Interstate 65

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Interstate 65 Main route of the Interstate Highway System
Length:	887.3 mi (1428 km)
South end:	I-10 in Mobile, AL
Major junctions:	I-85 in Montgomery, AL I-20/I-59 in Birmingham, AL I-40 in Nashville, TN I-70 in Indianapolis, IN I-80 / I-94 in Gary, IN I-90 / IN Toll Rd in Gary, IN
North end:	US 12/US 20 in Gary, IN
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Interstate 65

Interstate 65 (abbreviated I-65) is an Interstate Highway in the United States. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with Interstate 10 in Mobile, Alabama; its northern terminus is at a traffic light with U.S. Route 12 and U.S. Route 20 (Dunes Highway) in Gary, Indiana, southeast of Chicago, Illinois.

[edit] Route description

[edit] Alabama

I-65 starts in Mobile, Alabama at I-10, not far from the Gulf of Mexico. It briefly runs north, intersecting with I-165 and crossing the Alabama River delta before turning northeastward. En route to Montgomery, it passes county seats Evergreen (Conecuh County) and Greenville (Butler County). At Montgomery, it intersects with the southern terminus of I-85, and again crosses the Alabama River via a sliver of land between the river's meanders.

At Chilton County, I-65 enters the Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman Combined Statistical Area. Approximately halfway between Montgomery and Birmingham, it passes Clanton (Chilton County seat), where the water-tower, visible from the road, is shaped and painted to resemble a huge peach.

I-65 intersects I-459 in Hoover, then passes through the cities of Vestavia Hills and Homewood, which often generate heavy traffic. As the interstate passes by downtown Birmingham, south-bound travelers have a view of the Vulcan statue atop Red Mountain. At the north edge of downtown, I-65 intersects I-20/I-59 with a cross-over interchange, often called Malfunction Junction.

North of Birmingham, I-65 performs a unique scrape-intersection with US 31. The incomplete I-22 from Memphis, Tennessee is expected to intersect there with the most expensive interchange in Alabama history, consisting of approx. 14 bridges. The interstate then continues 98 miles to Huntsville, passing the city of Cullman on the way. The interstate later passes Decatur before crossing the Tennessee River on a 2.6 mile bridge. The interstate emerges again into the fringes of Decatur, in an open area of seemingly "endless" cotton fields where it intersects, inside Decatur, with Alabama 20, Alternate 72, and the spur-route, I-565 to Huntsville. Between Walkers Chapel Road in Fultondale and the Tennessee River (Limestone County), I-65 has been designated "Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway". The sign designating the north end of this portion of road cites Reagan's speech in Decatur on July 4, 1984. The interstate then continues towards the state line, passing Athens and intersecting with U.S. Route 72. At the state line, the southbound lanes receive a welcome center, complete with a replica Saturn 1 rocket.

[edit] Tennessee

I-65 enters Tennessee from the south near the town of Ardmore, passes through the cities of Pulaski, Lewisburg, Tennessee, Columbia, Tennessee, Spring Hill, Tennessee, Franklin, Tennessee, Brentwood, Tennessee, goes through downtown Nashville, Madison, Tennessee, Goodlettsville, Tennessee, White House, Tennessee, and exits near Portland, Tennessee into Kentucky to the North.

I-65 merges with Interstate 40 and Interstate 24 In Downtown Nashville.

[edit] Kentucky

Interstate 65 enters the state five miles south of Franklin. It passes by the major cities of Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, and Louisville before exiting the state.

Throughout its length, it passes near Mammoth Cave National Park, Crystal Onyx Cave, Diamond Caverns, Bernheim Forest, the National Corvette Museum, and the Fort Knox Military Reservation.

Interstate 65 northbound at the William H. Natcher Parkway in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The signage is new and in Clearview font.

Interstate 65 in Indianapolis, Indiana

It junctions with the four parkways. The first major junction is with the William H. Natcher Parkway at Bowling Green, followed by the Cumberland Parkway north of the city between Smiths Grove and Park City. At Elizabethtown, it has two more parkway interchanges with the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway and the Martha Layne Collins Bluegrass Parkway. Interstate 65 also has interchanges with Interstate 265, Interstate 264, Interstate 64, and Interstate 71.

The widest stretch of Interstate 65 in its entirety is in Louisville at the Kentucky Route 1065 (Outer Loop), where the mainline is 14 lanes wide. It crosses the Ohio River into Indiana on the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge.

On February 12 2007 a bill passed the Kentucky Senate to rename I-65 in Jefferson County the "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway" with signage to be posted by August 2007.^[1]

[edit] Indiana

Interstate 65 enters the Hoosier state at Jeffersonville and Clarksville.

The section of Interstate 65 in downtown Indianapolis multiplexes with Interstate 70. The junctions are often referred to as the "North Split" and the "South Split", forming a section of interstate locally known as the "Inner Loop" or "Spaghetti Bowl" due to the visual complexity of the multiplexing freeways.

In mid-March 2007, a six mile section of Interstate 70 from the North Split to Interstate 465 east of downtown was restricted to automobiles only for the "Super 70" project, a massive rebuild and expansion of that freeway. Trucks over 13 tons are forced to divert through Interstate 65 if coming from the north and use the circular Interstate 465 to the south to reconnect to Interstate 70 East. Westbound traffic from Interstate 70 must loop north or south along Interstate 465 to get to Interstates 65 or 70. This early part of the project is scheduled for completion in November 2007.

In the summer of 2003, the portion of Interstate 65 that runs concurrently with Interstate 70 was closed to all traffic due to the "HyperFix" project. During that time, a new asphalt surface was installed and the overpasses were upgraded.

Both the Super 70 and HyperFix projects were contracted to Walsh Construction of Chicago, Illinois.

In 1999, the 25 mile (40 km) segment of Interstate 65 between the two Interstate 465 interchanges was renamed the Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds Highway.

The northern terminus of Interstate 65 is only 1/8 mile (0.2 km) north of Interstate 90 (Indiana Toll Road). Prior to 2004, the interchange from Interstate 90 to Interstate 65 required making a physical left turn onto Interstate 65 via a traffic signal; traffic from Interstate 65 to Interstate 90 bypassed the traffic signal via an isolated right-turn lane. It has since been grade-separated.

[edit] Major intersections

• Interstate 10 in Mobile, Alabama
• Interstate 85 in Montgomery, Alabama
• Interstate 20/Interstate 59 in Birmingham, Alabama (Commonly referred to as "Malfunction Junction")
• Interstate 24 in Nashville, Tennessee
• Interstate 40 in Nashville, Tennessee
• Interstates 64 and 71 in Louisville, Kentucky (The Kennedy Interchange, known locally as "Spaghetti Junction".)
• Interstate 74 in Indianapolis, Indiana
• Interstate 70 in Indianapolis, Indiana
• Interstate 80/Interstate 94 in Gary, Indiana
• Interstate 90 in Gary, Indiana

The future Interstate 22 will scale I-65 before terminating at US 31. The target date for the completion of the new route is 2012. However, ALDOT officials have pushed as of lately for a 2010 completion date.

[edit] Exit List

[edit] Alabama

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Mobile	Mobile	1	1A	US 90 eastbound
			1B	US 90 westbound
		3	3	Airport Boulevard
		4	4	Dauphin Street
		5	5A	Springhill Avenue
			5B	US 98/Moffett Road
	Prichard	8	8A	US 45 southbound/Prichard
			8B	US 45 northbound/Citronelle
		9	9	I-165 southbound/Prichard & Downtown Mobile
	Chickasaw	10	10	West Lee Street
	Saraland	13	13	AL-158 & AL-213/Citronelle/Saraland
		15	15	Celeste Road/Citronelle/Saraland
	Creola	19	19	US 43/Satsuma/Creola
		22	22	Sailor Road
Baldwin	Bay Minette	31	31	AL-255/Stockton/Spanish Fort
		34	34	AL-59/Bay Minette/Stockton
		37	37	AL-287/Gulf Shores Parkway/Bay Minette/Rabun
	Perdido	45	45	Rabun/Perdido
Escambia	Atmore	54	54	County Highway 1
		57	57	AL-21/Atmore/Uriah
		69	69	AL-113/Flomaton/Wallace
	Brewton	77	77	AL-41/Brewton/Repton
Conecuh		83	83	Castleberry/Lenox
	Evergreen	93	93	AL-84/Evergreen/Monroeville
		96	96	AL-83/Evergreen/Midway
		101	101	County Highway 29/Owassa
Butler		107	107	Grace/Garland
	Georgiana	114	114
	Greenville	128	128	AL-10/Greenville/Pine Apple
		130	130	AL-10 Truck Bypass/AL-158/Greenville	Access to Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail
Lowndes	Fort Deposit	142	142
	Letohatchee	151	151	AL-97/Letohatchee/Davenport
	Hayneville	158	158	County Highway 6/To US 31/Pintlala/Tyson
Montgomery	Hope Hull	164	164	US 31/Pintlala/Hope Hull
	Montgomery	167	167	US 80 westbound/Selma
		168	168	/ US 80/US 82 eastbound/To US 231/To US 331/South Boulevard
		169	169	Edgemont Avenue (southbound only)
		170	170	Fairview Avenue
		171	171	I-85/Atlanta	Southern terminus of I-85
		172	172	Herron Street	Downtown Montgomery/Maxwell Air Force Base
Elmore	Prattville	173	173	SR 152 eastbound/North Boulevard/To US 231
		176	176	AL-143 northbound (no southbound access)
		179	179	US 82 westbound/Millbrook/Prattville
Autauga		181	181	AL-14/Prattville/Wetumpka/Millbrook/Coosada
		186	186	US 31/Pine Level/Prattville
Chilton	Verbena	200	200	Verbena/To AL-22/Rockford
	Clanton	205	205
		208	208
		212	212	AL-145/Wilsonville
	Union Grove	219	219	Thorsby/Jemison
Shelby	Calera	228	228	AL-25/Montevallo/Calera/University of Montevallo Highway
		231	231	US 31/to AL-70
		234	234	Shelby County Airport
	Alabaster	238	238	US 31
	Pelham	242	242	Shelby County Route 52
		246	246	AL-119 - Cahaba Valley Road	Oak Mountain State Park Verizon Music Center Amphitheatre
		247	247	Shelby County Route 17 - Valleydale Road	Hoover Pelham Helena
Jefferson	Hoover	250	250	I-459 Tuscaloosa Gadsden Atlanta
		252	252	US 31/Montgomery Highway/Hoover/Vestavia Hills
	Vestavia Hills	254	254	Alford Avenue
	Birmingham	255	255	Lakeshore Parkway	Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Samford University
		256	256A	Oxmoor Road Eastbound/Westbound
		256	256B	Oxmoor Road Eastbound/Edgewood
		258	258	Greensprings Avenue South
		259	259A	6th Avenue South Westbound
		259	259	AL-149 University Boulevard (northbound exit onto northbound AL-149 only)	University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)
		259	259B	4th Avenue South Eastbound (southbound exit only)	UAB
		260	260B	US 11 US 78 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, Avenues North	Legion Field Downtown Birmingham
		261	261	/ I-20/59 / Atlanta / Tuscaloosa / Gadsden
		262	262A	16th Street North (Northbound exit only)
		262	262B	To US 78 - Finley Boulevard
		263	263	32nd, 33rd Avenue North
		264	264	41st Avenue North/Daniel Payne Drive
		266	266	US 31/American Veterans Highway
	Fultondale	267	267	County Route 121 - Walker Chapel Road
	Gardendale	271	271	County Route 118 - Fieldstown Road
		272	272	County Route 112 - Mt. Olive Road
		275	275
	Kimberly	280	280	US 31 - Kimberly/Morris/Warrior
		281	281	Warrior
		282	282	County Route 140 - Warrior/Robins
Blount		284	284	US 31 South AL-160/Hayden	Rickwood Caverns State Park
		287	287	US 31 North - Blount Springs/Garden City
		289	289	County Route 5 - Empire/Blount Springs
Cullman		291	291	AL-91 Hanceville/Arkadelphia/Colony
		299	299	AL-69 South/CR-490 - Jasper/Dodge City
		300	300	Rest Stop
	Cullman	304	304	AL-69 Northth/CR-437 Good Hope/Cullman
		308	308	US 278/Cullman
		310	310	AL-157/Cullman/Moulton/Florence	University of North Alabama Highway
Morgan	Lacon	318	318	US 31/Lacon/Vinemont
	Falkville	322	322	County Road 55/Falkville/Eva
	Hartselle	325	325	Thompson Road/Hartselle
		328	328	AL-36/Hartselle
	Decatur	334	334	AL-67/Point Mallard Parkway/Decatur/Priceville/Somerville
Limestone		340	340	I-565/AL-20/Alt US 72/Decatur/Huntsville
	Athens	351	351	US 72/Athens/Madison/Huntsville
		354	354	US 31 South/Athens
		361	361	Elkmont
				Welcome Center	Southbound only
		365	365	AL-53 - Ardmore

[edit] Spur routes

• Mobile, Alabama - I-165
• Spur beginning in Decatur, Alabama terminating in Huntsville, Alabama - I-565
• Louisville, Kentucky - I-265 (Louisville's outer beltway; also called the Gene Snyder Freeway; formerly the Jefferson Freeway)
• Indianapolis, Indiana - I-465
• Indianapolis, Indiana - I-865
• New Albany, Indiana - I-265 (to be eventually connected by bridge to the Kentucky I-265)

	edit Auxiliary routes of Interstate 65
	Current and Future (F)	Former
	Alabama
	Indiana - Kentucky	Tennessee
	Indiana
	Alabama
	Indiana

[edit] Notes

• Interstate 65 combines with Interstate 24 and Interstate 40 near downtown Nashville, Tennessee to form a loop around the center city. Once, the northwestern leg of this loop was designated I-265; this is no longer true, as Nashville's government successfully petitioned to have the designation changed to I-65 in order to help alleviate traffic caused by motorists following I-65 through the city.
• Known as "Auto Alley" due to the large number of automotive OEM and supplier firms that have facilities within an hour's drive of the highway. Interstate 65 leads to automotive assembly plants located in the Midwest and South. The most famous plant is the GM plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which makes the Chevrolet Corvette sports car, as well as the Cadillac XLR luxury roadster. Another GM plant, which builds Saturn vehicles, is also within a short driving distance from I-65 in Spring Hill, Tennessee. Both of the Ford Motor Company truck plants in Louisville, Kentucky are accessible—The Explorer SUV plant directly accessible from I-65 and the Kentucky Truck Plant, makers of the F-350 and Excursion SUV, from I-265. In Lafayette, Indiana, the Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. plant is located at the junction of I-65 and SR-38. Supplier ArvinMeritor has several facilities near the highway in Columbus, Indiana. Finally, Hyundai's new automotive plant in Montgomery, Alabama is located just off I-65.
• As the combined interstates of I-20/59 converge on Interstate 65 in Birmingham, Alabama, many wrecks, and accidents that have occurred that include the melting of support beams of overpasses after 18-wheelers crashed and burned on two separate occasions, and the numerous collisions that happen every year, has led this interchange to be nicknamed, "Malfunction Junction".
• Super Bowl XLI, between the Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears, has been called the "I-65 Bowl" due to the fact that the interstate connects the two cities, although it stops short of Chicago.

[edit] References

1. ^ Gerth, Joseph. "Senate OKs renaming I-65 for King", Courier-Journal, 2007-02-13.

[edit] Further reading

• 2005 Rand McNally "The Road Atlas 2005".

edit Main Interstate Highways (multiples of 5 in pink)
4	5	8	10	12	15	16	17	19	20	22	24	25	26	27	29	30
35	37	39	40	43	44	45	49	55	57	59	64	65	66	66 (W)		68
69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76 (W)		76 (E)		77	78	79	80	81	82
83	84 (W)		84 (E)		85	86 (W)		86 (E)		87	88 (W)		88 (E)		89	90
91	93	94	95	96	97	99	(238)		H-1		H-2		H-3
Unsigned			A-1		A-2		A-3		A-4		PRI-1		PRI-2		PRI-3
Lists		Main - Auxiliary - Suffixed - Business - Proposed - Unsigned Gaps - Intrastate - Interstate standards - Replaced

edit Expressways in Chicagoland
	Stevenson Expressway		Interstate 57		Interstate 65
	Kingery Expressway | Borman Expressway		Tri-State Tollway		Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway
	Northwest Tollway | Chicago Skyway | Indiana Toll Road		Dan Ryan Expressway		Interstate 190 | Kennedy Expressway
	Edens Spur | Edens Expressway | Bishop Ford Freeway		Eisenhower Expressway		North-South Tollway
	Elgin Bypass		Lake Shore Drive | Skokie Highway		Illinois Route 53
	Kingery Highway		Amstutz Expressway		Illinois Route 394
	Elgin-O'Hare Expressway		Cline Avenue
Former / Future Expressways
	Crosstown Expressway		Illiana Expressway		Prairie Parkway

edit Major Highways and Expressways of Metro Birmingham
	Heroes Highway		(future) Interstate 22		Interstate 59
	Interstate 20		American Veterans Highway / Decatur Highway		US Route 280
	Elton B. Stephens Expressway		Interstate 459		Montgomery Highway
	Bessemer Superhighway		Crestwood Boulevard		Lakeshore Parkway

Browse numbered routes
< SR 65	AL		SR 66 >

[edit] See also

• Ohio River Bridges Project

[edit] External links

• KentuckyRoads.com: I-65
• Indiana Highway Ends: I-65