Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five la ...

and the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United S ...

. Its southern terminus is located at an interchange with I-10 in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 census. It is the fourth-most-populous city in Alabama, ...

, and its northern terminus is at an interchange with I-90, U.S. Route 12 (US 12), and US 20 (the

Dunes Highway A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

) in

Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the ...

, just southeast of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

. I-65 connects several major metropolitan areas in the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

and

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

US. It connects the four largest cities in Alabama:

Mobile Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile ...

, Montgomery,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, and Huntsville. It also serves as one of the main north–south routes through

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

;

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 borde ...

; and

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...

, each a major metropolitan area in its respective state.

Route description

, - , AL , 366.22 , 590.63 , - , TN , 121.71 , 195.87 , - , KY , 137.32 , 221.00 , - , IN , 261.27 , 420.47 , - , Total , 887.30 , 1427.97

Alabama

In the state of Alabama, I-65 passes through or near four of the state's major metropolitan areas:

, Montgomery,

, and Huntsville. I-65 begins its path northward in Mobile at its junction with I-10. From I-10, I-65 runs west of downtown Mobile and through the northern suburbs of the city before turning northeasterly towards Montgomery. In Montgomery, I-65 connects with the southern terminus of I-85. In the Birmingham suburbs, I-65 has an interchange with I-459 and another interchange in the city at I-20/ I-59. North of downtown, I-22 branches off I-65 toward Memphis. From Birmingham, I-65 continues north, crossing the Tennessee River near Decatur. A few miles north of the river, it intersects

I-565 Interstate 565 (I-565) is a Interstate spur that connects I-65 in Decatur with U.S. Route 72 (US 72) in Huntsville in the US state of Alabama. I-565 serves the cities of Decatur, Madison, and downtown Huntsville. It also prov ...

, a short

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A bypass or beltway should not be considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the s ...

which provides access to Huntsville. It then continues northward out of the Tennessee Valley to the state of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

toward

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Tennessee

I-65 enters Tennessee from the south near the town of Ardmore and passes through mostly rural territory for . It then passes Lewisburg. Then it passes close to

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

and crosses

Saturn Parkway State Route 396 (SR 396), commonly referred to as Saturn Parkway, is a east–west primary state route located in the city of Spring Hill in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The entire route is a controlled-access highway, and provides direct a ...

, which brings travelers to the town of Spring Hill. I-65 then continues on to reach I-840 and progresses until it intersects State Route 96 (SR 96) at Franklin. Then the highway goes through Brentwood,

, Madison, Goodlettsville,

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, D.C., NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. preside ...

, and then, close to

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, it crosses into the state of

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 Virgini ...

at milepost 120.5.

Kentucky

I-65 enters the state south of Franklin. Throughout its length, it passes near

Mammoth Cave National Park Mammoth Cave National Park is an American national park in west-central 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 Sout ...

, Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, the National Corvette Museum, and Fort Knox. The first major intersection in the state is with I-165 (former Natcher Parkway) at Bowling Green. I-65 has intersections with three of the parkways in the state. The first major junction is with the Cumberland Parkway near Rocky Hill. At Elizabethtown, it has two more parkway interchanges with the

Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway The Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway is a controlled-access highway running from Elizabethtown, Kentucky to near Nortonville, Kentucky. It intersects with Interstate 65 (I-65) at its eastern terminus, and I-69 at its western terminus. ...

and the Martha Layne Collins Bluegrass Parkway. I-65 also has interchanges with I-265, I-264, I-64, and I-71. The widest stretch of I-65 in its entirety is in Louisville at Kentucky Route 1065 (KY 1065, Outer Loop), where the main line is 14 lanes wide. The highway crosses 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 river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern ...

into Indiana on a toll bridge. The southbound side is called the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge (southbound) and the northbound side is called the Abraham Lincoln Bridge. The latter bridge opened in October 2016 as part of the Ohio River Bridges Project. Prior to the project, the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge (completed in 1963) carried traffic in both directions. The project also included reconstruction of the I-65/I-64/I-71 convergence interchange just south of the Kennedy Bridge, as well as renovating the older span to carry six lanes of southbound traffic. Additionally, a second six-lane cable-stayed bridge upstream on the Ohio River, the Lewis and Clark Bridge, was built as part of the project, opening in December 2016 to complete the I-265 loop around Louisville. At one time, the stretch of I-65 from Louisville to Elizabethtown was a toll road, called the Kentucky Turnpike. The bonds that financed the road have been paid off, 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 Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

Memorial Expressway. On February 12, 2007, a bill passed the

Kentucky Senate The Kentucky Senate is the upper house of the Kentucky General Assembly. The Kentucky Senate is composed of 38 members elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. There are no term limits for Kentucky Senators. The Kentu ...

to rename I-65 in Jefferson County the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway. Signs were posted July 25, 2007. On July 15, 2007, Kentucky highway officials raised the speed limits on most Interstate and state parkway highways to . Prior to that, Kentucky was the only state along I-65 that had a maximum speed limit of .

Indiana

I-65 enters Indiana at Jeffersonville and Clarksville. Miles 0–9 were rebuilt, widened, and realigned from north of Sellersburg to the Ohio River during 2008–2010, giving great traffic relief to the fast-growing Indiana suburbs of Louisville. Over 300,000 of the 1.5 million people in Louisville's CMSA live in its Indiana counties. A section of I-65 in Downtown Indianapolis runs concurrently with I-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 "The Spaghetti Bowl" due to the visual complexity of the intersecting ramps and overpasses. In mid-March 2007, a section of I-70 from the North Split to

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 complet ...

east of downtown was restricted to automobiles only for the "Super 70" project, a massive rebuild and expansion of that freeway. Trucks over were forced to divert through I-65 if coming from the north and use the circular I-465 to the south to reconnect to I-70 eastbound. Westbound traffic from I-70 was required to loop north or south along I-465 to get to I-65 or I-70. The Super 70 project was completed in November 2007. In mid-2003, the portion of I-65 that runs concurrently with I-70 was closed to all traffic due to the "HyperFix" project. During that time, a new concrete surface was installed and the overpasses were upgraded. In 1999, the segment of I-65 between the two I-465 interchanges was renamed the Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds Highway. North of Lafayette near Brookston, the road passes through the

Meadow Lake Wind Farm Meadow Lake Wind Farm is an 801.25 megawatt (MW) wind farm near Brookston and Chalmers, Indiana, spreading over portions of White, Jasper, and Benton Counties. It is owned and operated by EDP Renewables North America. The facility c ...

for several miles, with the turbines and standards spaced out in order to avoid a collapse onto the highway. The Fowler Ridge Wind Farm is also visible on both sides of the highway. From its crossing into Lake County over the Kankakee River to its northern terminus, the highway is known as the Casimir Pulaski Memorial Highway. Prior to 2004, the northern terminus of I-65 was only north of I-90 (Indiana Toll Road). Traffic going from I-90 to I-65 had to stop at a traffic signal to make a left turn. Traffic from I-65 to I-90 bypassed the traffic signal via an isolated right-turn lane. In 2004, the interchange was fully grade-separated, so it is now one interchange involving I-65, I-90, US 12, and US 20, thereby eliminating a connection gap in the Interstate Highway System.

History

Junction list

;Alabama : in

: in Mobile : in Mobile : in Prichard : in Prichard : north-northeast of Satsuma : west-southwest of Evergreen : on the Hope Hull– Montgomery line : in Montgomery. The highways travel concurrently through Montgomery. : in Montgomery. I-65/US 82 travels concurrently to

Prattville Prattville is a city located within both Autauga and Elmore counties in the State of Alabama but serves as the county seat of Autauga County. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,781. Nicknamed "The Fountain City" due to t ...

. : in Montgomery : north of Prattville : in Clanton : in Calera : in Alabaster : in Hoover : on the Hoover–

Vestavia Hills Vestavia Hills, colloquially known simply as Vestavia, is a city in Jefferson and Shelby counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a suburb of Birmingham and it is made up of Vestavia, Liberty Park, and Cahaba Heights. As of the 2020 cen ...

city line : in

: in Birmingham : in Birmingham : in Fultondale : in Smoke Rise. The highways travel concurrently through Smoke Rise. : in Cullman : south-southeast of Lacon : on the Decatur– Huntsville city line : in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

: in Athens. The highways travel concurrently to

Ardmore, Tennessee Ardmore is a city in Giles and Lincoln counties, Tennessee. The population was 1,213 at the 2010 census. Ardmore is the site of a Tennessee Department of Tourist Development Welcome Center. It borders its sister city, Ardmore, Alabama. History ...

. ;Tennessee : west of Frankewing : in

: in

: in Nashville. The highways travel concurrently through Nashville. : in Nashville : in Nashville : in Nashville. The highways travel concurrently through Nashville. : in Nashville : in Nashville : in Goodlettsville ;Kentucky : south-southeast of Franklin : in Bowling Green : in Bowling Green : in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

: in Munfordville : in Elizabethtown : in Elizabethtown : in Louisville : in Louisville : in Louisville : / in Louisville ;Indiana : in Jeffersonville. The highways travel concurrently to west of Jeffersonville. : in Clarksville : south-southeast of Crothersville : in

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 locality ...

: in Taylorsville : in Indianapolis : in Indianapolis. The highways travel concurrently through Indianapolis. : in Indianapolis : north-northwest of Royalton. I-65/US 52 travels concurrently to

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 Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

. : south of Wolcott : east of Remington : north of Remington : in Crown Point : in Merrillville : in

Gary Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran *Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Unit ...

: in Gary : in Gary Reference:

Auxiliary routes

*, serving the Alabama communities of Prichard and

. *, a spur in Alabama that begins in Decatur and ends in Huntsville. *, a spur in Kentucky that begins in Bowling Green and ends in Owensboro. *, the beltway around the Louisville area in Kentucky and Indiana. In Kentucky, the highway is called the Gene Snyder freeway in Kentucky, and the

Lee H. Hamilton Lee Herbert Hamilton (born April 20, 1931) is an American politician and lawyer from Indiana. He is a former member of the United States House of Representatives and a former member of the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council. A member of the ...

Highway in Indiana between I-65 and the Lewis and Clark Bridge connecting Indiana and Kentucky on the eastern side of Louisville.. *, a full beltway around Indianapolis. *, a connection between I-65 and I-465 on the northwest side of Indianapolis, formerly numbered I-465.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 65 U.S. Route 31