INTERSTATE 465

'Interstate 465' ('I-465') is the beltway circling Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. It is roughly rectangular in shape and has a perimeter of approximately 53 miles (85 km). It lies almost completely within the boundaries of Marion County, except for two short sections on the north end in Boone and Hamilton Counties. It crosses I-65, I-69, I-70 and I-74, and provides additional access to I-65 via I-865. It also intersects with the Sam Jones Expressway^[2], which leads to Indianapolis International Airport. An $800 million project is underway to refurbish the western edge of the loop, with an estimated completion in 2014 (see "External Links").

Contents

Route description

History

Exit list

References

External links

Route description

Much of I-465 replaced the routing of the defunct parallel State Road 100.
Except for I-65 and I-70, no numbered highways run through downtown Indianapolis. All routes that continue from one side to the other run around the city, concurrent with I-465:

★ Interstate 74, counterclockwise from exit 16 to exit 49

★ U.S. Highway 31, counterclockwise from exit 2 to exit 31

★ U.S. Highway 36, counterclockwise from exit 13 to exit 42

★ U.S. Highway 40, counterclockwise from exit 12 to exit 46

★ U.S. Highway 52, clockwise from exit 25 to exit 47 (originally counterclockwise from exit 20 to exit 48^[3])

★ U.S. Highway 421, counterclockwise from exit 49 to exit 27

★ State Road 37, counterclockwise from exit 4 to exit 37 (originally only from exit 4 to exit 2^[4])

★ State Road 67, counterclockwise from exit 8 to exit 42
The approximately one-mile section between exits 46 and 47 carries eight routes - I-465, US 31, US 36, US 40, US 52, US 421, SR 37 and SR 67. It may also carry Interstate 69 in the future.
It should be noted that in most cases, markers other than I-74's are not posted along I-465 itself; rather, signs on onramps direct traffic following a particular route to follow I-465 to a particular exit to continue on that route.

History

In 2002, David Letterman's late-night talk show sidekick and band leader Paul Shaffer was honored by having a street in Thunder Bay, Ontario named for him. This led Letterman to ask (on his program) why he couldn't have his own eponymous road, and he suggested I-465 be named the David Letterman Expressway. His fans took the idea seriously, especially in the Indianapolis area where highway signs promoting the idea were displayed. Advertisers and traffic reports started to refer to I-465 as the "DLX", or later the "David Letterman Bypass", a reference to his quintuple heart bypass surgery in January 2000. Letterman even telephoned the Mayor of Indianapolis, Bart Peterson to make his case, but eventually the idea went nowhere.

Exit list

Exits are numbered in a clockwise (CW) direction, in accordance with AASHTO guidelines.

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Marion	Indianapolis		2	U.S. Highway 31 South - East Street; Indianapolis	split into 2A (north) and 2B (south); US 31 joins CCW and leaves CW
			4	State Road 37 south - Harding Street	SR 37 joins CCW and leaves CW
			7	Mann Road	CW exit and CCW entrance
			8	State Road 67 South - Kentucky Avenue	SR 67 joins CCW and leaves CW
			9	Interstate 70 - Terre Haute; St. Louis, MO; Indianapolis	split into 9A (east) and 9B (west)
			11	Sam Jones Expressway; Indianapolis International Airport	split into 11A (Sam Jones Expressway) and 11B (Airport) - Signs on I-465 still indicate Airport Expressway
			12	U.S. Highway 40 West - Washington Street	split into 12A (east) and 12B (west); US 40 joins CCW and leaves CW
			13	U.S. Highway 36 West - Rockville Road; Danville	split into 13A (east) and 13B (west); US 36 joins CCW and leaves CW
			14	10th Street	split into 14A (east) and 14B (west)
			16A	2.5px U.S. Highway 136 West - Crawfordsville Road	Eastern terminus of U.S. 136.
			16B	Interstate 74 West - Peoria, IL	I-74 joins CCW and splits CW
			17	38th Street
			19	56th Street	CW exit and CCW entrance
			20	Interstate 65 North - Chicago	CW exit and CCW entrance
			20	Interstate 65 South - Indianapolis	CCW exit and CW entrance
			21	71st & 73rd Streets	CW entrance ramp to 73rd St only.
			23	86th Street
Boone			25	2.5px Interstate 865 West to Interstate 65 North - Chicago (U.S. Highway 52 west)	US 52 joins CW and leaves CCW
Marion			27	2.5px U.S. Highway 421 North - Michigan Road	US 421 joins CW and leaves CCW
Hamilton			31	U.S. Highway 31 North - Meridian Street	US 31 joins CW and leaves CCW
Marion			33	State Road 431 - Keystone Avenue
			35	Allisonville Road
			37A	Binford Boulevard - Indianapolis	CW exit and CCW entrance
			37B	Interstate 69 North; State Road 37 North - Fort Wayne	exit 37 CCW; SR 37 joins CW and leaves CCW
			40	Shadeland Avenue; 56th Street
			42	U.S. Highway 36 East; State Road 67 North - Lawrence	US 36 joins CW and leaves CCW; SR 67 joins CW and leaves CCW
			44	Interstate 70 - Indianapolis; Dayton, OH	split into 44A (west) and 44B (east)
			46	U.S. Highway 40 East - Washington Street	US 40 joins CW and leaves CCW
			47	U.S. Highway 52 East - Brookville Road	US 52 joins CCW and leaves CW
			48	Shadeland Avenue	CCW exit and CW entrance
			49	2.5px Interstate 74 East - Southeastern Avenue; Cincinnati, OH (U.S. Highway 421 South)	split into 49A (Southeastern Avenue) and 49B (I-74 east); I-74 joins CW and leaves CCW; US 421 joins CCW and leaves CW
			52	Emerson Avenue - Beech Grove
			53	Interstate 65 - Indianapolis; Louisville, KY	split into 53A (north) and 53B (south)

References

1. Illinois and Indiana Highway Ends
2. Airport Expressway renamed to honor Sam Jones
3. 1969 Indianapolis map (note that the highlighting is wrong, as exit 47 was a partial interchange, so US 52 had to use exit 48 and Shadeland Avenue (State Road 100))
4. USGS 1984 map

External links

★ 3-digit Interstates from I-65 (Kurumi.com)

★ ''Accelerate 465'', the expansion project's web site

★ Unofficial David Letterman Expressway site

★ A site about I-69, detailing its route around Indianapolis

★ Indiana Highway Ends - I-465