Interstate 65 (I-65) in the US state of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

traverses from the south-southeastern Falls City area bordering

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, through the centrally located capital city of

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, to the northwestern

Calumet Region The Calumet Region is the geographic area drained by the Grand Calumet River and the Little Calumet River of northeastern Illinois and northwestern Indiana in the United States. It is part of the Great Lakes Basin, which eventually reaches the ...

of the Hoosier State which is part of the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hin ...

. The Indiana portion of I-65 begins in Jeffersonville after crossing the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...

and travels mainly north, passing just west of

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

prior to reaching the Indianapolis metro area. Upon reaching Indianapolis, the route alignment of I-65 begins to run more to the northwest and subsequently passes Lafayette on that city's east and north sides. Northwest of there, in west-central Jasper County, the route again curves more northward as it approaches the Calumet Region. Shortly after passing a major junction with

I-80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...

and I-94, I-65 reaches its northern national terminus in Gary at

I-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, an ...

which is carried on the Indiana East–West Toll Road. I-65 covers in the state of Indiana. This is one of the principal Interstate Highways that cross the state, and, more specifically, intersect at the city of Indianapolis, that has given the state the nickname of "

Crossroads of America The Crossroads of America is the official motto of the U.S. state of Indiana. Various cities in the American Midwest also use the phrase or a variant thereof to describe their location. Adoption The Indiana General Assembly passed a resolution ...

Route description

I-65 enters the state northbound at Jeffersonville (across the

from

) on the

Abraham Lincoln Bridge The Abraham Lincoln Bridge is a six-lane, single-deck cable-stayed bridge carrying northbound Interstate 65 across the Ohio River, connecting Louisville, Kentucky, and Jeffersonville, Indiana. The main span is (two spans) and the bridge has a t ...

; traffic exiting the state travels on the

John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge The John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge is a six-lane, single-deck cantilever bridge that carries southbound Interstate 65 across the Ohio River, connecting Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana. The main span is (two spans) and the ...

. I-65 travels past

Clark State Forest Clark State Forest, located just north of Henryville, Indiana in the United States, is Indiana's oldest state forest, formed in 1903 as a forest research facility and a nursery (horticulture), nursery and later expanded by the Works Progress Admin ...

before reaching

Seymour Seymour may refer to: Places Australia * Seymour, Victoria, a township * Electoral district of Seymour, a former electoral district in Victoria * Rural City of Seymour, a former local government area in Victoria * Seymour, Tasmania, a localit ...

to the north. I-65 intersects with U.S. Highway 50 (US 50), providing access to Seymour to the west. US 31 runs parallel to the Interstate until it reaches

. North of Seymour, I-65 passes through

. Just north of Columbus, I-65 runs near

Camp Atterbury Camp Atterbury-Muscatatuck is a federally-owned military post, licensed to and operated by the Indiana National Guard, located in south-central Indiana, west of Edinburgh, Indiana and U.S. Route 31. The camp's mission is to provide full logi ...

, an

Indiana National Guard The Indiana National Guard (INNG) is a component of the United States Armed Forces, the United States National Guard and the Military Department of Indiana (MDI). It consists of the Indiana Army National Guard, the Indiana Air National Guard, ...

training base. The Interstate continues north into Indianapolis. I-65 crosses the

I-465 Interstate 465 (I-465), also known as the USS ''Indianapolis'' Memorial Highway, is the beltway circling Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It is roughly rectangular in shape and has a perimeter of approximately . It lies almost compl ...

loop before reaching Indianapolis. The section of I-65 in

Downtown Indianapolis Downtown Indianapolis is a neighborhood area and the central business district of Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Downtown is bordered by Interstate 65, Interstate 70, and the White River, and is situated near the geographic center of Ma ...

overlaps

I-70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the c ...

. 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. The "North Split" was closed for reconstruction in early 2021 and is expected to reopen to traffic in late 2022. As part of that reconstruction, the old ramps are being replaced with ones that will eliminate the lane switching that drivers originally had to perform to stay on I-70 eastbound and I-65 northbound. In 1999, the segment of I-65 between the two I-465 interchanges was renamed the

Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds Kenneth Brian Edmonds (born April 10, 1959), better known by his stage name Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has written and produced over 26 number-one R&B hits throughout his career and has won 12 Grammy A ...

Highway. At milemarker 116, I-65 passes

Crown Hill Cemetery Crown Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 700 West 38th Street in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. The privately owned cemetery was established in 1863 at Strawberry Hill, whose summit was renamed "The Crown", a high point ...

, burial site and memorial of former-President

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 23rd president of the United States from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia–a grandson of the ninth pr ...

. I-65 leaves the I-465 loop on the northwest side of Indianapolis. The highway travels past

Eagle Creek Park Eagle Creek Park is the largest park in Indianapolis, and one of the largest municipal parks in the United States. It is located at 7840 W. 56th Street in Indianapolis, Indiana and covers approximately of water and of land. There are about o ...

and it then passes the terminus of I-865 and picks up US 52. The segment of I-65 north of Indianapolis heads in the direction of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. US 52 runs concurrently until the north side of

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus lie ...

; US 52 runs parallel to I-65 from this point to Lafayette, located at about the halfway point between Indianapolis and Chicago. I-65 crosses the

Wabash River The Wabash River (French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows from ...

in Lafayette and passes next to Prophetstown State Park. North of Lafayette, I-65 parallels US 231 and passes through the open flatlands of northwest Indiana. Protruding from the fields are some of the hundreds of

wind turbine A wind turbine is a device that converts the kinetic energy of wind into electrical energy. Hundreds of thousands of large turbines, in installations known as wind farms, now generate over 650 gigawatts of power, with 60 GW added each year. ...

s of the

Benton County Wind Farm The Benton County Wind Farm (also called Goodland I) consists of 87 model sl/sle Gen4 GE 1.5 MW wind turbines near Earl Park, Indiana in northern Benton County, Indiana. The farm's nameplate capacity is 130.5 MW. The farm was developed by Orion ...

and Fowler Ridge Wind Farm. At approximately mile 199.4 is the timezone boundary between

Central Time Central Time may refer to: * Central Time Zone, a time zone in North America * Central European Time, a time zone in Europe *Australian Central Time, a time zone in Australia (see Time in Australia Australia uses three main time zones: Austra ...

( Jasper County) and

Eastern Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small ...

( White County). As with all timezone changes on highways maintained by the

Indiana Department of Transportation The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Indiana charged with maintaining and regulating transportation and transportation related infrastructure such as state owned airports, state highways a ...

(INDOT), this change in timezone is not marked with any roadside signage. Upon crossing into Lake County, over the

Kankakee River The Kankakee River is a tributary of the Illinois River, approximately long, in the Central Corn Belt Plains of northwestern Indiana and northeastern Illinois in the United States. At one time, the river drained one of the largest wetlands in ...

, the highway is known as the

Casimir Pulaski Kazimierz Michał Władysław Wiktor Pułaski of the Ślepowron coat of arms (; ''Casimir Pulaski'' ; March 4 or March 6, 1745 Makarewicz, 1998 October 11, 1779) was a Polish nobleman, soldier, and military commander who has been called, tog ...

Memorial Highway. It is known as this from that point to its northern terminus. The northern terminus of I-65 is only north of

(Indiana Toll Road) in Gary.

History

Initial construction

Like all Interstate Highways in Indiana, I-65 was constructed in segments. There were six segments in the southern portion of the state between the

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

border and the south leg of

, nine within the I-465 loop and 11 more that made up the northern portion connecting the northwest side of Indianapolis to the

Indiana Toll Road The Indiana Toll Road, officially the Indiana East–West Toll Road, is a tolled freeway that runs for east–west across northern Indiana from the Illinois state line to the Ohio state line. It has been advertised as the "Main Street of the ...

(

) in Gary. The first section of I-65 to be completed in Indiana was a stretch between a temporary connection with US 52 near Royalton in Boone County (just south of the present-day interchange with I-865) and the US 52 junction northwest of

, which opened in December 1960. The initial southern Indiana portion, running between then- US 31E (now US 31) in Clarksville and US 50 east of

, saw its first traffic in November 1961. The final of the 17 segments of I-65 outside of I-465, from State Road 252 (SR 252) near

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

to Southport Road on Indianapolis's far south side, opened on June 30, 1972. Unlike for most of portions of

within the I-465 beltway, several inner sections of I-65 were built throughout the overall project lifespan. However, the final three segments from the south side through the heart of the city, including the common portion of I-65 and I-70 (east leg of the "Inner Belt"), were not finished and opened to traffic until around 1974.

Subsequent improvements

Prior to 2004, the interchange from the Indiana Toll Road to southbound I-65 required making a physical left turn onto I-65 via a traffic signal; traffic from northbound I-65 to I-90 bypassed the traffic signal via an isolated right-turn lane. This deficiency has since been corrected by a grade-separation. As part of the ''Operation Indy Commute'' project, INDOT began work in 2013 to widen I-65 on both northbound and southbound mainlines from exit 103 at Southport Road northward to the southern junction with I-465 (exit 106), adding auxiliary lanes in this section to improve merging of traffic entering southbound I-65 from I-465 and entering northbound I-65 from westbound Southport Road. To reduce congestion on I-65 South from I-465 west, the loop ramp from westbound I-465 was replaced by a flyover ramp to southbound I-65. The eastbound I-465 exit to southbound I-65 south was also expanded for improved merging with traffic from the new west-to-south flyover. Most of this work was completed in late 2014.

Exit list

Related routes

Auxiliary routes

I-65 has three auxiliary routes in Indiana: *: The Indiana segment of the incomplete beltway around the

Louisville metropolitan area The Louisville metropolitan area is the 43rd largest metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in the United States. It had a population of 1,395,855 in 2020 according to the latest official census, and its principal city is Louisville, Kentucky. Th ...

, running from I-65 in Clarksville to I-64 in New Albany and signed the Lee H. Hamilton Freeway. The Indiana segment, plus the Lewis and Clark Bridge across the Ohio River to connect the Indiana segment of I-265 with the Kentucky segment, was completed in December 2016 but is currently not signed as I-265 between I-65 and the new bridge. *: A beltway around Indianapolis, signed as the USS ''Indianapolis'' Memorial Highway. *: A connector from I-65 to the northwest corner of I-465 in Indianapolis.

Former business route

Business Loop 65 (BL 65) is a former business route of I-65 located in

and was the only business route for the entire route of I-65. The route took over the former alignment of US 52 and traveled up SR 39 (South Lebanon Street) from I-65 and then SR 32 (West South Street) back to I-65.

References

External links