Interstate 65 in Kentucky

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Interstate 65
Main route of the Interstate Highway System
Maintained by Kentucky DOT
Length: 137.32 mi (220.9951180800000 km)
South end: I-65 at Tennesse state line
Major
junctions:
I-265 near Louisville
I-264 in Louisville
I-64 / I-71 in Louisville
North end: I-65 at Indiana state line
Numbered highways in Kentucky
Interstates - U.S. Highways - State Highways

Interstate 65 in Kentucky 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.

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 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.

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

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".[1] Signage was posted July 25, 2007.[2]

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 65 MPH.

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.


[edit] Exit list

County Location Mile[3] # Destinations Notes
Simpson 1.980 2 US 31WFranklin
5.979 6 KY 100Scottsville, Franklin
Warren 20.568 20 William H. Natcher Parkway - Owensboro, Bowling Green
Bowling Green 22.388 22 US 231Scottsville, Bowling Green
25.732 26 KY 234Bowling Green
Bowling Green 28.066 28 KY 446 to US 31WBowling Green
Oakland 35.631 36 US 68 / KY 80Oakland Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Smiths Grove 37.578 38 KY 101 to US 68Smiths Grove, Scottsville
Barren 43.135 43 Cumberland Parkway - Somerset, Glasgow
Park City 47.371 48 KY 255Park City, Brownsville
Cave City 52.423 53 KY 70 / KY 90Cave City, Glasgow
Hart 57.627 58 KY 218 to KY 335Horse Cave
Munfordville 64.200 65 US 31WMunfordville
70.407 71 KY 728Bonnieville
LaRue Upton 75.896 76 KY 224Upton
Hardin Sonora 80.457 81 KY 84Sonora
85.686 86 KY 222Glendale
Elizabethtown 91.086 91 US 31W / KY 61 / Western Kentucky ParkwayHodgenville, Paducah, Elizabethtown
93.345 93 Blue Grass Parkway - Lexington, Bardstown
94.154 94 US 62 / KY 61Elizabethtown
102.533 102 KY 313 (Joe Prather Highway) – Radcliff, Vine Grove
Bullitt Lebanon Junction 104.698 105 KY 61Boston, Lebanon Junction
111.773 112 KY 245Bardstown, Clermont
Shepherdsville 115.574 116 KY 480 to KY 61
116.639 117 KY 44Mt. Washington, Shepherdsville
121.722 121 KY 1526 (Brooks Road)
Jefferson 125.143 125 I-265 east / KY 841 (Gene Snyder Freeway) Signed as exits 125A (east) and 125B (west) northbound
126.746 126 KY 1065 (Outer Loop) – Okolona, Fairdale
Louisville 128.328 128 KY 1747 (Fern Valley Road)
129.802 130 KY 61 (Preston Highway) / Grade Lane
130.710 131A I-264 (Watterson Expressway) – Louisville International Airport Signed as exits 131A (east) and 131B (west) southbound
130.792 131B Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center
132.601 132 Crittenden Drive (KY 1631) - Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center No northbound exit
132.955 133
US 60 Alt. (Eastern Parkway)
Signed as exits 133A (east) and 133B (west) northbound
133.767 134 KY 61 south (Arthur Street) South end of KY 61 overlap; no northbound exit
133.978 134A KY 61 north (Jackson Street) North end of KY 61 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance
134.145 134B Woodbine Street Northbound exit and southbound entrance
134.675 135 St. Catherine Street west one-way
135.195-
135.384
136A Chestnut Street, Broadway (US 150) Northbound exit and southbound entrance
135.649 136B Brook Street Northbound exit and southbound entrance
135.649-
135.919
136C Muhammad Ali Boulevard, Jefferson Street - Downtown Louisville
136.421 137 I-64 / I-71 north – Lexington, Cincinnati, St. Louis sharp curves

[edit] References


Interstate 65
Previous state:
Tennessee
Kentucky Next state:
Indiana