 U.S. Route 65 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US 65 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Length | 966 mi[1] (1,555 km) | |||
| Existed | 1926[2]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |   US 425 /LA 15 atClayton, LA | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| North end |  I-35 atAlbert Lea, MN | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| States | Louisiana,Arkansas,Missouri,Iowa,Minnesota | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
U.S. Route 65 (US 65) is a north–southUnited States highway in the southern and midwesternUnited States. The southern terminus of the route is atU.S. Route 425 andLouisiana Highway 15 inClayton, Louisiana. The northern terminus is atInterstate 35 just south ofInterstate 90 inAlbert Lea, Minnesota.[3] Parts of its modern route in Iowa and historic route in Minnesota follow the oldJefferson Highway.
U.S. 65 begins in Clayton, Louisiana and proceeds northward toWaterproof,St. Joseph, andNewellton, all inTensas Parish. At Newellton, it intersectsLouisiana Highway 4, coming from the west. InTallulah, it intersectsInterstate 20, and approximately 30 miles north of this intersection it entersArkansas.
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 designatedArkansas 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 what was then Confederate Boulevard (now Springer Boulevard), turning west onto Roosevelt Road, then routing northbound traffic onto Scott Street (with southbound traffic using Main Street one block to the west), and crossing the Arkansas River concurrently with US 67, US 167, and US 70 along the Main Street Bridge to Main Street in North Little Rock. The highway in Little Rock was eventually relocated five blocks west of Main Street to Broadway, where it crossed the Arkansas River via the Broadway Bridge. It was finally relocated east along Interstate 30.
US 65 originally entered North Little Rock via the Main Street Bridge and continued with northbound traffic along Main Street (with southbound traffic using Maple Street one block to the west), 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, following the Broadway Bridge to a west turn on Broadway, proceeding under a rail overpass to then turn north on Pike Avenue. As US 65 progressed into North Little Rock's Levy neighborhood, its alignment shifted east of the railroad along Pike Avenue, turning northwest along Parkway Drive to converge with its original route near the city's Amboy neighborhood. Later, the Levy-to-Amboy segment 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, then following 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 (Oak Street), running north through downtown. The highway was eventually relocated along Interstate 40, where it joins its original route on the north side of town via the city's Skyline Drive.
US 65 continues north through Greenbrier, Clinton, and Marshall before crossing the Buffalo River near Tyler Bend. South of Harrison, the highway joins briefly with US 62/412 heading northwest through Harrison before diverging from US 62/412 at Bear Creek Springs and continuing as a four-lane expressway into Missouri.
US 65 enters Missouri betweenOmaha, Arkansas andRidgedale, Missouri. The four-lane expressway continues through Hollister and Branson toward the Springfield metro area. Through the Branson area, US 65 is built as afreeway. North of Branson is an interchange with the Ozark Mountain Highroad (a freeway spur) andU.S. Route 160. US 160 toHighlandville is the old alignment of US 65 (until the 1960s).
Just north of Route EE (Highlandville exit), US 65 returns to freeway status. The freeway is called the "Schoolcraft Freeway" inSpringfield, in honor ofHenry Rowe Schoolcraft. In Springfield are junctions withU.S. Route 60 andInterstate 44. The interchange with I-44 includes a flyover ramp connecting NB 65 with WB 44. Construction is underway to rebuild the interchange at US 60 (James River Freeway). In September 2011, US 65 became a six-lane divided freeway in Springfield between Interstate 44 and US 60. It is the first six-lane highway to appear in Southwest Missouri.[4] North of Springfield, it returns to a four-lane, non-interstate highway.
Through the town of Buffalo, the highway becomes two lanes with a center lane for left turns. This part of the highway has also seen upgrades in recent years, such as rumble stripes and extending the middle turn lane to just outside the northern part of the city. From Buffalo toPreston, US 65 is two-lane highway, having an intersection with U.S. Route 54 at Preston (a four-way stop). AtWarsaw the highway crosses over the western end of theLake of the Ozarks and becomes a four lane, non-interstate highway again at the intersection withMissouri Route 7.
AtSedalia is an intersection withU.S. Route 50, atMarshall Junction is an interchange withInterstate 70 andU.S. Route 40. InMarshall, the four-lane ends, and US 65 is a two-lane highway all the way to Iowa. AtWaverly is the beginning of a concurrency withU.S. Route 24 (which will continue toCarrollton). Also in Waverly, US 65 and US 24 cross theMissouri River via theWaverly Bridge. Further north, the road crossesU.S. Route 36 atChillicothe andU.S. Route 136 atPrinceton. The highway leaves Missouri atSouth Lineville and enters Iowa.
U.S. 65 enters Iowa atLineville. North ofLiberty Center, it junctionsU.S. Route 69. The two highways run together to the junction ofIowa Highway 5 just south of theDes Moines city limits. U.S. 65 forms the eastern side of thebeltway around Des Moines. The highway runs concurrently withInterstate 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 andMarshalltown. At the junction ofIowa Highway 330 northeast ofBondurant, U.S. 65 becomes a two-lane road again. (The expressway continues along Iowa 330.) U.S. 65 junctionsU.S. Route 30 at theReed/Niland Corner located inColo andU.S. Route 20 south ofIowa Falls. It intersectsU.S. Route 18 south ofMason City, then goes north through downtown Mason City before leaving the state north ofNorthwood.
U.S. 65 enters the state atGordonsville inFreeborn County. Its first Minnesota junction with Interstate 35 is just southeast ofAlbert Lea. The highway enters the city proper, reaching downtown before returning to end at Interstate 35. Its total length in Minnesota is 14 miles (23 km).[5]
U.S. 65 is one of three Minnesota U.S.-signed highways to carry the same number as an existing state marked highway within the state, the others being Highways61 and169.
The Minnesota section of U.S. 65 is defined as part of Route 1 in Minnesota Statutes § 161.114(2).[6]
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At its creation in 1926, U.S. 65 ran fromSt. Paul, Minnesota toVidalia, Louisiana. In the 1930s the road briefly was signed to Swan River, Minnesota.
Its current endpoints were established in 1980 when a segment parallelingInterstate 35 was dropped in Minnesota.
Until 2005, US 65 ended atU.S. Route 61 inNatchez, Mississippi. US 65 formerly extended toNew Orleans, along the same route as US 61 from Natchez to New Orleans.
From 1926 to 1934, the original U.S. 65 fromFaribault, Minnesota toSaint Paul, followed what today isMinnesota Highway 3. After 1934, U.S. 65 was realigned to follow the present day route ofI-35/I-35W from Faribault toMinneapolis. The section of U.S. 65 fromBurnsville to Minneapolis originally followedLyndale Avenue. Even after the completion of I-35/35W, the U.S. 65 designation ran to Minneapolis until 1980. In 1980, U.S. 65 in Minnesota merged with Interstate 35 until it separates in downtown Minneapolis leaving the city in the Central Avenue corridor. Beginning at Washington Avenue in downtown Minneapolis,Minnesota Highway 65 travels north throughCambridge,Mora, andMcGregor before terminating at an intersection withU.S. Highway 71 inLittlefork (just south ofInternational Falls).
In 2005, US 65 as a signed route was truncated from its signed southern terminus atU.S. Route 61 inNatchez, Mississippi to its current terminus at Clayton, Louisiana. As part of the truncation,U.S. Route 425 was extended south to Natchez.[7]
Legally, the Mississippi section of U.S. 65 is defined in Mississippi Code Annotated § 65-3-3, as follows: "U.S. 65- Begins at the west end of the Mississippi River Bridge at Natchez, Adams County, and extends in an easterly direction to U.S. 61 and thence continues south jointly with U.S. 61 to the Mississippi-Louisiana state line south of Woodville, Wilkinson County."
Through centralArkansas, old 65 (nowHighway 365) follows close toInterstate 40 betweenConway andNorth Little Rock. In 1999, the 46-mile (74 km) section of U.S. 65 betweenInterstate 30 at Little Rock andPine Bluff was designatedInterstate 530. The original route from Palarm Creek in Northern Pulaski County turned with the railroad and followed a route which ran through what is now the River Plantation Neighborhood. It crossed the railroad within this community and followed the railroad from the West Side on what now is called Center Road through Mayflower and onto Conway. A realignment around 1931 which involved a more direct path from Palarm Creek to Conway resulted in the road being relocated from the West to the East side of the railroad. As a result, the city of Mayflower Arkansas moved slightly as well to stay on the new route.
From 1922 to 1926, US 65 inMissouri wasRoute 3. US 65 originally followedRoute 248 andU.S. Route 160 betweenBranson andSpringfield. Route 3 was originally planned on a shorter route between Springfield andPreston, withRoute 71 on the longer alignment viaBuffalo, but Route 3 was quickly shifted east, absorbing Route 71.
In 1934, its route in southern Iowa betweenIndianola andLeon was replaced byU.S. 69 as it took a new route throughLucas. In 1939, 65 took a new route running northeast ofDes Moines.
Between 1994 and 2002, a freeway bypass of Des Moines was constructed and U.S. 65 moved to this new route.
US 425 /LA 15 inClayton
I-20 inTallulah
US 80 in Tallulah
US 82 /US 278 south-southeast ofLake Village. US 65/US 82 travels concurrently to Lake Village. US 65/US 278 travels concurrently toMcGehee.
US 165 inDermott. The highways travel concurrently toDumas.
Future I-69 north of McGeheeUS 425 east ofPine Bluff. The highways share a hidden concurrency to Pine Bluff.
I-530 /US 63 /US 79 /US 425 in Pine Bluff. I-530/US 65 travels concurrently toLittle Rock. US 63/US 65/US 79 travels concurrently through Pine Bluff.
US 270 inWhite Hall
US 167 inEast End. The highways travel concurrently toNorth Little Rock.
I-30 /I-440 /I-530 /US 67 /US 70 in Little Rock. I-30/US 65/US 67/US 70 travels concurrently to North Little Rock.
I-630 in Little Rock
I-30 /I-40 /I-57 /US 67 /US 167 in North Little Rock. I-40/US 65 travels concurrently toConway.
US 64 in Conway
US 62 /US 412 southeast ofBellefonte. The highways travel concurrently toBear Creek Springs.
US 160 northwest ofWalnut Shade
US 60 inSpringfield
I-44 in Springfield
US 54 inPreston
US 50 inSedalia
I-70 /US 40 south ofMarshall
US 24 inWaverly. The highways travel concurrently toCarrollton.
US 36 inChillicothe
US 136 inPrinceton. The highways travel concurrently through Princeton.
US 34 inLucas. The highways travel concurrently through Lucas.
US 69 south ofIndianola. The highways travel concurrently toDes Moines.
US 6 west ofAltoona
I-80 in Altoona. The highways travel concurrently through Altoona.I-80 /US 6 in Altoona
US 30 inColo
US 20 west-northwest ofOwasa
US 18 south ofMason CityI-35 southeast ofAlbert LeaI-35 in Albert LeaRoutes initalics are no longer a part of the system. Highlighted routes are considered main routes of the system. |
| Browse numbered routes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
← LA 64 | LA | → LA 66 | ||
← US 64 | AR | → AR 66 | ||
← Route 64 | MO | → US 66 | ||
← Iowa 64 | IA | →US 67 | ||
← MN 64 | MN | → MN 65 | ||
