mile 60) opened in the late 1970s, the first phase of I-40's construction was complete. Note here that at this point, 40 existed in two disjoint segments (Tennessee to Greensboro and Durham to Raleigh), and contained three different stretches of road (in W-S, Durham and Raleigh) that aren't signed as I-40 anymore. By 1985, the southern leg of the Raleigh Beltline was completed, along with the connector between Wade Avenue and U.S. 1/64 (miles 289 to 301). Also around this time, the "easternmost" stretch of 40 near Wilmington was finished, from N.C. 132 north to the U.S. 117/N.C. 53 area (about miles 398 to 420). So for a few years in the 1980s, three disjoint sections of 40 existed, with two of them separated by about 100 miles. In 1986, a mile-long stretch of I-40 opened from junction with the Durham Freeway to N.C. 55 (miles 278 to 279). The East-West Expressway became N.C. 147. Around this time, the "original " 40 between Durham and Raleigh, miles 280 to 289, was widened to six lanes. In 1987, a short stretch of 40 was opened from the Raleigh Beltline to U.S. 70 near Garner (miles 301 to 305). 40 was also extended further east, to U.S. 15/501 (mile 270), that year. Writes Bob Goudreau, on the portion between exits 270 and 278: [The road] to US 15/501 didn't open until the summer of 1987. I remember it well, because the Triangle was playing host that year to the US Olympic Festival (the quadrennial national "warm-up" to the Olympics, held one year in advance of the actual Olympic Games). The contractors had to scramble to get the road done in time for the festival; they were working 18 hour days near the end, and they made it just in time. Even so, they did a somewhat rushed job pouring the concrete, and the state made them go back a few months later and grind down some of the bumps! In October 1988, I-40 completely opened between the I-85 junction and U.S. 15-501 (miles 263 to 270). This stretch of road actually opened in two segments; the stretch from New Hope Church Road (exit 263) to 15/501 was done first. Once all of 40 was open to Raleigh, 40 was multiplexed with I-85 back west to Greensboro. Finally, I-40 was all one road in North Carolina, and Raleigh had a direct connection to the rest of the Interstate system. In October 1989, I-40 opened between U.S. 70 near Garner and I-95 near Benson (miles 306 to 328). By October 1990, 40 was finally finished all the way to Wilmington (miles 328 to about 400). Sure, this stretch isn't east-west, but it's a lot better than dealing with U.S. 117. The "Barstow 2554" sign above above stands as a commemoration of I-40's completion. Late in 1992, the 18-mile bypass to the south of Winston-Salem (miles 188 to 206) opened. This had been promised for years; the W-S Downtown Expressway was never intended to carry Interstate traffic in the long term. The old road was renamed Green 40. In the mid 1990s, I-40 received an upgrade in Greensboro. Between High Point Road and I-85 (miles 217 to 219), the road was widened to six lanes, and a couple of interchanges were added: for the new U.S. 220 that was extended north from I-85 and for a new shopping mall. And that brings us to today. Phew, we're done. In the immediate future, a third hillclimb lane is planned for westbound I-40 in the Canton area (vicinity of exit 33). [JL]

Comments:		It took many years to get this way, but I-40 nowadays does a good job of providing access to major locales without actually going through most of them. Through most of the areas it serves, I-40 forgoes much of the intra-city traffic to other roads such as I-240, Green 40, U.S. 15/501, N.C. 147 and I-440. Greensboro is a notable exception, but at least the road's been widened through Greensboro, and a bypass is planned. The road along the Pigeon River, while certainly in a mountainous area, doesn't experience major elevation changes. It ranges from about 1600 feet at the Tennessee line to about 2900 feet (40's highest elevation east of the Mississippi) near milepost 22. The river is located in a deep valley, so while the road's scenic, you don't get sweeping mountain vistas. There are stretches where one roadway is many feet higher than the other. At Exit 420, if you stay on the mainline road without taking the exit, the road's designation switches from I-40 to N.C. 132 or vice versa. About 1/2 mile after exit 420 is a traffic light for Kings Drive, followed by a light for U.S. 17/74 (Market Street). The easternmost stretch of I-40 is named in honor of Wilmington native son and former Tar Heel Michael Jordan. (photo) No, not the CEO of CBS; the other Michael Jordan. Some strange destination cities are used on I-40 guide signs, although this situation has gotten better. Until late 1997, I-40 eastbound out of Raleigh was signed only for Benson; Wilmington was never mentioned. (Granted, the signs were a holdover from 1989-90, when 40 only went as far as I-95.) The same is also true on the other end of 40; Raleigh never received mention in Wilmington. Recently, however, new signs at the 40/440 junction (exit 301) read "40 East/Benson/Wilmington". Worse yet, in the foothills, Hickory and Statesville are used as destinations, rather than much larger Asheville or Winston-Salem (photo). West of Asheville, westbound 40 is (appropriately) signed for Knoxville. Along the Pigeon River, several rock slides over the years have closed stretches of I-40 from time to time. In the late 1980s, one rockslide blocked a tunnel entrance. More recently, early in the morning of July 1, 1997, a slide within a mile of the Tennessee line shut down both directions of 40. Nobody was seriously injured, and I-40 was cleared the next day, but the road was kept closed for much longer. Writes John Lansford: The actual volume of removed material [from the mountainside] was around 150,000 cubic yards. Removing it alone wouldn't have taken a long time to accomplish. The problem was they found that the rest of the rock above the slide was unstable and had to come down too. Specialized rock climbers and blasting experts had to be brought in to carefully remove the slide material from the bottom up to the top of the region. It became very time consuming and the road could not be opened due to the hazardousnature of the procedures. The summer tourist season was effectively wiped out, as motorists were forced to use alternate routes around and through the Smokies for several months. The entire stretch of I-40 from Newport, Tennessee to U.S. 276 in Cove Creek had to be closed, because the roads off I-40 in the Smokies mostly go nowhere useful, so you can't just have a one-exit detour. Two lanes were opened in September, and all four were opened by November. In 1998, part of the fill upon which eastbound I-40 is built in the Canton area (mile 33) subsided. For a while, the subsidance required traffic to share lanes of westbound 40 while the road was rebuilt and a new retaining was put into place. [JL]