Interstate 65 in Tennessee
Interstate 65 runs from Ardmore north in Tennessee to just south of Franklin, Kentucky, forming part of the national highway, which goes from Mobile, Alabama, to Gary, Indiana. In Tennessee the highway's official name is the Albert Arnold Gore Sr. Memorial Highway, named for Albert Gore Sr., the former United States Senator.
Of the four states which I-65 runs through, the segment in Tennessee is the shortest, at long. I-65 serves the state capital and largest city of Nashville, and parallels U.S. Route 31 its entire length in Tennessee.
Route description
Southern section and Nashville suburbs
I-65 enters Tennessee from Alabama concurrent with U.S. Route 31 in rural Giles County near the town of Ardmore. About later, near the town of Elkton, is an interchange with State Route 7, where US 31 splits off into a concurrency with that route, heading north toward Pulaski Continuing through mostly rural territory characterized by slight rolling hills, I-65 crosses the Elk River aboutNashville and northern section
Entering the southern neighborhoods of Nashville, I-65 has an interchange with SR 255 about later. A little over later, the HOV lane restrictions terminate and I-65 widens to ten lanes at an interchange with Armory Drive. The route then crosses SR 155 and has a spaghetti junction four-level stack interchange with I-440, which serves as a southern bypass to downtown Nashville. At this interchange, I-65 reduces to six lanes, and a little over two miles later, I-65 enters Downtown Nashville, and begins a concurrency with I-40. Forming part of the Downtown Loop, the set of interstate highways that encircle Downtown Nashville, the routes shift sharply to the east, before shifting to the northwest, and have interchanges with US 70 and US 70S/US 431. About later, I-40 splits off to the west, heading towards Memphis, and I-65 curves sharply to the northeast, reaching an interchange with US 41A about later. About later, the route crosses the Cumberland River on the Lyle H. Fulton Memorial Bridge, and reaches an interchange with I-24, beginning a concurrency with that route and shifting into a northward direction. Carrying eight lanes, the combined routes have an interchange with US 431 just under later. Almost later, I-24 splits off, heading northwest towards Clarksville, a I-65 shifts northeast, carrying a total of ten through lanes, the left lanes once again functioning as HOV lanes during rush hour. Slightly over one mile later is a complicated interchange with US 31W/US 41, and SR 155, the latter of which is a freeway that serves as a northern bypass around Nashville. The widest section of I-65 is in Tennessee is found on the north side of this interchange, where the road briefly accommodates 15 through lanes. The road passes through Madison, has an interchange with SR 45 about later. A little over later, I-65 reaches an interchange with SR 386 in Goodlettsville, a freeway spur which serves the Nashville suburbs of Hendersonville and Gallatin. At this interchange, I-65 reduces to six lanes, and the HOV restrictions terminate. I-65 then leaves the urban Nashville area and enters Sumner County at this point.A few miles after leaving the urban Nashville area, at an interchange with SR 174, I-65 reduces back to four lanes. Just under later is an interchange with US 31W/41 near the city of Millersville. I-65 then enters a predominantly rural area, and begins a steep descent out of the Nashville Basin, with the northbound lanes utilizing a truck climbing lane over a distance of about. I-65 then crosses into Robertson County, and later has an interchange with SR 76 in White House, which also serves Springfield to the west. Passing through rural terrain characterized mostly by farmland, I-65 reaches an interchange with SR 25 about later, and then crosses the Red River. I-65 crosses the Red River again almost later, and reaches an interchange with SR 52 about beyond this point near Portland. About later, I-65 reaches an interchange with SR 109 northwest of Portland, and then crosses into Kentucky about later.
History
A small part of I-65 was the first section of Interstate Highway opened to traffic in Tennessee. A section near the Alabama–Tennessee state line opened on November 15, 1958. The McDowell and McDowell Construction company had started work on the interchange in May 1957. The section of I-65 through Brentwood was completed in 1967. The last segment between the Alabama state line and Nashville was completed in 1967. The section between US 431 and US 41 in north Nashville was opened to traffic on December 24, 1968. In June 1970, the section between SR 25 and the Kentucky state line was completed. The segment between the split with I-40 south of downtown Nashville and Berry Road, near the present location of the I-440 interchange was completed in late September 1972. The last section of I-65 in Tennessee to be completed was a short segment in Sumner and Robertson counties in 1973.The first high-occupancy vehicle lanes in Tennessee opened on September 10, 1993, on the approximately section of I-65 between Armory Drive in south Nashville and SR 253 in Brentwood with the completion of a project that widened that segment from two to four lanes in each direction. This project began on March 19, 1992. Widening of the segment between SR 253 and SR 96 in Franklin from two to four lanes in each direction was completed in September 1997.
Until 2000, the northern leg of the loop in Nashville was designated as Interstate 265. On April 7, 2000, the I-265 designation vanished, and I-65 itself was re-routed from the southern and eastern half of the loop to the western and northern half of the loop. Nashville–Davidson County's city/county government had argued to have the designations changed in order to help alleviate traffic congestion caused by motorists' following I-65 through the main body of the city. Because of this, the new I-65 route is approximately longer than the previous route. Mile markers north of Nashville were not changed with the reroute.
Reconstruction on the segment of I-65 between US 41 in north Nashville and SR 45 in Madison between early 2001 and early 2004 widened this segment from three to five lanes in each direction and improved the interchange with Briley Parkway. The section between SR 45 and SR 386 near Goodlettsville was widened from three to five lanes in each direction between early 2002 and late 2005. Work to widen the segment between US 431 through the split with I-24 and US 41 began in October 2012 and was completed in May 2016.
Work to widen and approximately stretch of I-65 south of SR 96 in Franklin from four to eight lanes began in November 2010 and was completed in April 2013. Work to widen the segment of I-65 between the section south of Franklin and I-840 from four to eight lanes began in November 2013 and was completed on June 15, 2016. This project also included reconstruction of the interchange with SR 248, including widening the route through the interchange and lengthening the ramps. On the morning of August 15, 2014, while this project was underway, a gasoline tanker truck crashed into the overpass with SR 248 and exploded, killing the driver. The subsequent fire weakened the structure of the overpass, including a section that had already been constructed as part of the project, and required the entire overpass to be demolished. Despite this setback, the project was completed on time.