Interstate 65

Infobox road
type=I
route=65

---

length_mi=887.30
length_round=2
length_ref=cite web|url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/reports/routefinder/table1.cfm|title=Route Log and Finder List - Interstate System: Table 1|publisher=FHWA|accessdate=2007-10-04]
direction_a=North
terminus_a=Jct|state=IN|I|90|US|12|US|20 in Gary, Ind.
junction=Jct|state=IN|I|80|I|94 in Gary, Ind. Jct|state=IN|I|70 in Indianapolis, Ind. Jct|state=KY|I|64 in Louisville, Ky. Jct|state=TN|I|40 in Nashville, Tenn. Jct|state=AL|I|59|I|20 in Birmingham, Ala. Jct|state=AL|I|85 in Montgomery, Ala.
direction_b=South
terminus_b=Jct|state=AL|I|10 in Mobile, Ala.
commons=category

Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major Interstate Highway in the United States. The southern terminus is located at an intersection with Interstate 10 in Mobile, Alabama, and 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.cite web |url=http://www.interstate-guide.com/i-065.html |title=Interstate 65 |date=2006-12-06 |accessdate=2007-07-26]

I-65 is hypothetically 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 (questionable). Of these, the most notable are the Subaru plant in Lafayette, Indiana, the Hyundai plant in Montgomery County, Alabama, the General Motors Corporation plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and the Mercedes Benz plant in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.

Route description

-
AL
367.00
590.63
-
TN
121.71
195.87
-
KY
137.32
221.00
-
IN
261.27
420.47
-
Total
887.30
1427.97

Alabama

Interstate 65 begins its journey in Mobile at its junction with Interstate 10. From I-10, I-65 goes west of downtown Mobile and through its suburbs before turning northeast toward Montgomery. From the state's capital, I-65 rebounds north, bypassing Prattville and Clanton before going through Greater Birmingham. From exit 246 to 290 the interstate carries at least 6 lanes of traffic. As the combined interstates of I-20/59 converge on Interstate 65 in Birmingham, 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".

In the case of an hurricane evacuation on Alabama's coast, I-65 can be converted to an evacuation route where all lanes flow in the northbound direction from Mobile to Montgomery.

From Birmingham, I-65 continues north toward Cullman and Decatur. At Decatur, motorists can take Interstate 565 eastward toward Huntsville.

From Decatur, the interstate continues northward through Athens to the Tennessee state line.

In 2004, following the death of President Ronald Reagan, a lengthy segment of I-65 from Jefferson County to Limestone County was designated "The Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway". The sign designating the north end of the segment includes a statement from Reagan's speech at Point Mallard Aquatic Center in nearby Decatur on July 4, 1984.

Hyundai's new automotive plant in Montgomery is located just off I-65. It can be accessed using the Pintlala-Hope Hull exit (number 164).

The Mercedes Benz plant can also be accessed by taking the I-59 south/west exit at the interchange in Birmingham.

Kia is currently building a plant that will be less than an hour's drive away from the Interstate on the Alabama-Georgia border.

Tennessee

I-65 enters Tennessee from the south near the town of Ardmore, and passes through mostly rural territory for convert|65|mi|km. Its first city in Tennessee is Franklin. Then the route travels through Brentwood, Tennessee, downtown Nashville, Madison, Goodlettsville, White House, and exits near Portland into Kentucky to the north.

Kentucky

Interstate 65 enters the state five miles (8 km) 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.

It junctions with 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 I-265, I-264, I-64 and I-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.

At one time, the portion from Louisville to Elizabethtown was a toll road bearing the Kentucky Turnpike name. The bonds that financed the road have been retired, and tolls are no longer collected. All signs of the former turnpike have been removed.

On November 15, 2006, the stretch of I-65 from Bowling Green to Louisville was renamed the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Highway.

On February 12, 2007 a bill passed the Kentucky Senate to rename I-65 in Jefferson County the "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway". [cite news |publisher="The Courier-Journal" |date=2007-02-13 |last=Gerth |first=Joseph |title=Senate OKs renaming I-65 for King] Signage was posted July 25, 2007. [cite news |publisher="The Courier-Journal" |date=2007-07-25 |last=Shafer |first=Sheldon S. |title=I-65 named for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. |url=http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070725/ZONE07/70725050/-1/ZONE07 |accessdate=2007-07-30]

On July 15, 2007 Kentucky officially raised its speed limits on Interstate and State Parkway highways to 70 miles per hour. Until that date, Kentucky was the only state along I-65's path that had a speed limit of convert|65|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on.

Both of the Ford Motor Company truck plants in Louisville are accessible—The Explorer SUV plant is directly accessible from I-65 while the Kentucky Truck Plant, makers of the F-350 and Excursion SUV, is accessed via I-265.

In Bowling Green, I-65 comes within proximity of a GM plant, which makes the Chevrolet Corvette sports car, as well as the Cadillac XLR luxury roadster.

Indiana

Interstate 65 enters the Hoosier state at Jeffersonville and Clarksville.

The section of Interstate 65 in downtown Indianapolis overlaps 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 overlapping freeways.

In mid-March 2007, a six-mile (10 km) section of Interstate 70 from the North Split to Interstate 465 east of downtown was restricted to automobiles only for the " [http://www.in.gov/dot/div/projects/i70/index.html 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. The Super 70 project was completed 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.

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

Upon crossing into Lake County, IN over the Kankakee River, the highway is known as the Casimir Pulaski Memorial Highway. It is known as this from that point to its northern terminus.

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.

Major intersections

*Interstate 90 in Gary, Indiana
*Interstate 80/Interstate 94 in Gary, Indiana
*Interstate 74 in Indianapolis, Indiana
*Interstate 70 in Indianapolis, Indiana
*Interstate 71 in Louisville, Kentucky
*Interstate 64 in Louisville, Kentucky
*Interstate 40 in Nashville, Tennessee
*Interstate 24 in Nashville, Tennessee
*Interstate 565 near Huntsville, Alabama
*Interstate 20/Interstate 59 in Birmingham, Alabama
*Interstate 85 in Montgomery, Alabama
*Interstate 10 in Mobile, Alabama

The future Interstate 22 will join and cross over I-65 before terminating at US 31 just a few blocks away. The target date for the completion of the final sections of the new route is 2012. However, Alabama Highway Department officials have been pushing for a 2010 completion time.

Auxiliary routes

*Prichard, Alabama - I-165
*Spur beginning in Decatur, Alabama terminating in Huntsville, Alabama -
*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)

ee also

*Ohio River Bridges Project
*Super Bowl XLI, dubbed the "I-65 Bowl" due to the proximity of the competing teams' cities (Indianapolis and Chicago) to I-65

References