Interstate 565

Interstate 565
Route information
Maintained by ALDOT
Length	21.688 mi (34.903 km)
Existed	1991–present
NHS	Entire route
Major junctions
West end	I-65 / SR 20 in Decatur
East end	US 72 in Huntsville
Location
Country	United States
State	Alabama
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Alabama State Highway System Interstate US State
← I-459 → SR 604

Interstate 565 (I-565) is a 22-mile (35 km) long Interstate spur that connects Interstate 65 (I-65) in Decatur, Alabama with U.S. Highway 72 in Huntsville, Alabama.

I-565 serves the cities of Decatur, Madison, and downtown Huntsville. It also provides a route to the Huntsville International Airport.

I-565 forms a part of Appalachian Development Highway System Corridor V. U.S. Highway 72 Alternate also follows this entire route of I-565.

History

When the routes of the Interstate Highway System were first laid out during the 1950s Interstate 65 was routed on nearly a north-south bee line connecting Nashville, Tenn., and Birmingham, Ala. Hence, it passed just to the east of Decatur, Alabama, which was also a major riverport on the Tennessee River at that time. Also, at that time, Huntsville, Ala., was merely a small town in Madison County, Ala., - much smaller than Decatur was, located in the next county to the east.

Then, during the late 1950s and the 1960s Huntsville underwent population boom due to the growth of the U.S. Army Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal and the establishment and rapid growth of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Marshall Space Flight Center, which was located on the same area of land that had been purchased by the Federal Government for the purposes of the Arsenal during the Second World War.

By about 1967, Huntsville had grown to more than twice the size of Decatur, and more growth was planned there, yet Huntsville was without any freeway connection with the outside world. Then, it became clear that an Interstate Highway spur route would become desirable to connect Huntsville with its nearest Interstate Highway, Interstate 65. This spur highway would provide Huntsville with a freeway connection to such cities as Birmingham (the largest city in Alabama), Montgomery, Ala. (the state capital city), [[Nashville, TN}Nashville, Tenn.]] (that state's capital city), Tuscaloosa (the location of the main campus of the University of Alabama, and Auburn, Ala. (the location of the major university, Auburn University.) The Interstate Highway spur route number I - 565 was chosen for the proposed freeway. Furthermore, it was eventually decided that rather than terminating at the western edge of Huntsville (somewhere near the Marshall S.F.C., the Redstone Arsenal, and the new University of Alabama at Huntsville, I - 565 carved it path farther eastward, providing an east-west freeway for Huntsville, whereas it had formerly possessed no freeways at all. On the eastern edge of Huntsville, I - 565 was designed and constructed to feed into U.S. Highway 72. At the same time that I - 565 was being constucted, U.S. 72 was being widened to a four-lane superhighway all the way from eastern Huntsville to South Pittsburg, Tenn., were it feeds into Interstate 24, and via that highway, to Chattanooga, Tenn.

The actual highway construction of I - 565 was finally begun in 1987, and the freeway was completed over its entire distance on October 26, 1991. By the time that the construction had begun, Huntsville had become the most populous city in the contiguous United States which was not connected to the Interstate Higway System. [[[Anchorage, Alaska]], and Honolulu, Hawaii, were larger, but they are not located in one of the 48 contiguous states.]

When I - 565 was first opened, it had road signs indicating it as a north–south highway. This provided a good deal of confusion, since this freeway run actually east–west according to reading either the compass or reading maps. I - 565 was officially re-designated as an east–west freeway not too long after October 1991.

Unlike many urban Interstate Highwayss which have a uniform speed limit of 55 mph (), I - 565 runs across open countryside for about 25 miles, and the speed limit there is 70 mph (110 km/hr). Thus speed limit continues somewhat beyond the western city limits of Huntsville, and even where the population density increases, the speed limit drops just to 65 mph (100 km/hr). Part of this highway is an elevated highway, and that cuts down on the amount of road noise that it projects into its nearby, residences, businesses, and schools.

On November 20, 2006, a school bus carrying high school students collided with another vehicle or swerved to avoid a collision and drove off an elevated on-ramp to the roadway, falling nose-first approximately 30 feet (9.1 m) to the ground. Four teenage girls were killed in the accident. See 2006 Huntsville bus accident.

Future

Plans are currently in place to extend I-565 east several miles past the junction of U.S. Highway 72 along a newly upgraded freeway section of US-72 east of Huntsville. Construction could start on two new exits at Moores Mill Road and Shields Road in 2009. Just south of Madison, plans are to provide an interchange between the highway and County Line Road to put less stress on the Wall-Triana interchange and allow quicker access to the western suburbs. Plans are also in place to extend I-565 west from the junction of I-65 along the route of SR-20 and Alternate US-72 to the junction with US-31 in the northern city limits of Decatur with eventual plans on building a new bridge over the Tennessee River connecting on the west side of Decatur. In January 2007, leaders in Northwest Alabama announced that they are launching a campaign to extend the planned I-565 spur west to Florence. I-565 is part of the route that would connect Memphis, Tennessee with Atlanta, Georgia via Rome, Georgia and Chattanooga, Tennessee as part of ISTEA High Priority Corridor 7.

Exit list

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Limestone	Decatur	0.000		SR 20 west (US-72 Alt. west) – Decatur	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		0.000	1	I-65 – Birmingham, Nashville	Signed as exits 1A (south) and 1B (north) eastbound
	Huntsville
			2	Mooresville Road
		3.477	3	Greenbrier Road
			5	Madison Boulevard, County Line Road	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; former SR-20 east
Madison			7	Huntsville International Airport
	Madison		8	Wall-Triana Highway, Madison Boulevard (SR-20)
	Huntsville	13.059	13	Madison Boulevard	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; former SR-20 west
		14.365	14	SR 255 north (Research Park Boulevard) – Redstone Arsenal Gate 9	Signed as exits 14A (Gate 9) and 14B (SR-255) westbound
			15	Madison Pike, Sparkman Drive, Bob Wallace Avenue	Entrance to U.S. Space and Rocket Center
		17.015	17A	SR 53 north (Jordan Lane) to US 72	Signed as exit 17 westbound
		17.381	17B	SR 53 south (Governors Drive)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		19.057	19	US 231 / US 431 (Memorial Parkway, SR-1)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; signed as exits 19A (south) and 19B (north)
		19.057	19B	US 231 / US 431 (Memorial Parkway, SR-1)Module:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			19C	Washington Street, Jefferson Street - Downtown	Signed as exit 19A westbound
			20	Oakwood Avenue, Andrew Jackson Way
		21.688	21	US 72 west (SR-2 west)
		21.688		US 72 east (SR-2 east)	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance

External links

• Interstate Guide I-565
• AA-Roads Corridor V / Corridor 7
• AA-Roads Corridor 11