Interstate 65 in Kentucky

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

Interstate 65
Route information
Maintained by Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
Length:	137.32 mi (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
Main route of the Interstate Highway System Main • Auxiliary • Business Highways in Kentucky Interstates • US • State • Parkways ← I-64 KY 66 →

In the U.S. state of Kentucky, Interstate 65 enters the state five miles (8 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 near Mammoth Cave National Park, Crystal Onyx Cave, Diamond Caverns, 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 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 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 Explorer SUV plant is directly accessible from I-65 while the Kentucky Truck Plant, makers of the F-350 and Excursion SUV, is accessed via I-265.

In Bowling Green, I-65 comes within proximity of a GM plant, which makes the Chevrolet Corvette sports car, as well as the Cadillac XLR luxury roadster.

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

History

At one time, 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. 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.^{[citation needed]}

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

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

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).

Exit list

County	Location	Mile	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Simpson		1.980	2	US 31W – Franklin
		5.979	6	KY 100 – Scottsville, Franklin
Warren		20.568	20	Wm.H. Natcher Pkwy. – Owensboro, Bowling Green
	Bowling Green	22.388	22	US 231 – Scottsville, Bowling Green
		25.732	26	KY 234 – Bowling Green
	Bowling Green	28.066	28	KY 446 to US 31W – Bowling Green
	Oakland	35.631	36	US 68 / KY 80 – Oakland	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Smiths Grove	37.578	38	KY 101 to US 68 – Smiths Grove, Scottsville
Barren		43.135	43	Cumberland Pkwy. – Somerset, Glasgow
	Park City	47.371	48	KY 255 – Park City, Brownsville
	Cave City	52.423	53	KY 70 / KY 90 – Cave City, Glasgow
Hart		57.627	58	KY 218 to KY 335 – Horse Cave
	Munfordville	64.200	65	US 31W – Munfordville
		70.407	71	KY 728 – Bonnieville
LaRue	Upton	75.896	76	KY 224 – Upton
Hardin	Sonora	80.457	81	KY 84 – Sonora
		85.686	86	KY 222 – Glendale
	Elizabethtown	91.086	91	US 31W / KY 61 / Western Kentucky Pkwy. – Hodgenville, Paducah, Elizabethtown
		93.345	93	Bluegrass Pkwy. – Lexington, Bardstown
		94.154	94	US 62 / KY 61 – Elizabethtown
		102.533	102	KY 313 (Joe Prather Highway) – Radcliff, Vine Grove
Bullitt	Lebanon Junction	104.698	105	KY 61 – Boston, Lebanon Junction
		111.773	112	KY 245 – Bardstown, Clermont
	Shepherdsville	115.574	116	KY 480 to KY 61
		116.639	117	KY 44 – Mt. Washington, Shepherdsville
		121.722	121	KY 1526 (Brooks Road)
Jefferson		125.143	125	I-265 east (Gene Snyder Freeway) / KY 841	Signed as exits 125A (east) and 125B (west) northbound
		126.746	126	KY 1065 (Outer Loop) – Okolona, Fairdale
	Louisville	128.328	128	KY 1747 (Fern Valley Road)
		129.802	130	KY 61 (Preston Highway) / Grade Lane
		130.710	131A	I-264 (Watterson Expressway) – Louisville International Airport	Signed as exits 131A (east) and 131B (west) southbound
		130.792	131B	Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center
		132.601	132	Crittenden Drive (KY 1631) – Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center	No northbound exit
		132.955	133	US 60 Alt. (Eastern Parkway)	Signed as exits 133A (east) and 133B (west) northbound
		133.767	134	KY 61 south (Arthur Street)	South end of KY 61 overlap; no northbound exit
		133.978	134A	KY 61 north (Jackson Street)	North end of KY 61 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance
		134.145	134B	Woodbine Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		134.675	135	St. Catherine Street west
		135.195- 135.384	136A	Chestnut Street, Broadway (US 150)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		135.649	136B	Brook Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		135.649- 135.919	136C	Muhammad Ali Boulevard, Jefferson Street – Downtown Louisville
		136.421	137	I-64 / I-71 north – Lexington, St. Louis, Cincinnati
			John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge over the Ohio River (state line)
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

Interstate 65
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