Interstate 65 in Kentucky

Interstate 65
Route information
Maintained by Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
Length:	137.32 mi[1] (221.00 km)
Existed:	1956 – present
Major junctions
South end:	I-65 at Tennessee state line
	US 231 in Bowling Green US 68 in Oakland US 62 in Elizabethtown I-265 in Louisville I-264 in Louisville US 60 in Louisville US 150 in Louisville I-64 / I-71 in Louisville
North end:	I-65 at Indiana state line
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Highways in Kentucky Interstate US State Parkways ← I-64 KY 66 →

In the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky, Interstate 65 enters the state 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Franklin. It passes by the major cities of Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, and Louisville before exiting the state.

Route description

Throughout its length, it passes Mammoth Cave National Park, 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 Louie B. Nunn 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 Abraham Lincoln Bridge, while southbound I-65 traffic enters Kentucky from Indiana on the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge.

Interstate 65 northbound at the William H. Natcher Parkway in Bowling Green, Kentucky, with Clearview font signage

Both of the Ford Motor Company truck plants in Louisville are accessible—the Louisville Assembly Plant, which currently builds the Escape SUV, is directly accessible from I-65, while Kentucky Truck Assembly, makers of the F250+ and Expedition/Navigator SUV, is accessed via I-265.

Worldport, UPS' main worldwide air cargo hub and sorting facility, is located at Louisville International Airport, the seventh busiest cargo airport in the world^[2] and adjacent to Interstate 65 at MM 128-131.

In Bowling Green, I-65 comes within proximity of a GM plant which makes the Chevrolet Corvette sports car, as well as the adjacent National Corvette Museum.

The highway crosses between the Central and Eastern Time Zones at the border of Hart and LaRue Counties, respectively.

Through 2016, the Ohio River Bridges Project is constructing a new 6-lane Cable-stayed bridge (eventually all-Northbound) at Louisville and rebuilding the I-65/I-64/I-71 convergence interchange just south of I-65's existing (1963) John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge, to become 6-lanes all-Southbound after completion of the new bridge and the Kennedy Bridge re-hab. Another 4-lane Cable-stayed bridge is also under construction 12 miles upstream on the Ohio, to complete the I-265 loop around fast-growing urbanized Louisville.

History

Kentucky Turnpike shield

From July 25, 1954 until June 30, 1975, the portion from the outskirts of Louisville to Elizabethtown was a toll road bearing the Kentucky Turnpike name. It was signed with a distinctive sign featuring a cardinal, the state bird of Kentucky. Unlike most states, Kentucky law requires that tolls be removed when the original construction bonds are paid off. The road was thus the first of the state's extensive system of toll roads to be made free.^[3] Unlike the other roads, which maintain their separate names when becoming toll-free, the Kentucky Turnpike signs were removed. It is today almost impossible to find any traces of its former toll status; even the old trumpet interchanges characteristic of toll roads have been removed and replaced with diamond interchanges characteristic of a free Limited access highway.

On November 15, 2006, the stretch of I-65 from Bowling Green to Louisville was renamed the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Highway.^[4]

On February 12, 2007, a bill passed the Kentucky Senate to rename I-65 in Jefferson County the "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway".^[5] Signage was posted July 25, 2007.^[6]

On July 15, 2007, Kentucky officially raised its speed limits on Interstate and State Parkway Highways to 70 miles per hour (110 km/h). Until that date, Kentucky was the only state along I-65's path that had a speed limit of 65 mph (105 km/h).^[7]

In 2008, Governor Steve Beshear ordered the entire route to be widened to a minimum of six lanes through the entire state. As of 2016,the majority of this project is complete.

Exit list

County	Location	mi[8]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Simpson		0.00	0.00	I-65 continues south into Tennessee
		1.980	3.187	2	US 31W – Franklin
		5.979	9.622	6	KY 100 – Scottsville, Franklin
Warren		20.568	33.101	20	Natcher Parkway – Owensboro, Bowling Green
	Bowling Green	22.388	36.030	22	US 231 – Scottsville, Bowling Green
		25.732	41.412	26	KY 234 – Bowling Green
	Bowling Green	28.066	45.168	28	KY 446 to US 31W – Bowling Green
	Oakland	35.631	57.343	36	US 68 / KY 80 – Oakland	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Smiths Grove	37.578	60.476	38	KY 101 to US 68 – Smiths Grove, Scottsville
Barren		43.135	69.419	43	Cumberland Parkway – Somerset, Glasgow	Cumberland Parkway exits 0A-B.
	Park City	47.371	76.236	48	KY 255 – Park City, Brownsville	Serves Mammoth Cave National Park
	Cave City	52.423	84.367	53	KY 70 / KY 90 – Cave City, Glasgow	Serves Mammoth Cave National Park
Hart		57.627	92.742	58	KY 218 to KY 335 – Horse Cave
	Munfordville	64.200	103.320	65	US 31W – Munfordville
		70.407	113.309	71	KY 728 – Bonnieville
LaRue	Upton	75.896	122.143	76	KY 224 – Upton
Hardin	Sonora	80.457	129.483	81	KY 84 – Sonora
		85.686	137.898	86	KY 222 – Glendale
	Elizabethtown	91.086	146.589	91	US 31W / KY 61 / Western Kentucky Parkway – Hodgenville, Paducah, Elizabethtown	Serves Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park; WKP exits 137A-B.
		93.345	150.224	93	Bluegrass Parkway – Lexington, Bardstown
		94.154	151.526	94	US 62 / KY 61 – Elizabethtown
		102.533	165.011	102	KY 313 (Joe Prather Highway) – Radcliff, Vine Grove
Bullitt	Lebanon Junction	104.698	168.495	105	KY 61 – Boston, Lebanon Junction
		111.773	179.881	112	KY 245 – Bardstown, Clermont
	Shepherdsville	115.574	185.998	116	KY 480 to KY 61
		116.639	187.712	117	KY 44 – Mt. Washington, Shepherdsville
		121.722	195.893	121	KY 1526 (Brooks Road)
Jefferson		125.143	201.398	125	I-265 east (Gene Snyder Freeway) / KY 841	I-265 east exit 10, west exits 10A-B; signed as exits 125A (east) & 125B (west) northbound.
		126.746	203.978	127	KY 1065 (Outer Loop) – Okolona, Fairdale
	Louisville	128.328	206.524	128	KY 1747 (Fern Valley Road)
		129.802	208.896	130	KY 61 (Preston Highway) / Grade Lane
		130.710	210.357	131A	I-264 (Watterson Expressway) – Louisville International Airport	I-264 exit 12; signed as exits 131A (east) and 131B (west) southbound.
		130.792	210.489	131B	Kentucky Exposition Center
		132.601	213.401	132	KY 1631 (Crittenden Drive) – Kentucky Exposition Center
		132.955	213.970	133	US 60 Alt. (Eastern Parkway)
		133.767	215.277	134	KY 61 south (Arthur Street)	South end of KY 61 overlap; no northbound exit
		133.978	215.617	134A	KY 61 north (Jackson Street)	North end of KY 61 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance
		134.145	215.885	134B	Woodbine Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		134.675	216.738	135	St. Catherine Street west
		135.195– 135.384	217.575– 217.879	136A	Chestnut Street, Broadway (US 150)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		135.649	218.306	136B	Brook Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		135.649– 135.919	218.306– 218.740	136C as the north and 136 as the south	Muhammad Ali Boulevard, Jefferson Street – Downtown Louisville	Exit 136 as the southbound exit and Exit 136C as the northbound exit
		136.421	219.548	137	I-64 / I-71 north – Lexington, St. Louis, Cincinnati	I-64 east exits 5A-B, west exit 5A; I-71 south to 64 west exit 1A; to 65 no number signed
Ohio River		137.318	220.992	John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge I-65 continues north into Indiana
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

Auxiliary Routes

• I-265: Forms part of an incomplete beltway around Metro Louisville. The signage runs from I-65 to I-71 on the northeast side of the Metro. It is cosigned with KY 841 for its entire length and is known as the Gene Snyder Freeway. Construction is under way on an East End Bridge over the Ohio River to connect the Kentucky segment of I-265 with the Indiana segment.

See also

• Ohio River Bridges Project
• Roads in Louisville, Kentucky

References

Route map: Bing / Google

Interstate 65
Previous state: Tennessee	Kentucky	Next state: Indiana