Interstate 265

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Interstate 265 (abbreviated I-265) is an Interstate Highway ringing the Louisville, Kentucky metropolitan area, which includes southern Indiana, although the Indiana and Kentucky segments remain separate at the present time. In Kentucky it only runs through Jefferson County, from US 42 in northeastern Louisville to I-65 in the southern part of the city. The entire Kentucky stretch of the road is co-signed with KY 841. The highway is referred to as the Gene Snyder Freeway (named after former congressman Gene Snyder) and considered part of the "beltline".

In Indiana, I-265 runs from I-64 in western Floyd County to I-65 in Clark County and is known as the Lee H. Hamilton Highway. East of I-65, the freeway continues as State Road 265 (Clark Maritime Highway) until intersecting State Road 62 (Charlestown Pike). This stretch is scheduled to be extended east across the Ohio River, where it will eventually link up with its Kentucky counterpart, creating a bypass around the eastern side of the city. Currently, construction is slated for completion in 2018.

In late 2005 members of Louisville's Metro Council proposed a committee to begin planning a western bridge to link the southwestern end of the highway to Indiana as well.

Interstate 265 was also a bypass linking Interstates 65 and 40 north of downtown Nashville, Tennessee. It was decommissioned in 2000 and became part of a rerouted I-65.

1 History
2 East End Bridge
3 Safety Issues
4 Facts and figures
5 Trivia
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] History

State Road 265 at its eastern terminus at State Road 62.

Originally signed just as KY 841, the Jefferson Freeway was constructed originally with two sections, one between KY 155 (Taylorsville Road) and US 60 (Shelbyville Road) and a second section between KY 1447 (Westport Road) and US 42 in the 1960s as short connectors to the eastern suburban expansion as well as a new automobile plant. I-264 by 1970 was woefully congested and was in dire need of reconstruction and other improvements, therefore I-265 was proposed as an outer beltway to provide pass-through motorists relief from the congestion of I-264. Construction started in the early 1980s and was finished later that decade and signed in 1987.

The road is signed Interstate 265 from the I-65 interchange to the I-71 interchange. From I-65 west to US 31W (although it is up to interstate standards) and I-71 north/west to US 42, is signed as KY 841 due to AASHTO numbering rules. KY 841 is signed throughout the entire designation of Interstate 265. The exit numbering for the entire beltway starts at the western terminus of KY 841.

Reconstruction efforts have been continuing on several segments of I-265. The concrete used in the mid-sections of I-64 and the western segments of KY 841 have caused many dips and rough spots to the point where diamond grinding, or the patching and then the regrooving of the pavement was necessary.

Studies have also been conducted for the reconfiguration of the I-265 and I-64 interchange. It is currently an underpowered cloverleaf with no collector-distributor lanes, a relic of the original Jefferson Freeway. Construction could begin in 2005 on the new interchange.

[edit] East End Bridge

In various discussions for over 30 years, the East End Bridge is part of a new 6.5 mile highway that will connect Interstate 265 in Indiana to Interstate 265 in Kentucky. The completion of the bridge would connect the two disjointed interstates and form a 3/4 beltway around the Louisville, Kentucky metro area. There is currently no plan to construct a bridge on the west end of Interstate 265.

See the Ohio River Bridges Project for more in-depth information.

[edit] Safety Issues

The Gene Snyder Freeway, from Interstate 65 to Interstate 71 has seen an increase in serious accidents. The primary factors stem from its low-level grass median which offers little to no protection for crossover incidents. Its concrete pavement, which was diamond-ground in the late-1990's, made the pavement quite slick in wet weather. Driver inattention and increased traffic and congestion has led to a decline in the overall level-of-service. Cable medians are planned for installation in the 10 mile stretch from Interstate 71 to Interstate 64 by September 2006, with further installation possible in the near future. [1]

[edit] Facts and figures

Current I-265 length on Kentucky side: approx. 25 miles
Current Gene Snyder Freeway length: approx. 37
Current I-265 stretch on Indiana stretch: approx. 7 miles
Projected length of combined stretches: approx. 54

[edit] Trivia

Louisville is one of the few U.S. cities with two interstate highways serving as inner and outer beltways. Interstate 264, the Henry Watterson Expressway, is Louisville's inner beltway and the later constructed Interstate 265 is Louisville's outer beltway.