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U.S. Route 65

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Wikipedia

U.S. Route 65 is a north-south United States highway in the southern and midwestern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at U.S. Route 425 in Clayton, Louisiana. The northern terminus is at Interstate 35 just south of Interstate 90 in Albert Lea, Minnesota. Parts of its modern route in Iowa and historic route in Minnesota follow the old Jefferson Highway.

Route description

Louisiana

Major Cities
Tallulah, Louisiana Pine Bluff, Arkansas Little Rock, Arkansas Conway, Arkansas Harrison, Arkansas Branson, Missouri Springfield, Missouri Sedalia, Missouri Marshall, Missouri Chillicothe, Missouri Indianola, Iowa Des Moines, Iowa Iowa Falls, Iowa Mason City, Iowa Albert Lea, Minnesota

Arkansas

US 65 enters the southeast corner of Arkansas just north of Gassoway, Louisiana. It is designated as part of Arkansas' Great River Road from this point north through Lake Village, McGehee, and Dumas. The Great River Road continues east onto US 165, while US 65 continues northwest to Pine Bluff.

US 65 originally entered Pine Bluff traveling northwest along Harding Avenue, turning north along Ohio Street, then west through downtown along 5th and 6th Avenues, where northbound traffic used 5th and southbound traffic used 6th, before converging onto 6th Avenue west of downtown. The highway then turned north along Blake Street and followed Dollarway Road, now designated Arkansas Highway 365, northwest into White Hall.

US 65 was later relocated to a bypass corridor on the north side of Pine Bluff, dubbed the Downtown Expressway. With the completion of the Interstate 530 bypass on the south side of Pine Bluff, US 65 was rerouted along Interstate 530, and the Downtown Expressway was resigned US 65 Business.

The original US 65 between Pine Bluff and Conway is now signed Arkansas Highway 365.

US 65 originally entered Little Rock via Confederate Boulevard, turning west onto Roosevelt Road, then north onto Main Street and Scott Street (with northbound traffic using Scott Street and southbound traffic using Main Street), where it crossed the Arkansas River concurrently with US 67, US 167, and US 70 along the Main Street Bridge. The highway was relocated west of Main Street to Broadway, where it crossed the Arkansas River via the Broadway Bridge, and it was finally relocated east along Interstate 30.

US 65 originally entered North Little Rock via the Main Street Bridge and continued north along Main Street and Maple Street (with northbound traffic using Main Street and southbound traffic using Maple Street), converging onto Main Street, and diverging from US 67 and US 70 by turning west onto 18th Street. The highway then turned northwest along the east side of the railroad, along what is now Percy Machin Drive, and paralleled the railroad into Conway. US 65 was later relocated west on the south side along the Broadway Bridge, turning west on Broadway, then north on Pike Avenue. It was relocated east on the north side along Pike Avenue, turning northwest along Parkway Drive to converge with its original route. Later, the north side was relocated again along the west side of the railroad via MacArthur Drive, eventually converging with its original route. US 65 was finally relocated east through downtown along Interstate 30, joining with Interstate 40 to Conway.

US 65 originally entered Conway via Harkrider Street, along what is now signed as Arkansas Highway 365, where it briefly joined with US 64 running north through downtown. The highway was eventually relocated along Interstate 40, where it joins its original route on the north side of town.

US 65 continues north through Greenbrier, Clinton, and Marshall before crossing the Buffalo River near Buffalo Point. The highway joins briefly with US 62 and US 412 heading northwest through harrison before diverging north and entering Missouri just south of Ridgedale.

Missouri

US 65 enters Missouri between Omaha, Arkansas and Ridgedale, Missouri. The road is a four-lane expressway, traveling through Branson and Hollister toward the Springfield metro area. Through the Branson area, US 65 is built as a freeway. North of Branson is an interchange with Route 465 (a freeway spur) and U.S. Route 160. US 160 to Highlandville is the old alignment of US 65 (until the 1960s).

Just south of Route EE (Highlandville exit), US 65 returns to freeway status all the way to the north side of Springfield, where it returns to a two-lane highway. In Springfield are junctions with U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 44. The interchange with I-44 includes a flyover ramp connecting NB 65 with WB 44. Plans are underway to rebuild the interchange at US 60 (James River Freeway). The highway is called the "Schoolcraft Freeway" in Springfield.

Construction began in winter 2008 to widen 65 to four lanes from just north of I-44 to a point north of Springfield about six miles (10 km) south of Buffalo (near the community of Foose). There is a section that travels past Fair Grove, MO that was widened to four lanes for a little over mile several years ago to relieve traffic congestion at the intersection. Two projects are being done at the same time widen 65. One from Springfield to Fair Grove and one from Fair Grove to Buffalo. Both will be done by 2010 with the shorter one from Springfield to Buffalo done by 2009.

North of Springfield, US 65 is two-lane highway, having an intersection with U.S. Route 54 at Preston (a four-way stop).

At Warsaw the highway crosses over the Harry S. Truman Reservoir. At Sedalia is an intersection with U.S. Route 50, at Marshall Junction is an interchange with Interstate 70 and U.S. Route 40, and at Waverly is the beginning of a concurrency with U.S. Route 24 (which will continue to Carrollton). Also in Waverly, US 65 and US 24 cross the Missouri River via the Waverly Bridge. Further north, the road crosses U.S. Route 36 at Chillicothe and U.S. Route 136 at Princeton. The highway leaves Missouri at South Lineville and enters Iowa.

Iowa

U.S. 65 enters Iowa at Lineville. North of Liberty Center, it junctions U.S. Route 69. The two highways run together to the junction of Iowa Highway 5 just south of the Des Moines city limits. U.S. 65 forms the eastern side of the beltway around Des Moines. The highway runs concurrently with Interstate 80 for one mile (1.6 km), before exiting as an expressway running from southwest to northeast. This is part of the expressway connecting Des Moines and Marshalltown. At the junction of Iowa Highway 330 northeast of Bondurant, U.S. 65 becomes a two-lane road again. (The expressway continues along Iowa 330.) U.S. 65 junctions U.S. Route 30 at Colo and U.S. Route 20 south of Iowa Falls. It intersects U.S. Route 18 south of Mason City, then goes north through downtown Mason City before leaving the state north of Northwood.

Minnesota

U.S. 65 enters the state at Gordonsville in Freeborn County. Its first Minnesota junction with Interstate 35 is just southeast of Albert Lea. The highway enters the city proper, reaching downtown before returning to end at Interstate 35. Its total length in Minnesota is .

U.S. 65 is one of three Minnesota U.S. marked highways to carry the same number as an existing state marked highway within the state. The others being Highways 61 and 169. The Minnesota section of U.S. 65 is defined as part of Route 1 in Minnesota Statutes § 161.114(2).

History

At its creation in 1926, U.S. 65 ran from St. Paul, Minnesota to Vidalia, Louisiana. Its current endpoints were established in 1980 when a segment paralleling Interstate 35 was dropped in Minnesota.

Until 2005, US 65 ended at U.S. Route 61 in Natchez, Mississippi. US 65 used to extend all the way to New Orleans, along the same route as US 61 from Natchez to New Orleans.

From 1926 to 1934, the original U.S. 65 from Faribault, Minnesota to Saint Paul, followed what today is Minnesota Highway 3. After 1934, U.S. 65 was realigned to follow the present day route of I-35/I-35W from Faribault to Minneapolis. The section of U.S. 65 from Burnsville to Minneapolis originally followed Lyndale Avenue. Even after the completion of I-35/35W, the U.S. 65 designation ran to Minneapolis until 1980. In 1980, the northern terminus of U.S. 65 in Minnesota was shortened to the present day ending in Albert Lea. Beginning at Washington Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota Highway 65 travels north (where U.S. 65 briefly once had from 1934 to 1935) through Cambridge, Mora, and McGregor before terminating at an intersection with U.S. Highway 71 in Littlefork (just south of International Falls).

Mississippi

In 2005, US 65 was truncated from its original southern terminus at U.S. Route 61 in Natchez, Mississippi to its current terminus at Clayton, Louisiana. As part of the truncation, U.S. Route 425 was extended south to Natchez.

Legally, the Mississippi section of U.S. 65 was defined in Mississippi Code Annotated § 65-3-3.

Arkansas

Through central Arkansas, old 65 (now Highway 365) follows close to Interstate 40 between Conway and North Little Rock. In 1999, the 46 mile (74 km) section of U.S. 65 between Interstate 30 at Little Rock and Pine Bluff was designated Interstate 530.

Missouri

From 1922 to 1926, US 65 in Missouri was Route 3. US 65 originally followed Route 248 and U.S. Route 160 between Branson and Springfield. Route 3 was originally planned on a shorter route between Springfield and Preston, with Route 71 on the longer alignment via Buffalo, but Route 3 was quickly shifted east, absorbing Route 71.

Iowa

In 1934, its route in southern Iowa between Indianola and Leon was replaced by U.S. 69 as it took a new route through Lucas. In 1939, 65 took a new route running northeast of Des Moines.

Between 1994 and 2002 a freeway bypass of Des Moines was constructed and U.S. 65 moved to this new route.