I-77 to I-277 Charlotte, NC (Exits 19 to 2A)

This video begins at I-485 in Huntersville, NC at Charlotte's outer loop beltway, I-485 (Exit 19), proceeds through the I-85 interchange, and exits onto the John Belk Freeway (I-277). It, then, concludes at NC 16 / Kenilworth Avenue near Uptown (Exit 2A).

I-77 opened in Mecklenburg County, NC in 1967. With construction beginning in the 1960s, I-77 would gain additional mileage in October 1964 when a two-mile extension was granted by the government. Instead of ending at I-85, I-77 now ended at Independence Boulevard (U.S. 74) in downtown Charlotte. Another extension was granted in the late 1960s that extended I-77 from Independence Boulevard to the South Carolina border. The latest extension also included a relocation of U.S. 21 from the city's surface streets to the new interstate.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• I-77
• I-85
• I-485
• I-277
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• 277
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• Kenilworth
• Dilworth

[Deckerb8529]

The Brookshire Freeway (Hwy 16) intersection is very interesting. I have used it a few times. Some of the ramps are in the median on I-77. I also like to use the HOV lane where it splits off at I-85. Very nice video.

[CosmoPhotography]

@Deckerb8529 Thank you! IMO, NCDOT needs to tear down that interchange and put in a 4 or 5 level stack with dedicated HOV ramps and bridges. It is very outdated and dangerous.

[FreewayBrent]

Weird, I don't recall ever seeing this video.

It looks like NCDOT realigned the southbound lanes at 2:15, so they could extend that northbound HOV lane underneath that overpass, although the overpass, itself doesn't seem too old.

That's a pretty fun ride. I'd like to drive that sometime. I bet it handles a lot more traffic during the work week hours.

[CosmoPhotography]

@FreewayBrent That interchange is really hard to understand if you're not from the area. At 2:15, those are actually the northbound lanes passing over the southbound ones. It's kind of like a much smaller version of the Grapevine. The bridge in question that you are referring to was widened when they built the HOV lanes in around 2004 or 2005.

Yeah, the commuting hours can be a real pain when you have Uptown workers commuting back and forth to the northern Lake Norman suburbs.

[bossman55ify]

biggest city in the world

[angylgyrl]

Charlotte is so awesome!

[theratfarmer]

i hardly ever see any cops on 77, that doesn't mean they are not there and watching. lol.

[BMWBuyer15]

@BMWBuyer15 I actually once traveled that 1-mile stretch at about 115MPH in real time. I-77 is well built and maintained allowing for speeding far into the triple digits if you don't consider the fact that highway patrol is probably near by.

[BMWBuyer15]

I did some math and came to this conclusion. If this video was in real time. The 1-mile stretch of I-77 between the sign you pass under at 1:24 to the sign you pass under at 1:39 you were going 230.7692307 MPH or 371.38708 KPH. So if you ever wonder what it looks like when you travel at 230mph or 371kph just watch this video.

[Cyrus992]

Dam, you guys have nicer freeways, beautiful sceneries, nicer and more modern skyscrapers, thats a great place to be... its suck my area needs improvement on those.. -Orange County, CA