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Interstate 85 south
Exit 51 of Interstate 95 in Petersburg, Virginia is where Interstate 85 has its northern terminus. It runs a devilish 666 miles from here southwestward to Montgomery, Alabama via Durham, Greensboro and Charlotte, North Carolina; Spartanburg-Greenville, South Carolina; and Atlanta, making it an important corridor for the Southeastern U.S. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
I-85 overlaps with U.S. Route 460, which comes in from the opposite direction of I-95, for its first seven miles southbound. US 460 has a business route that passes through downtown Petersburg. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
The southbound lanes subsequently receive traffic coming from Wythe Street (460 Business) at right. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
Before merging with a ramp from I-95 north, I-85 crosses over Graham Road, which links U.S. Route 301 Alternate (South Sycamore Street) with mainline U.S. Route 301 (Crater Road). Graham Road also forms part of the movement between I-95 south and Crater Road. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
For the time being, overpasses along the freeway have a vertical clearance of 13 feet, 10 inches. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
Another pair of reassurance shields follows. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
I-85 then passes mile marker 68, its northernmost in Virginia. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
Sycamore Street (U.S. Route 301 Alternate) crosses over the highway next. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
Exit 65, intersecting the eccentrically-named Squirrel Level Road (state secondary route 613), is a mile away. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
The highway crosses over Baylors Lane before the exit. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
I-85 reaches exit 65, whose offramp is pictured here. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
Another I-85/US 460 shield assembly follows the exit. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
Fort Lee Road crosses I-85 as exit 63, intersecting U.S. Route 1, is 1 and 1/4 miles away. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
Gas stations at exits 63B and A are listed by this blue sign. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
Accessible from exit 63A is the Pamplin Historical Park, which includes the National Museum of the Civil War (formerly Confederate) Soldier. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
A distance prior to the exit, I-85 leaves Petersburg city limits for Dinwiddie County. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
It then crosses Virginia State Route 319/Seventh Avenue, an access point to the Hiram Davis Medical Center and Dominion Energy complex. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
Exit 63B is at mile marker 63.8. Exit 63A follows in a quarter of a mile, on the opposite side of the US 1 bridge ahead, and exit 61 (US 460 west split) comes in 1¾ miles. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
A sign of low height then points the way to exit 63A. It is at this interchange where US 1 earnestly becomes I-85's local parallel route, taking that role from I-95, which US 301 becomes the sole feeder of at Petersburg. US 1 will not reunite with I-95 until Jacksonville, Florida. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
The Interstate becomes swarmed by pine trees, and exit 61 is now ¾ of a mile away. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
South Hill, where I-85 is met by U.S. Route 58, is 52 miles away, and Durham 122 miles. South Hill appears as a local control city for I-85 south on some advance signs along I-95 south, complementing other signs which instead display Durham and Atlanta. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
The National Guard's Fort Barfoot as well as the Dinwiddie County Airport are off exit 61. Photo taken 10-02-2023.
US 460 now splits from I-85, going west to Blackstone in Nottoway County, then on to Lynchburg, just over 100 miles from here. Photo taken 10-02-2023.