Interstate 75

Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. It travels from State Road 826 (Palmetto Expressway) and State Road 924 (Gratigny Parkway) in Hialeah, Florida (northwest of Miami) to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, at the Ontario, Canada, border. Interstate 75 passes through six different states: Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan.

Due to traffic levels on the Interstate, much of the route is six lanes even in rural areas. The longest continuous segment of six-lane (or more) Interstate is along I-75 from the Florida's Turnpike junction in Wildwood, Florida to I-24 in the Chattanooga area, using I-475 to bypass Macon, Georgia.

Route description

Florida

Interstate 75 begins its northerly journey at an interchange with State Road 924 and State Road 826 in Hialeah, a suburb of Miami. After an intersection with the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike and an interchange with Interstate 595 and the Sawgrass Expressway, the interstate leaves the Miami metropolitan area and turns westward to travel through the Everglades along the tolled Alligator Alley, which brings the highway to the Gulf Coast and Naples, where it again heads north. Passing through Bonita Springs, Fort Myers, and Sarasota, Interstate 75 encounters a series of construction projects that will increase the lane count from two lanes in each direction to three in each direction. The freeway enters the Tampa Bay metropolitan area before the interchange with Interstate 275 northbound, which handles St. Petersburg-bound traffic. Within the Tampa metro are three more major junctions: One with the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway which carries traffic into downtown Tampa; one with Interstate 4 which carries traffic across the center of the state to the East Coast; and another as Interstate 275 traffic defaults back onto northbound. The freeway proceeds to enter suburban portions of Pasco, Hernando, and Sumter counties on its way to Ocala and Gainesville. At Lake City, Florida, the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway, Interstate 10, intersects with Interstate 75, providing routes toward Jacksonville, Florida; Tallahassee; Mobile, Alabama; New Orleans, Louisiana; and points westward. Afterward, the northmost stetch of Interstate 75 in Florida exits the Sunshine State into southern Georgia.

Georgia

Interstate 75 enters Georgia near Lake Park, and it continues northward through the towns of Valdosta, Tifton and Cordele until it reaches the Macon area, where it intersects with Interstate 16 eastbound towards Savannah. For northbound traffic wishing to avoid potential congestion in Macon, Interstate 475 provides a relatively straight bypass west of that city and Interstate 75's route. After Macon it passes the small town of Forsyth. The freeway reaches no major junctions again until in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The first metropolitan freeway met is Interstate 675, then followed by the Atlanta "Perimeter" bypass, Interstate 285. It crosses inside the Perimeter and heads north several miles towards the Atlanta city center. Interstate 75 is then duplexed with Interstate 85 due north over the Downtown Connector through the central business district of Atlanta. After the two Interstates split, Interstate 75 makes a beeline northwest, crossing outside the Interstate 285 Perimeter and heading towards the major suburban city of Marietta. This section of Interstate 75 just north of Interstate 285 has 15 through lanes, making it the widest roadway anywhere in the Interstate Highway System.^[3] North of Marietta, the final major junction in the Atlanta metropolitan area is the Interstate 575 spur. Interstate 75 then traverses the hilly northwestern Georgia terrain as it travels towards Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Tennessee

The freeway enters Tennessee directly in the Chattanooga metropolitan area, where it intersects with Interstate 24. Exiting Chattanooga to the northeast, Interstate 75 passes through an area known for dense fog. Twelve people were killed and 42 were injured in a 99 vehicle accident on that stretch of I-75 in heavy fog on December 11, 1990.^[4] Interstate 75 does not meet any other highways until it is multiplexed with Interstate 40 and heads eastbound. Together, they enter the outskirts of Knoxville, where Interstate 75 multiplexes itself with a different road, this time Interstate 640, but only for a short time. When the two meet Interstate 275, Interstate 75 becomes its own freeway and heads north towards the Kentucky border. On the journey northward from Knoxville to the Kentucky border, interstate 75 encounters some of its highest points of elevation through the Cumberland Mountains and Cumberland Plateau region, cutting through the uppermost peaks and ridges of the mountains.

Kentucky

Interstate 75 continues northbound through the hilly, rugged terrain of the Cumberland Plateau region of Kentucky passing through London and Richmond, eventually reaching Lexington, where it briefly runs coterminously with Interstate 64 before splitting off for Cincinnati, Ohio. Near Walton, Interstate 71 merges with Interstate 75, making for yet another multiplexed portion of freeway. Interstate 275, which is the Cincinnati beltway, is then intersected by Interstate 71/75. After passing through Covington, the freeway crosses the Ohio River via the lower level of the Brent Spence Bridge and continues into Cincinnati.

Ohio

Immediately after entering Cincinnati, Interstate 71 separates from Interstate 75, taking a more easterly routing through the city, while Interstate 75 remains generally northbound throughout the metropolitan area. Interstate 74 westbound, Ohio State Route 562 eastbound, and Ohio State Route 126 all intersect the freeway as it makes its way northward. In Arlington Heights, a suburb of Cincinnati, Interstate 75 sees a carriageway split for a few miles. After another interchange with the Interstate 275 beltway, the freeway continues in the metropolitan area, passes through Middletown and heads towards Dayton, where Interstate 675, Interstate 70, and U.S. Route 35, have interchanges. The intersection of Interstate 75 with Interstate 70 is known as the Freedom Veterans Crossroads.^[5] After exiting the city of Dayton, Interstate 75 makes its way northbound through Ohio, passing through the smaller cities of Wapakoneta, Lima, Findlay and Bowling Green before finally reaching Toledo, located on the Michigan border. Interstate 475 is met first south of the city, and then the cross-country highways of Interstate 80/Interstate 90/Ohio Turnpike. Interstate 475 then meets with 75 again. Interstate 280 is the last major junction in Ohio; the freeway crosses into Michigan soon afterwards.

Michigan

Interstate 75 hugs the western shore of Lake Erie upon entering Michigan—until about Monroe, when it heads north eastward and prepares to enter Detroit and its surrounding suburbs. Yet another I-275 is met as the freeway goes deeper into the Detroit metropolitan area, and no other major junctions are present until downtown. Once downtown, Interstate 75 meets the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor, Ontario, Interstate 375 (Chrysler Freeway), I-94, I-96, M-10 and M-8 (Davison Freeway). I-696 also intersects I-75 in the northern metro area. There is a junction with Big Beaver Road at exit 69, easily one of the more memorable exits on the Interstate system. [1] When the freeway reaches Pontiac, there is a junction with M-59; and further north in Flint, the interstate meets I-475 and I-69. The freeway then heads north towards Saginaw, where I-675 acts as a spur route into the city. Further north in Bay City, the major junction of US 10 exists, providing access to Midland as well as downtown Bay City. The last major interchange occurs at 4 Mile Road just south of Grayling where US 127 northbound ends with traffic merging onto northbound I-75 and the southbound starts taking drivers through the center of the state granting easier access to cities such as Clare, Mt. Pleasant, Lansing, and Jackson. At Mackinaw City, I-75 crosses the Mackinac Bridge to reach the Upper Peninsula. It is the only Interstate located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and it continues to where the road terminates at the Canadian border in Sault Ste. Marie.

On the Canadian side, drivers must use a series of city streets in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario to reach Highway 17, the local route of the Trans-Canada Highway.

History

This limited access highway that was planned in the 1950s roughly follows the general route of many older at-grade highways, including U.S. Route 2, U.S. Route 27, U.S. Route 25, and U.S. Route 41, among others. Some of these older U.S. Routes (several of which are still in existence) previously had replaced the eastern route of the old Dixie Highway.

Interstate 75 was planned to end in Tampa, Florida, in the original plan for 41,000 miles of interstate highways. However, beginning in the 1960s, there was a huge growth in the population of southwestern Florida (Sarasota, Ft. Myers, Naples, Cape Coral, etc.), hence the need for new highways, especially a north-south expressway, as well as one connecting Florida's Gulf Coast to South Florida. ^[6] At first, Florida state legislators proposed a toll in the new highway, but by 1968, it was decided that the Federal Government would pay 90% towards the extension of I-75 to southwestern and southeastern Florida.^[7] This included subsuming a privately-owned toll highway from Naples to the Fort Lauderdale area, the Alligator Alley, and furthermore to connect this expressway with Interstate 95 in North Miami -- though due to some local opposition, I-75 presently ends a few miles short of I-95.

On December 21, 1977, I-75 was completed from Tampa to Sault Ste. Marie with its final segment opening between northern Marietta, Georgia, and Cartersville, Georgia. Then the final stretch of Interstate 75 in South Florida was completed in 1986 in Miami-Dade County and Broward County, but the last stretch to receive the signs for I - 75 was the reconstructed (rebuilt and widened) Alligator Alley on November 25, 1992.^[8]

Major intersections

• Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike near Miami Lakes, Florida (southbound exit and northbound entrance)
• Interstate 595 in Davie, Florida, serving Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
• Interstate 275 near Parrish, Florida
• Florida State Road 60 near Brandon, Florida
• Interstate 4 near Tampa, Florida
• Interstate 275 near Lutz, Florida
• Interstate 10 in Lake City, Florida
• Interstate 475 around Macon, Georgia (twice).
• Interstate 16 in Macon, Georgia (Map)
• Interstate 675 near Stockbridge, Georgia
• Interstate 285 outside Atlanta (loop around the city), on the southeast side in Clayton County and on the northwest side near Marietta (twice)
• Interstate 85 in Atlanta. They stay connected for several miles through downtown on a highway known as the Downtown Connector.
• Interstate 20 in Atlanta
• Interstate 24 in Chattanooga, Tennessee
• Interstate 40 near Lenoir City, Tennessee. They stay connected until Knoxville, Tennessee.
• Interstate 64 in Lexington, Kentucky. They stay connected for 6 miles (9.7 km) to the east of downtown Lexington.
• Interstate 71 in Walton, Kentucky. They stay connected until Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Interstate 275 in Erlanger, Kentucky (loop around Cincinnati), and again in Sharonville, Ohio
• Interstate 74 in Cincinnati
• Interstate 675 in Miamisburg, Ohio (south of Dayton)
• Interstate 70 in Vandalia, Ohio (near Dayton)
• Interstate 80 / 90 (Ohio Turnpike) in Rossford, Ohio (near Toledo)
• Interstate 475 in Perrysburg and Toledo, Ohio
• Interstate 280 in Toledo, Ohio
• Interstate 275 in Newport, Michigan
• Interstate 96 (Jeffries Freeway) in Detroit, Michigan
• M-10 (Lodge Freeway) in Detroit
• Interstate 375 in Detroit
• Interstate 94 (Ford Freeway) in Detroit
• M-8 (Davison Freeway) in Detroit
• Interstate 696 (Walter P. Reuther Freeway) north of Detroit
• Interstate 69 in Flint, Michigan
• Interstate 475 in Flint
• Interstate 675 in Saginaw, Michigan
• US 10 west of Bay City, Michigan
• US 2 in St. Ignace, Michigan

Auxiliary routes

• Tampa, Florida/St. Petersburg, Florida - I-175 (1.294 mi/2.08 km), I-275 (63.387 mi/102.01 km), I-375 (1.220 mi/1.96 km)
• Macon, Georgia - I-475
• Atlanta, Georgia - I-675
• Suburban Spur to Canton, Georgia, I-575 in the Atlanta area
• Knoxville, Tennessee - I-275
• Knoxville, Tennessee - I-640
• Cincinnati, Ohio - I-275
• Dayton, Ohio - I-675
• Toledo, Ohio - I-475
• Detroit, Michigan - I-275, I-375
• Flint, Michigan - I-475
• Saginaw, Michigan - I-675

References

• 2005 Rand McNally Road Atlas
• FDOT GIS data and pavement management reports
• Georgia Department of Transportation, Office of Transportation Data (2003). Interstate Mileage Report (438 Report). http://www.dot.state.ga.us/DOT/plan-prog/transportation_data/400reports/2003/dpp438_2003.pdf. 

External links

• Interstate 75 at Michigan Highways
• Interstate 75 on Cincinnati-Transit.net