I-265 in the U.S. state of Indiana presently runs 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 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 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 between I-71 and I-64, with further installation possible in the near future. Part of the road is currently signed in kilometers, which is unusual in the United States.
Kentucky Route 841
Kentucky Route 841 is a 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 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 numbering rules. The exit numbering for the entire beltway starts at the western terminus of KY 841. The Kentucky Route 841 designation mostly concurrent with I-265 in Kentucky has remained.
History
Originally signed just as KY 841, the Jefferson Freeway was initially constructed in the 1960s in two sections—one between KY 155 and US 60 and a second section between KY 1447 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 section of highway that includes the Lewis and Clark Bridge 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. 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. However, there are currently no plans construct that bridge.. 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.
