Interstate 240 (North Carolina)
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| Interstate 240 Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System |
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| Maintained by NCDOT | |||||||||
| Length: | 9.14 mi[1] (14.71 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | Mid-1970s[2] | ||||||||
| West end: |    I-26/I-40/US 74 near Asheville, NC |
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| Major junctions: |
   US 19/23/74A in Asheville, NC I-26/US 19/23/70 in Asheville, NC |
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| East end: | I-40/US 74A in eastern Asheville |
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Interstate 240 (abbreviated I-240) is a 9-mile (14 km) long interstate highway loop in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It serves as an urban connector encircling the heart of Asheville. Interstate 40 runs in an east-west direction south of downtown, paralleling the French Broad River, while I-240 runs in a half-circle around to the north. The western segment of I-240 is now being renumbered as Interstate 26 as part of a larger project extending I-26 from its former western terminus at I-40/I-240 to I-81 near Kingsport, Tennessee.
A construction project dubbed the I-26 Connector is currently underway to build a straighter path of I-26 through Asheville, bypassing the I-240/US 19/23/70 interchange. A major part of this project will be constructing a new interstate-standard bridge across the French Broad River. Additionally, current plans call for I-240 in west Asheville to be expanded from 4 lanes to 8 lanes[2].
Years prior to the loop's completion, I-240 was known as Interstate 140; however, no signage was ever posted for I-140. The I-140 designation has now been given to a spur route in Wilmington.
[edit] Route description
I-240 passes near the Biltmore Estate and the University of North Carolina at Asheville.
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Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. |
[edit] Exit list
Numbers begin on the west side of Asheville and ends on the east side of the city.
| County | Location | Exit # | Destinations | Notes |
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 Western terminus: Interstate 40 near Asheville |
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| Buncombe | 1A |    I-40 west/U.S. 74 west - Canton, Knoxville |
U.S. 74 joins eastbound and leaves westbound. | |
| Begin concurrency |
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| Asheville | 1B |  NC 191 (Brevard Road) |
Eastbound: exit to reach I-40 east. | |
| 1C | Amboy Road | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance. | ||
| 2 |  U.S. 19 Business/U.S. 23 Business - West Asheville |
U.S. 19 Business and U.S. 23 Business join westbound and leave eastbound. | ||
| 3A |  U.S. 19 south/U.S. 23 south - Asheville |
U.S. 19, U.S. 23 and U.S. 74 ALT (unsigned) join westbound and leave eastbound. | ||
| 3B | Westgate, Holiday Inn Drive | |||
| End I-26 designation eastbound Begin Future I-26 designation eastbound End concurrency crosses the French Broad River |
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| 4B | Patton Avenue, Downtown | Westbound exit only. Exit to reach downtown Asheville. |
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| 4A |   Future I-26 west/U.S. 19 north/U.S. 23 north/U.S. 70 west - UNC-A, Weaverville |
Westbound. | ||
| 4C | Montford Avenue, Haywood Street | |||
| 5A |  U.S. 25 (Merrimon Avenue) |
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| 5B |      U.S. 70 east/U.S. 74 ALT east, To NC 694 (Charlotte Street) |
U.S. 70 exits eastbound and joins westbound. U.S. 74 ALT joins eastbound and exits westbound. |
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| 7 | U.S. 70 |
Three-level diamond interchange | ||
| 8 |  U.S. 74 ALT west/To NC 81 |
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| 9 | I-40 west/U.S. 74 ALT east - Knoxville, Blue Ridge Parkway |
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 I-40 east - Statesville |
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| Eastern terminus: Interstate 40 in Asheville |
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[edit] References
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