Interstate 475 (Georgia)


Interstate 475 is a auxiliary Interstate highway in Georgia, splitting off from I-75/SR 540 and bypassing Macon. It is also unsigned State Route 408. This is the preferred route for through traffic, as I-75 enters downtown Macon and reduces to four lanes, and has a speed limit, in addition to the highway interchange with I-16.

Route description

I-475 carries six lanes throughout its entire route, except at its northernmost terminus with I-75, where it briefly reduces to four lanes.
The road has also been equipped with traffic cameras, which are a part of the Georgia Navigator system that has been extended via fiber optics all the way from metro Atlanta, nearly to the north-northwest.
The entire length of I-475 is part of the National Highway System, a system of routes determined to be the most important for the nation's economy, mobility, and defense.

History

Built in stages between 1965 and 1967, I-475 was originally built with two lanes in each direction, and a wide median with forest, mostly of sweetgum trees. When the one lane was added in each direction, every bit of the median was paved, with a full-lane-wide shoulder in both directions instead of the normal very narrow ones, and a Jersey barrier designed to prevent head-on collisions, instead of leaving, replanting any trees, other landscaping or native vegetation.
In 1965, the entire length of the highway was under construction; it opened two years later. At the time I-75 going into Macon was not yet complete.
The Bibb County Commission named the highway in honor of former Commission Chairman Larry Justice, who retired in 2000.

Exit list