Every Raleigh kid knows that coming back from the beach, there is a telltale sign that you're almost home: You're passing the uniquely named Jones Sausage Road. The road has its own exit (and respective signage) off I-40.
Jones Sausage Road takes its name from Jesse Jones Sausage company. The company was founded in (?, 1920s-1930s) and manufactured hot dogs. It was bought first by General Mills in 1970 and later by ConAgra.
Jones Sausage Road runs for 3.5 miles between east Garner and southeast Raleigh. It begins at US 70 in Garner, about half a mile west of I-40, crosses I-40 at exit 303, and ends at Rock Quarry Road where it becomes New Hope Road. It probably wouldn't merit a mention on this site if not for its strange name and the associated double-takes while driving along I-40. It carries two lanes for its entire length at present. The section from I-40 north to Rock Quarry Road is being widened to four lanes, and was realigned a few feet to the east at its northern end to align with New Hope Road. Another minor rerouting took place at its southern end in 2003, when Jones Sausage and White Oak roads were relocated about 1000 feet to the west to accommodate the White Oak Crossing shopping center.
The unusual name comes from, yes, a company that made sausages (and hot dogs), the Jesse Jones Sausage Company. The famously bright-red hot dogs, which were served for years at NC State's Reynolds Coliseum and were served at Martinsville Speedway in southern Virginia until 2015, were formerly manufactured at the now-closed plant just west of the I-40 interchange. Through a series of mergers, Jesse Jones wound up as a subsidiary of ConAgra and a sister brand to Slim Jims, also manufactured at the same plant until its closure in 2010. ConAgra donated the site to the town of Garner. Garner attracted Amazon to the site and hired a consulting firm who, among other things, recommends renaming the road to something that "better reflects" the prospective tenants.
| Location |
| SE of Raleigh |
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