Interstate 265

Interstate 265 and Kentucky Route 841
Gene Snyder Freeway
Wikimedia | © OpenStreetMap 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
Major junctions
Beltway around Louisville, KY
CCW end	I-64 / US 150 / SR 62 near New Albany, IN
	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[]

Indiana[]

Former State Road 265 (now I-265) at its former eastern terminus at State Road 62 (this interchange has since been reconfigured).

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[]

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[]

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[]

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.

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[]

State	County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Kentucky	Jefferson	Louisville	0.0	0.0	1	US 31W / US 60 – Fort Knox, Louisville KY 1934	Western terminus of KY 841. Continues as KY 1934 past this exit
			3.1	5.0	3	Stonestreet Road
			6.0	9.7	6	New Cut Road
			7.7	12.4	8	KY 1020 (National Turnpike) – Fairdale
			10.2	16.4	10	I-65 – Nashville, Louisville	I-65 exit 125; west end of I-265; signed as exits 10A (north) and 10B (south) westbound
			11.7	18.8	12	KY 61 (Preston Highway)
			13.5	21.7	14	Smyrna Road
			15.2	24.5	15	KY 864 (Beulah Church Road)
			17.3	27.8	17	US 31E / US 150 – Bardstown, Louisville
			19.4	31.2	19	KY 1819 (Billtown Road)
			23.1	37.2	23	KY 155 – Jeffersontown, Taylorsville
		Middletown	25.5	41.0	25	I-64 – Lexington, Louisville	I-64 exit 19; signed as exits 25A (east) & 25B (west).
			26.8	43.1	27	US 60 (Shelbyville Road) – Middletown, Eastwood
		Louisville	28.7	46.2	29	Old Henry Road
			30.4	48.9	30	KY 146 (La Grange Road) – Anchorage, Pewee Valley
			32.5	52.3	32	KY 1447 (Westport Road) / Chamberlain Lane
			34.0	54.7	34	KY 22 (Brownsboro Road) – Crestwood
			34.7	55.8	35	I-71 – Cincinnati, Louisville	I-71 exit 9; signed as exits 35A (east) & 35B (west)
		Prospect	37.0	59.5	37	US 42 – Prospect	Northbound exit and southbound entrance only
					Louisville East End Tunnel
Ohio River			38.9 13.11	62.6 21.10	Lewis and Clark Bridge (Opened December 18, 2016); at state line – north end of KY 841
Indiana	Clark	Utica	11.81	19.01	11	International Drive/Old Salem Road - River Ridge	Opened December 18, 2016
		Jeffersonville	9.63	15.50	10	SR 62 east – Charlestown, Jeffersonville via 10th Street	East end of SR 62 overlap; double roundabout exit also provides access to/from Port Street
			6.94	11.17	7	I-65 – Indianapolis, Louisville	I-65 exit 6; signed as exits 7A (north) and 7B (south) westbound
	Floyd	New Albany	4.52	7.27	4	Charlestown Road
			3.35	5.39	3	Grant Line Road
			0.97	1.56	1	State Street
			0.00	0.00	0	I-64 / US 150 / SR 62 west – New Albany, Louisville, St. Louis	I-64 exit 121; western terminus; westbound exit and eastbound entrance; both ramps are signed as exit 0
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Electronic toll collection

See also[]

• Roads in Louisville, Kentucky

References[]

External links[]

Route map:

• KentuckyRoads.com: I-265