Interstate 265 Totally Explained

Everything about Interstate 265 totally explained

Interstate 265 (abbreviated I-265) is an Interstate Highway ringing the Louisville, Kentucky metropolitan area, which includes southern Indiana, although the Indiana and Kentucky segments remain separate at the present time. In Kentucky it only runs through Jefferson County, from Interstate 71 in northeastern Louisville to Interstate 65 in the southern part of the city. The entire Kentucky stretch of the road is co-signed with KY 841. The highway is named the Gene Snyder Freeway (initially named the "Jefferson Freeway"), after the former congressman, and usually called "the Snyder" by locals. It is considered part of Louisville's "beltline".
   In Indiana, I-265 runs from I-64 in western Floyd County to I-65 in Clark County and is known as the Lee H. Hamilton Highway. East of I-65, the freeway continues as State Road 265 (Clark Maritime Highway) until intersecting State Road 62 (Charlestown Pike). This stretch is scheduled to be extended east across the Ohio River, where it'll eventually link up with its Kentucky counterpart, creating a bypass around the eastern side of the city. Currently, construction is slated for completion in 2018.
   In late 2005 members of Louisville's Metro Council proposed a committee to begin planning a western bridge to link the southwestern end of the highway to Indiana as well.
   Interstate 265 was also a bypass linking Interstates 65 and 40 north of downtown Nashville, Tennessee. It was decommissioned in 2000 and became part of a rerouted I-65.

Route description

|- |IN || 6.73 || 10.83 |- |KY || 24.48 || 38.40 |- |Total || 31.21 || 50.23 |}

Indiana

State Road 265 in the U.S. State of Indiana is a two mile, divided four-lane freeway that runs east-to-west for two miles, connecting Interstate 65 with SR 265 north of Jeffersonville. It overlaps State Road 62 for its entire length. The freeway is scheduled to become an extension of Interstate 265 when the East End Bridge, part of the Ohio River Bridges Project, is completed.

East End Bridge

In various discussions for over 30 years, the East End Bridge is part of a new 6.5 mile highway that will connect Interstate 265 in Indiana to Interstate 265 in Kentucky. The completion of the bridge would connect the two disjointed interstates and form a 3/4 beltway around the Louisville, Kentucky metro area. There is currently no plan to construct a bridge on the west end of Interstate 265.

Kentucky

Kentucky Route 841 is a 37.006 mile (59.555 km) long state highway in the suburbs of Louisville, Kentucky. The route is a partial beltway, encircling Louisville on its southern and eastern sides. The western terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 31W and U.S. Route 60 in Valley Station southwest of Louisville, where KY 841 continues to the west as Kentucky Route 1934. The eastern terminus is at U.S. Route 42 in Prospect northeast of downtown Louisville.
KY 841 and Interstate 265 overlap for 24.477 miles between Interstate 65 exit 125 and Interstate 71 exit 9.

Safety issues

The Gene Snyder Freeway, from Interstate 65 to Interstate 71 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. Its concrete pavement, which was diamond-ground in the late-1990's, made the pavement quite slick in wet weather. Driver inattention and increased traffic and congestion has led to a decline in the overall level-of-service. In 2006, cable medians were installed in the 10 mile stretch from Interstate 71 to Interstate 64, with further installation possible in the near future. (External Link

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History

Originally signed just as KY 841, the Jefferson Freeway was constructed originally with 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 in the 1960s as short connectors to the eastern suburban expansion as well as a new automobile plant. I-264 by 1970 was woefully congested and was in dire need of reconstruction and other improvements, therefore 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.
   The road is signed Interstate 265 from the I-65 interchange to the I-71 interchange. From I-65 west to US 31W (although it's up to interstate standards) and I-71 north/west to US 42, is signed as KY 841 due to AASHTO numbering rules. KY 841 is signed throughout the entire designation of Interstate 265. The exit numbering for the entire beltway starts at the western terminus of KY 841.
   Reconstruction efforts have been continuing on several segments of I-265. The concrete used in the mid-sections of I-64 and the western segments of KY 841 have caused many dips and rough spots to the point where diamond grinding, or the patching and then the regrooving of the pavement was necessary.
   Studies have also been conducted for the reconfiguration of the I-265 and I-64 interchange. It is currently an underpowered cloverleaf with no collector-distributor lanes, a relic of the original Jefferson Freeway.

Exit list

County	Location	#	Destinations	Notes
Jefferson		1
		3	Stonestreet Road
		6	New Cut Road
		8
		10	- Nashville, Louisville	West end of I-265; signed as exits 10A (north) and 10B (south) westbound
		12
		14	Smyrna Road
		15
		17
		19
		23
	Middletown	25		Signed as exits 25A (east) and 25B (west)
	Middletown	27
		29
		30
		32
		34
		35	- Cincinnati, Louisville	Temporary north end of I-265; signed as exits 35A (east) and 35B (west)
				Temporary north end of KY 841
Proposed bridge over the Ohio River
Clark		10		Temporary east end of SR 265 and of the SR 62 overlap; signed as exits 10A (west) and 10B (east) eastbound
Clark	Clarksville	7	, Louisville	Temporary east end of I-265; signed as exits 7A (north) and 7B (south) westbound
Floyd	New Albany	4
		3
		1	State Street
		0	, Louisville, St. Louis	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; both ramps are signed as exit 0

Further Information

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