The AARoads Blog

Commenced the final day of this trip from Jeffersonville, Indiana, just outside of the Interstate 65, I-265, and Indiana 265 interchange. Avoiding the bulk of traffic along Interstate 65 into Louisville, we opted for I-265 west to I-64 and out of the Falls City area.

Currently I-265 does double duty, as the Sherman Minton Bridge over the Ohio River of Interstate 64 was closed for emergency repairs on September 9. Alternate Interstate 64 shields are posted to guide motorists along Interstate 265 between I-64 and I-65. Exit 0 of Interstate 265 west remains open as the I-64 ramps to Spring and Main Streets at New Albany remain in service.

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Began the day on former U.S. 25 (Electric Avenue / Military Street) in Port Huron. U.S. 25 was decommissioned in Michigan in 1973, leaving former stretches of the road as M-125 (Ohio to just north of Monroe), M-3 (Downtown Detroit to Chesterfield Township), Business Loop I-94 (through Port Huron), and M-25 (north of Port Huron) along with portions of U.S. 24, I-75 and I-94. This view looks at a reassurance shield assembly at Marysville, a town bordering Port Huron.

Interstate 69 and 94 combine at Port Huron for a combined routing to the Bluewater Bridge to Sarnia, Ontaro. Like, I-94, Interstate 69 sees a business loop of its own. Following an expressway to the one-way street couplet of Oak / Griswold Streets, the loop begins via a partial “Y” interchange from where I-94 and 96 combine to a merge with Business Loop I-94 at Main Street. The two continue north to end at I-69/94 by the bridge to Canada. BL-69 in Port Huron follows old M-21 (truncated to Flint by 1985).

Business Loop I-69 defaults onto Interstate 69 west from Griswold Street. A reassurance shield follows the transition from arterial to freeway, but before the ramp onto Interstate 94 to Detroit.

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Began the morning of day 2 just outside Cincinnati on a cloudy morning with the last remnants of cold front moving out. Decided to poke around downtown Cincinnati for an hour or so before heading westward along Interstate 74 to Champaign, Illinois. The trip would turn us north along Interstate 57 and east to Michigan later this day, and how far into Michigan we would make it depended upon how much daylight was left…

Approaching the Combs-Hehl Bridge, a pair of cantilever bridges spanning the Ohio River between Kellogg Avenue in Cincinnati and Fort Thomas, Kentucky, along Interstate 275 west (inner loop). These bridges opened in 1979 and carry six lanes of travel. More info on the span can be found at Cincinnati-Transit.net.

A short distance west of the Combs-Hehl Bridge is directional interchange with Interstate 471 and the U.S. 27 connector. U.S. 27 travels high above the beltway via Alexandria Pike in this scene. Construction underway along Interstate 275 involves concrete pavement replacement for both directions of the freeway within Campbell County and the addition of cable barriers along the highway median. Eastbound work will be completed by December 1, 2011; westbound construction commences on April 1, 2012 and lasts through September 1, 2012.

Spanning the Ohio River again via the Taylor-Southgate Bridge of U.S. 27. This cantilever bridge opened in 1995, replacing the original Central Bridge that was demolished by late 1992. Bridge placards from the 1890-built cantilever truss bridge were restored and mounted at both ends of the Taylor-Southgate Bridge.

Heading into downtown Cincinnati, we documented the west end of U.S. 22 and the north end of U.S. 22. U.S. 22 & Ohio 3 follow a one-way street couplet of 7th (eastbound) and 9th (westbound) Streets between Main and the U.S. 27-42-52-127 couplet of Central Avenue and Plum Street. U.S. 22 & Ohio 3 end at the intersection of Central Avenue and 6th Street (Ohio 264), sharing an overlap with U.S. 27-52-127. U.S. 25 has a simpler end, concluding at the Ohio state line along the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge with U.S. 42 & 127.

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Day 2 – Seymour, Indiana to Petoskey, Michigan

Heading north from southern Indiana to the capital city, Interstate 65 continues with four lanes and loads of tractor trailers. The constant beating the pavement takes from the moving freight prompted officials to resurface the route from Whiteland to Greenwood in 2007 as part of the INDOT Major Moves initiative. Expansion of the road to six lanes does not occur until Exit 99.

Interstate 65′s diamond interchange with Indiana 46 was upgraded to a single point urban interchange. In addition to the ramp reconfiguration, decorative arches were added to the Interstate 65 bridges over the state road.

Once in the downtown Indianapolis area, Interstate 65 briefly joins with Interstate 70 on the east side of the central business district. This stretch was rehabilitated in 2003 as part of the “Hyperfix 65/70″ project by INDOT. 33 bridge decks and 35 lane miles of concrete were repaired to go along with capacity improvements as part of a $30-million project. This stretch opened in 1976.

Morning traffic slows toward the Exit 113 split-diamond interchange, the main access point into downtown Indianapolis from Interstate 65 north. Pictured here are stacked ramps built at the split with Interstate 70 over a ghost ramp that was intended to join the freeways with unconstructed Interstate 69.

Encircling the city is Interstate 465, Indianapolis’ beltway and a myriad of vastly unsigned overlaps. They include U.S. 31, 36, 40, 52, 421, and Indiana 37 & 67. Construction is underway on two projects involving the 53-mile loop. The first is emergency work to repair a bridge at the Interstate 69 interchange that was damaged when a propane truck exploded in late October. The freeway was briefly closed in both directions so crews could assess the damage and make emergency repairs. Work currently shifts the westbound direction above the I-69 southbound on-ramp as crews finish repairs.

Additional work along Interstate 465 was completed in 2008 involving pavement rehabilitation from Fall Creek to Interstate 74, joining other recently completed work focused on widening of Interstate 465 between the split with Interstate 74 west and 56th Street. The $74.8-million work included the upgrading of the 38th Street interchange. Construction on this stretch, one of the oldest of the beltway, was completed between 2007 and 2009.

Accelerate 465 entails Interstate 465 southward from Interstate 74 to Interstate 70 on the southwest side of Indianapolis. Upgrading of the freeway will result in 12 foot travel lanes, a 30 foot paved median with jersey barrier within a minimum 216 foot right of way. Interchange improvements are included. At Interstate 74 / Crawfordville Road (U.S. 136), new ramps will join U.S. 136 with both freeways (currently not a direct movement). High speed flyover ramps will be added to the interchange with Interstates 74 and 465 and eliminate some of the loop ramps and associated weaving traffic movements. Work also will upgrade interchanges with West 10th Street, U.S. 36 (Rockville Road), U.S. 40 (Washington Street), the Sam Jones Expressway, and Interstate 70. The Interstate 70 work will replace the eastbound to northbound loop ramp with a 40-mph design speed flyover.

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Some notes from a recent five-day road trip from the Gulf Coast northward to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

Widening is currently underway along Interstate 65 in Montgomery, Alabama. This project totals 4.613 miles in length and focuses on replacing the original concrete surface with asphalt while expanding the previous four-lane freeway into six lanes overall. Work exists between U.S. 80 (Exit 167) and the Alabama River bridge. Overhead highway signs along the stretch were replaced during the project. See Progress65 for more details.

New diagrammatical overhead for the split of Interstate 85 north from Interstate 65 north in Montgomery.

Continuing north along Interstate 65, widening is also underway between Exits 262A and 264 in north Birmingham, with additional work slated for next year from Exit 265 to 267. Construction focuses on the building of new collector/distributor roadways that will eventually serve the eastern terminus of Interstate 22 (Corridor X). No work has commenced on the interchange itself, but some land clearing of for the eventual path of the new highway has already occurred.

A look at the ongoing road work along Interstate 65 through northern reaches of Birmingham.

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Three new Interstate sections are in the works, planned, or coming to fruition. Discussion on the AARoads Forum highlighted three recent additions:

Interstate 781 is the number proposed for a new freeway spur from Interstate 81 to Fort Drum in Upstate New York. This route would enhance access to growing Fort Drum and bypass a current at-grade connection. A page for I-781 resides on the Interstate Guide as well.

Interstate 264 was mentioned as the planned number for the old section of Interstate 70 leading south to the Poplar Street Bridge from the new alignment on its envisioned Mississippi River Bridge at St. Louis.

Lastly, a short section of new Interstate 69 freeway opened between Interstates 64/164 and Indiana 68 as both Indiana 57 and I-69. This is the third section of Interstate 69, tallying just 1.77 miles, now in existance. Construction is underway to extend the road northward to Indiana 64.