Interstate 65 (I-65) meanders across of the

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

countryside linking six of the state's 10 largest cities. The highway links together many important roadways that make commerce inside and outside of the state's boundaries possible. It starts at

I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally p ...

near Mobile. The route passes through the major cities of Montgomery,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, and Decatur before entering

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to t ...

in the north near the town of Ardmore, Alabama. The entire Alabama portion of I-65 is dedicated as Heroes Highway in honor of Central Intelligence Agency officer

Johnny Micheal Spann Johnny Micheal "Mike" Spann (March 1, 1969 – November 25, 2001) was an American paramilitary officer in the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division. Spann was the first American killed in combat during the United States ...

and all of the people who died during the September 11 attacks.

Route description

I-65 starts its northward journey in Mobile as a three-lane freeway at a directional Y interchange with

not far from the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United St ...

. From there, it runs northeast, intersecting with I-165 in Prichard. At exit 13 in Saraland, the Interstate transitions from three to two lanes. The highway next crosses the Mobile–Tensaw River Delta at the General W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge. En route to Montgomery, it passes county seats

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

( Conecuh County) and Greenville ( Butler County). In the case of a hurricane evacuation on Alabama's coast, I-65 can be converted to an evacuation route where all lanes flow in the northbound direction from Mobile to Montgomery. This process is known as contraflow. The terrain on this stretch of road is slightly hilly, aside from a stretch in southern Conecuh County near Castleberry, where the road is slightly mountainous as it descends over into the southern plains of Alabama. Go_to_church

As the I-65 approaches the Montgomery city limits, the

Hyundai Motor Company Hyundai Motor Company, often abbreviated to Hyundai Motors ( ) and commonly known as Hyundai (, ; ), is a South Korean multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, and founded in 1967. Currently, the company o ...

's automotive plant can be found just off freeway. It can be accessed using the Pintlala– Hope Hull exit (exit 164). After entering the city limits, I-65 intersects U.S. Route 80 (US 80, exit 167; which leads to Selma toward the west) where the Interstate gains an additional lane for a total of three lanes in each direction. Further on, it intersects the southern terminus of

I-85 Interstate 85 (I-85) is a major Interstate Highway in the Southeastern United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with I-65 in Montgomery, Alabama; its northern terminus is an interchange with I-95 in Petersburg, Virginia, n ...

and crosses the

Alabama River The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery, near the town of Wetumpka. The river flows west to Selma, then southwest until, about from Mobile, it ...

north of the city. At exit 181, which provide access to Prattville and Wetumpka, I-65's lanes drop to two. At Chilton County, I-65 enters the Birmingham metropolitan area. Approximately halfway between Montgomery and Birmingham, it passes Clanton, the county seat, where the water tower, visible from the road, is shaped and painted to resemble a huge

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-f ...

. Between exit 212 ( State Route 145 (SR 145)) and exit 219 (County Road 42), I-65 was designated "War on Terror Memorial Highway" in 2014. I-65 junctions with US 31 (exit 238) in

Alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...

, where the Interstate carries three to four lanes until

I-20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with I-10 in Scroggins Draw, Texas, and ending at an interchange with I-95 in Florence, South Carolina. Between ...

/ I-59. I-65 intersects I-459 in Hoover, then passes through the cities of

Vestavia Hills Vestavia Hills, colloquially known simply as Vestavia, is a city in Jefferson and Shelby counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a suburb of Birmingham and it is made up of Vestavia, Liberty Park, and Cahaba Heights. As of the 2020 census ...

and Homewood, which often generate heavy traffic. As the Interstate passes by downtown Birmingham, southbound travelers have a view of the Vulcan statue atop Red Mountain. At the north edge of downtown, I-65 reaches the I-20/I-59 intersection (exit 261) with a crossover interchange, often called " Malfunction Junction", through which the highway has five lanes, continuing on northward with four. Int65sRoad-Exit261AB-Int20ewInt59ns-TwoMiles (33269753202)

Int65sRoad-Exit261AB-Int20ewInt59ns-TwoMiles (33269753202)

North of Birmingham at mile 266, interchange ramps provide access to parallel US 31. It is here that I-65 meets the eastern terminus of I-22, which heads northwest to Memphis, Tennessee, filling in a gap in the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

. After which, I-65 intersects Walker Chapel Road (exit 267) in Fultondale, where the Interstate drops to three lanes. The Interstate then continues in the general direction of Huntsville, crossing the Blount– Cullman county line (milemarker 291), where lanes transition from three to two, as well as passing the city of Cullman on the way. After entering the Decatur metropolitan area, in southern Morgan County, the Interstate passes Decatur. The highway connects the Huntsville–Decatur metropolitan area as it crosses

Wheeler Lake Wheeler Lake is located in the northern part of the state of Alabama in the United States, between Rogersville and Huntsville. Created by Wheeler Dam along the Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio R ...

(

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...

) on a bridge. The Interstate emerges again into the fringes of Decatur in an open area of seemingly "endless" cotton fields where it intersects, inside Decatur, with SR 20, U.S. Route 72 Alternate (US 72 Alt.), and the spur route I-565 to Huntsville. Between Walkers Chapel Road in Fultondale and the Tennessee River in Decatur ( Limestone County), I-65 has been designated the "Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway". The sign designating the north end of this portion of road cites Reagan's speech in Decatur on July 4, 1984. The Interstate then continues, passing Athens, and merges with US 31. The two routes travel concurrently approximately to the Tennessee state line. In the Birmingham–Hoover vicinity, a plan to widen the Interstate from

North Birmingham North Birmingham is a community of Birmingham in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. Currently the North Birmingham community is further subdivided into six neighborhoods: Acipco-Finley, Collegeville, Fairmont, Harriman Park, Hooper City, ...

to Alabaster has been proposed. The project is to widen the Interstate by adding an

HOV A high-occupancy vehicle lane (also known as an HOV lane, carpool lane, diamond lane, 2+ lane, and transit lane or T2 or T3 lanes) is a restricted traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers, i ...

lane and keeping the original three lanes making it four lanes in each direction. This is planned to stretch to the Pelham area. From there, the Interstate will widen from two lanes each way to three lanes each way into the Helena–Alabaster area. Int65sRoad-MM363-RestAreaRocket (29667473864)

Int65sRoad-MM363-RestAreaRocket (29667473864)

Near the northern border of Alabama with Tennessee on southbound I-65 is located the Alabama Welcome Center and rest area. The unique feature of this rest area compared to others is the large

Saturn IB The Saturn IB (also known as the uprated Saturn I) was an American launch vehicle commissioned by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for the Apollo program. It uprated the Saturn I by replacing the S-IV second stage (, 4 ...

rocket erected on the site as a memorial to Alabama's—and, in particular, Huntsville's—contribution to NASA's space exploration. Int65nRoad-MM277-Hills (27878409239)

History

The first section designed for the future Interstate Highway System spanned from the Tennessee border to Athens at US 31. It opened on November 15, 1958, and has a historical marker on the Tennessee side of the border. It was converted to full Interstate standards around 1970. The first section of Interstate in Alabama opened to traffic was the stretch of I-65 between northern Jefferson County and

Warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal society, tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, social class, class, or caste. History ...

on December 10, 1959. A segment between Clanton and Calera opened to traffic on March 23, 1961. On April 1, 1961, a section between north of Warrior and SR 69 near Cullman opened to traffic. On May 25, 1961, two segments of I-65, a segment near Clanton and a segment between Calera and Alabaster, were opened. In Mobile, the section between US 90 and US 45 opened on January 4, 1963. Work on the Tennessee River bridges in Morgan and Limestone counties began in April 1969, and the bridges were dedicated and opened on November 21, 1973. Al 14 I65 fhwa 1963 1238 (18206037695)

While most of I-65 in Alabama was completed in the 1960s, the last segments to be completed were some of the last segments to be completed on the entire Interstate Highway System. The section between Alabaster and Hoover opened on May 20, 1981. The first contacts for the construction of the segment between US 43 north of Mobile and SR 225 in Baldwin County, including the General W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge, were awarded in 1967, and the section was opened on October 2, 1981. At the time, this was the most expensive highway project in the state's history, costing $137 million (equivalent to $ in ). The last section to be completed was a section between Lewisberg and Warrior that opened on December 19, 1985, which replaced a four-lane section of US 31 that had been designated as part of I-65 but did not meet Interstate Highway standards. In 1997, at Georgiana (exit 114), honoring legendary country musician and Alabama native

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

, the Interstate was designated as Hank Williams's Memorial "Lost Highway", after one of his songs. This designation continues northward until mile 179 north of Montgomery. From the state's capital, I-65 doglegs northward, bypassing Prattville and Clanton before going through the Birmingham metropolitan area. From exits 242 to 290, this highway carries at least six lanes of traffic. A portion of the Interstate running through Birmingham has been nicknamed "Malfunction Junction" for its numerous wrecks. These accidents include two separate occasions of the support beams melting after crashes by 18-wheelers and the numerous collisions that happen every year, resulting from the junction with I-20 and I-59. In 2004, following the death of former- President Ronald Reagan, a lengthy segment of I-65 from Jefferson County to Limestone County was designated the Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway. The sign designating the north end of the segment includes a statement from Reagan's speech at

Point Mallard Park Point Mallard Park is a park located in Decatur, Alabama, United States that sits on of the Flint Creek shoreline. Flint Creek is a tributary of the nearby Tennessee River. The park, portions of which are open year-round, borders the Wheeler N ...

in nearby Decatur on July 4, 1984.

Future

Just a few miles north of I-22 will be the new interchange (exit 274), which will be Corridor X-1, and has been designated as

Interstate 422 Interstate 422 (I-422), Corridor X-1, or the Birmingham Northern Beltline is a proposed northern bypass route around Birmingham, Alabama, through northern and western Jefferson County that is projected to be completed by 2047. Along with ...

. This loop route will connect I-65 with I-59 northeast of Birmingham and I-20/I-59 southwest of Birmingham, and this will serve as an Interstate Highway bypass of Birmingham, augmenting the existing I-459, which already provides the southern loop of Birmingham. Construction of this interchange is still several years away, but right-of-way is in the process of being acquired to build I-422.

Exit list

References