June 2019 Road Construction I 65 Indiana

Highway in Indiana and Kentucky

Not to be confused with the former Interstate 265 in Tennessee.

Interstate 265 and Kentucky Route 841

Gene Snyder Freeway

I-265 highlighted in red, KY 841 highlighted in blue

Route information

Auxiliary route of I-65

Maintained by INDOT and KYTC

Length

52 mi^[1] (84 km)

I-265: 41.8 miles (67.3 km)
(28.7 miles (46.2 km) co-signed as KY 841)
KY 841: 10.2 miles (16.4 km)

Existed

1977–present

Component
highways

I-265 from New Albany, IN to Louisville, KY

KY 841 in Louisville, KY

Restrictions

No hazardous goods allowed on the Lewis and Clark Bridge and East End Tunnel

Major junctions

Beltway around Louisville, KY

CCW end

I-64 / US 150 / SR 62 near New Albany, IN

Major intersections

I-65 near Jeffersonville, IN

I-71 in Louisville, KY

I-64 in Louisville, KY

I-65 in Louisville, KY

CW end

US 31W / US 60 / KY 1934 in Louisville, KY

Location

States

Kentucky, Indiana

Counties

KY: Jefferson
IN: Clark, Floyd

Highway system

Interstate Highway System

Main
Auxiliary
Suffixed
Business
Future

Indiana Highways

Interstate
US
State
Scenic

Highways in Kentucky

Interstate
US
State
Parkways


← SR 264	IN	→ SR 267
← I-264	KY	→ KY 266
← KY 788	KY 841	→ KY 864

Interstate 265 (I-265) is a 41.8-mile (67.3 km) Interstate Highway partially encircling the Louisville, Kentucky, metropolitan area, which includes Southern Indiana. Starting from I-65 in the southern part of Louisville, it runs through Jefferson County, Kentucky, crosses the Ohio River on the Lewis and Clark Bridge into Indiana, where it meets I-65 again before continuing west to I-64, where it ends.

The entire Kentucky stretch of the road is co-signed with Kentucky Route 841 (KY 841). An additional 10.2-mile-long (16.4 km) stretch of freeway between US 31W/US 60/KY 1934 and I-65 in the southern Louisville is solely designated as KY 841. The highway is named the Gene Snyder Freeway (originally named the Jefferson Freeway), after the former congressman, and usually called "the Snyder" by locals.^{[ citation needed ]}

Route description [edit]

Lengths
	mi^[1]	km
IN	13.1	21.1
KY	38.9	62.6
Total	52	83.7

Indiana [edit]

I-265 in the U.S. state of Indiana presently runs 13.1 miles (21.1 km)^[2] from I-64 at the western edge of New Albany to the Lewis and Clark Bridge near Utica. Beginning at its western terminus, the freeway is concurrent with Indiana State Road 62 until Exit 10.

Kentucky [edit]

I-265 in the U.S. state of Kentucky presently runs 38.9 miles (62.6 km)^[2] from the Lewis and Clark Bridge in northern Louisville to an interchange with I-65 in southern Louisville. The entire freeway is concurrent with Kentucky Route 841.

The Gene Snyder Freeway in which KY 841 and I-265 overlap for 24.477 miles (39.392 km) between I-65 and the Indiana state line 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. Driver inattention and increased traffic and congestion has led to a decline in the overall level-of-service. In 2006, cable barriers were installed in the median for 10 miles (16 km) between I-71 and I-64, with further installation possible in the near future.^[3] Part of the road is currently signed in kilometers, which is unusual in the United States.^[4]

Kentucky Route 841 [edit]

Kentucky Route 841

Location	Louisville, Kentucky
Length	38.9 mi (62.6 km)

Kentucky Route 841 is a 38.9-mile-long (62.6 km) state highway in the suburbs of Louisville. The route is a partial beltway, encircling Louisville on its southern and eastern sides. Compass direction changes to the north and south of exit 23, Taylorsville Road interchange. The western terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 31W (US 31W) and US 60 in the southwest Louisville community of Valley Station, where KY 841 continues to the west as KY 1934 while the northern terminus is at the Lewis and Clark Bridge north of the north of the East End Tunnel. Even though the section between its terminus at KY 1934 and I-65 was built to Interstate Highway standards, it is designated only as KY 841 due to American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) numbering rules. The exit numbering for the entire beltway starts at the western terminus of KY 841.^{[ citation needed ]} The Kentucky Route 841 designation mostly concurrent with I-265 in Kentucky has remained.^[5]

History [edit]

Junction of US 31E and KY 841

Originally signed just as KY 841, the Jefferson Freeway was initially constructed in the 1960s in 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—as short connectors to the eastern suburban expansion as well as a new Ford plant. By 1970, I-264 had become very congested and was in need of reconstruction and other improvements. 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.

State Road 265

Location	Clarksville—Utica, Indiana
Length	6.2 mi (10.0 km)
Existed	1977–2019

The segment of the highway between I-65 and SR 60 at Exit 10 in Indiana was originally known as Indiana State Road 265. It was renumbered in June 2019 to I-265 after a new 7.7-mile (12.4 km) section of highway that includes the Lewis and Clark Bridge (known as the East End Bridge during planning and construction) fully opened to traffic on December 18, 2016. Negotiations between Indiana and Kentucky to build the bridge had taken place over the preceding 30 years.

Studies have been conducted for the reconfiguration of the I-265 and I-64 interchange. It is currently an cloverleaf with no collector–distributor lanes, a relic of the original Jefferson Freeway.^{[ citation needed ]}

In late 2005, members of the Louisville Metro Council proposed a committee to begin planning a western bridge over the Ohio River to link the southwestern end of the highway in Kentucky to Indiana.

On December 18, 2016, State Road 265 was extended east of State Road 62, which crosses the Ohio River connecting with KY 841, which was extended north of U.S. 42 in Kentucky as part of the Ohio River Bridges Project, creating a bypass around the eastern side of the city of Louisville.

Exit list [edit]

References [edit]

^ ^a ^b Adderly, Kevin (January 27, 2016). "Table 2: Auxiliary Routes of the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways as of December 31, 2015". Route Log and Finder List. Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
^ ^a ^b "INDOT Reference Post Book - July 2015" (PDF). Indiana Department of Transportation. Retrieved December 25, 2016.
^ Hogan, Doug (January 20, 2006). "Governor Fletcher & Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Move Forward with Safety Measures for Interstate Highways: Median Cable Barriers to Be Installed at Two Jefferson County Locations" (Press release). Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Archived from the original on September 27, 2006.
^ Stevens, Ashlie (June 14, 2019). "Curious Louisville: Why Is A Stretch Of Louisville Highway Measured In Kilometers?". 89.3 WFPL News Louisville.
^ https://s3.amazonaws.com/v3-app_crowdc/assets/3/31/31119030d9a75754/Final_Report_to_CHS_USRN_Application_Results_Spring_2019.original.1558475352.pdf?1558475353