Interstate 65 in Kentucky

Interstate Highway in Kentucky, United States

This article is about the section of Interstate 65 in Kentucky. For the entire route, see Interstate 65.

I-71 in Louisville
North end	I-65 at Indiana state line
Location
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
Counties	Simpson, Warren, Edmonson, Barren, Hart, LaRue, Hardin, Bullitt, Jefferson
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Kentucky State Highway System Interstate US State Parkways
← I-64 → KY 66

Interstate 65 (I-65) enters the US state of Kentucky from Tennessee, five miles (8.0 km) south of Franklin. It passes by the major cities of Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, and Louisville before exiting the state into Indiana

Along its 137.32-mile (221.00 km) length in Kentucky,[1] major attractions I-65 passes include the National Corvette Museum, Mammoth Cave National Park, Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, and Fort Knox before entering the state's largest metropolitan area, Louisville.

It has interchanges with three of the state's

I-65 also has interchanges with

The highway crosses the line between the Central Time Zone and Eastern Time Zone at the border of Hart and LaRue counties.

For most of 2016, the Ohio River Bridges Project routed all I-65 traffic onto the Abraham Lincoln Bridge (a six-lane cable-stayed bridge now carrying only northbound traffic) while rebuilding the deck of the 1963 John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge to accommodate six lanes of all-southbound traffic. The project is also completing the rebuild of the Kennedy Interchange just south of both bridges in Downtown Louisville.^[2] On December 30, 2016, both I-65 bridges began using electronic toll collection (ETC) to charge motorists for their use of this previously toll-free Interstate crossing.^[3]

History

When Interstate 65 signs first went up in Kentucky, state policy dictated that KY 65, a north–south route west of I-65, be renumbered. It was designated

Kentucky Turnpike

From July 25, 1954, until June 30, 1975, the portion of I-65 from I-264 in Louisville to the Western Kentucky Parkway in Elizabethtown was a

In addition to toll plazas, the Kentucky Turnpike also provided two service areas just south of Lebanon Junction and just north of Shepherdsville. They each provided a gas station and at least one fast food restaurant.[6] They both closed May 31, 1984. The former service areas were located in the median between the northbound and southbound lanes, and, when the former Turnpike was reconstructed into Interstate Highway standards in the early 1980s, this necessitated the removal of left exit and entrance ramps from the primary travel lanes. Initially, the rebuilt highway was routed around the service areas: to the east of the Shepherdsville service area allowing only southbound access and to the west of the Lebanon Junction service area allowing only northbound access; however, this arrangement was incompatible with the existing contracts with concession operators at the service areas. These contracts specified that both service areas would be accessible to both northbound and southbound traffic. Faced with either the construction of expensive crossover ramps at both locations or buying out the concession contracts, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) elected to buy out the concession contracts and close both service areas.^[7]

21st century

On November 15, 2006, the stretch of I-65 from Bowling Green to Louisville was renamed the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Highway.^[8]

On February 12, 2007, a bill passed the Kentucky Senate to rename I-65 in Jefferson County the "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway".^[9] Signage was posted July 25, 2007.^[10]

On July 15, 2007, Kentucky officially raised its speed limits on Interstate and state parkway highways to 70 mph (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).^[11]

In 2008, Governor Steve Beshear ordered the entire route to be widened to a minimum of six lanes through the entire state. This project won an award under the "Under Budget—Medium" category in the Southeast Regional competition of the 2014 America's Transportation Awards.^[12] The project was completed spring of 2019 with the final 10-mile (16 km) stretch between Sonora and Elizabethtown. ^{[citation needed]}

In July 2017, the KYTC opened a new interchange of I-65 at milemarker 30 to provide access to the Kentucky Transpark near Bowling Green. The $66.8-million project, which began in 2016, would improve traffic conditions along I-65 and

]

Exit list

County	Location	mi[14]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Kentucky–Tennessee line		0.00	0.00		I-65 south – Nashville	Continuation into Tennessee
				121	SR 109 (Vaughn Parkway) – Portland, Welcome Center	Exit number based on Tennessee mileage; southbound collector-distributor lane provides access to and from interchange and Welcome Center, and begins in Kentucky; opened on November 27, 2019[15]
US 31W (Main Street) – Franklin
	5.979	9.622	6	KY 100 (Scottsville Road) – Scottsville, Franklin
Warren	​	20.568	33.101	20	I-165 north / KY 9007 south – Owensboro, Scottsville	Formerly signed as exits 20A and 20B (former-William H. Natcher Parkway); southern terminus of I-165; northern terminus of KY 9007; I-165 exits 1B-A; KY 9007 exits 1A-B
	Bowling Green	22.388	36.030	22	US 231 (Scottsville Road) – Scottsville, Bowling Green
	​	25.732	41.412	26	KY 234 (Cemetery Road) – Bowling Green
	US 31W – Bowling Green	Serves National Corvette Museum
	​			30	US 68 – Bowling Green	Serves Kentucky Transpark; exit opened July 6, 2017[16][17]
	Oakland	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	US 68 – Smiths Grove, Scottsville	Also serves Nolin River Reservoir
Barren	​	43.135	69.419	43	Cumberland Parkway east – Somerset, Glasgow	Cumberland Parkway exit 1A-B; Future I-365
Edmonson	No major junctions
US 31W – Park City, Brownsville	Serves Mammoth Cave National Park
		Cave City	52.423	84.367	53	KY 70 (Mammoth Cave Road) to KY 90 – Cave City, Glasgow
KY 335 – Horse Cave
	US 31W (Main Street) – Munfordville
	​	70.407	113.309	71	Central time zone
Eastern time zone
US 31W – Sonora
	​	85.686	137.898	86	US 31W – Glendale
	US 31W / KY 61 / Western Kentucky Parkway – Hodgenville, Paducah, Elizabethtown	Southbound exit to Dixie Avenue, Serves Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park; WK Parkway exit 137
		93.345	150.224	93	trumpet interchange
		94.154	151.526	94	US 62 (Mulberry Street) / 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 (Preston Highway) – Boston, Lebanon Junction
	​	111.773	179.881	112	KY 245 (Clermont Road) – Bardstown, Clermont
	Shepherdsville			114	KY 3538 (Ohm Drive) to KY 61 – Shepherdsville	Exit opened March 1, 2021[18]
		115.574	185.998	116	KY 480 (Cedar Grove Road) to KY 61
		116.639	187.712	117	KY 44 (4th Street) – Mt. Washington, Shepherdsville
	​	121.722	195.893	121	KY 1526 (John Harper Highway)
KY 841	I-265 exit 10; signed as exits 125A (east) & 125B (west) northbound
	​	126.746	203.978	127	Okolona, Fairdale	Southbound split exit (east) and (west)
	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	No access back to I-65 Northbound (must use exit 133 from Warnock Street)
		132.955	213.970	133	Eastern Parkway )	No access from I-65 Southbound to (Eastern Parkway, must use Arthur Street)or back to I-65 northbound (must use Warnock Street for I-65 North)
		133.767	215.277	134	KY 61 south (Arthur Street)	South end of KY 61 overlap; no northbound exit to Preston Street
		133.978	215.617	134A	KY 61 north (Preston 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	Muhammad Ali Boulevard, Jefferson Street – Downtown Louisville
		136.421	219.548	137	I-71 north – Lexington, St. Louis, Cincinnati	I-64 exit 5; I-71 exit 1; last free exit before toll bridge
Ohio River		137.318	220.992	Abraham Lincoln Bridge (northbound toll; E-ZPass or pay-by-plate) John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge (southbound toll; E-ZPass or pay-by-plate)
					Indianapolis	Continuation into Indiana
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Electronic toll collection       Incomplete access

Auxiliary routes

• I-165: A spur running from I-65 in Bowling Green to Owensboro. Formerly the William H. Natcher Parkway.
• 
  KY 841 for its entire length and is known as the Gene Snyder Freeway. Construction of the Lewis and Clark Bridge
  over the Ohio River to connect the Kentucky segment of I-265 with the Indiana segment was completed and opened to traffic on December 18, 2016.
• 
  I-365: This is the future designation of the Cumberland Parkway
  once the latter is upgraded to interstate standards.

• Ohio River Bridges Project
• Roads in Louisville, Kentucky

References

External links

KML file (edit • help)

Template:Attached KML/Interstate 65 in Kentucky

KML is from Wikidata

• Media related to Interstate 65 in Kentucky at Wikimedia Commons

Interstate 65
Previous state: Tennessee	Kentucky	Next state: Indiana