INDOT is in the process of gaining an additional 6 miles of interstate by 2026.
Currently, the 6-mile roadway segment from I-65 to the Ohio River in Floyd and Clark counties is called State Road 265. By 2026, it will be renamed I-265.
I-265 already exists; a 6-mile stretch runs from I-64 to I-65. By renaming S.R. 265 to I-265, the interstate will run approximately 12 miles from I-64 east to the Ohio River. The renamed Indiana segment will be integrated into the I-265 interstate ring surrounding Louisville, Ky.
Because S.R. 265 was built to freeway standards, no structural work needs to be completed for the renaming.
“State Road 265 between I-65 and State Road 62, which is about 3 miles, was constructed in the 1990s, and the remaining 3 miles to the Ohio River was constructed in 2016,” said INDOT Traffic Engineer Damon Brown. “Both extensions of S.R. 265 are two lanes in each direction and were built to freeway standards, which matched the I-265 standards west of I-65 to I-64. This included shoulder width, pavement quality, median treatments, and ramp designs.”
Because of guardrail installation, resigning, and renumbering of exits along the entire I-265 corridor, the renaming of S.R. 265 won’t occur until Fall 2026.
This designation will help create a more functional and integrated roadway system along the corridor for Hoosier motorists and those located in surrounding areas. That’s because this is a joint effort between INDOT and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, which will designate Kentucky Route 841 as I-265. The result will be a same-named interstate around most of the Louisville metropolitan area, which includes Indiana, instead of a quasi-interstate broken up by Indiana and Kentucky state roads.
The renaming will help alleviate confusion. Currently, Kentucky’s I-265 and Indiana’s I-265 sections — which are interrupted by S.R. 265 and Kentucky Route 841 — each have an Exit 10. This will be eliminated when I-265 runs continuously between the two states and the numbering convention doesn’t reset at state lines.
“There are federal standards for how freeway and expressway exits should be numbered and signed,” said Brown, who noted that, in these situations, the beginning point for interchange exit numbering is the southernmost or westernmost terminus. Because I-265 meets I-65 both in Clark County and southern Louisville, mile marker 0 will begin in southern Louisville because it’s farther south.
Normally, circumferential routes, such as I-465 in Indianapolis, are numbered in a clockwise direction. But I-265 won’t follow those rules. That’s because the roadway west of I-65/I-265 in southern Louisville does not continue all the way west to the Ohio River and into Indiana to complete the circle.
“There are no plans to ever build another river crossing on the southwest side of Louisville, so the roadway west of I-65/I-265 will keep its current designation, meaning that the proper designation of I-265 would be a radial interstate route,” said Brown.
Under those federal uniformity guidelines, the mile markers and exit numbers for I-265 will numerically increase while the interstate traverses northeast from its southern Louisville beginning.
Eventually, the interstate will bend west into Indiana before slanting southwest at its I-64 terminus.
“As a result, the mile markers and exit numbers will be opposite from its current convention,” said Brown. “As the interstate crosses the Ohio River into Indiana, it will be at approximately mile marker 28 before ending at mile marker 41 at I-64 in Floyd County.”
Currently, I-64/I-265 is mile marker 0, and the bridge at the Ohio River is approximately mile marker 13.
Resigning and renumbering won’t be completed until October 2026. The contractor has installed new mile markers, but they will remain covered to reduce driver confusion until new exit numbers are installed. Sheet sign replacements have started and are ongoing; however, the sheet signs won’t affect exit numbers since there is no exit information on the sheet signs.
Only panel signs have exit-number information, and those won’t begin to be changed until late April 2025.