(abbreviated '''I-565''') is a 21 mile (34 km)
Interstate spur which connects
Interstate 65 (I-65) in
Decatur, Alabama with
Huntsville, Alabama .
I-565 serves the city of
Decatur, Alabama and town of
Madison, Alabama and Downtown
Huntsville, Alabama as well as
Huntsville International Airport . I-565 connects with
U.S. Highway 231 and
U.S. Highway 431 in Downtown Huntsville and terminates onto
U.S. Highway 72 on the east side of Huntsville.
Appalachian Development Highway System Corridor V follows the entire route of I-565. Alternate
U.S. Highway 72 also follows this entire route of I-565.
When the
Interstate Highway system was envisioned in the 1950's
I-65 was routed near
Decatur, Alabama as it was the largest city at the time in extreme northern
Alabama between
Birmingham, Alabama and
Nashville, Tennessee . In the late 1950's and early 1960's
Huntsville was going through a population boom as result of the
Space Race and the new
George C. Marshall Space Flight Center . By the late 1960's Huntsville had grown to become more than twice the size of Decatur and it had become obvious that a spur was needed to connect Huntsville with
I-65 . Construction finally began in the late 1980's and completed in the early 1990's. At the time construction had begun, Huntsville was the largest city in the
Continental United States which was not connected to the Interstate System.
I-565 is unusual in that it maintains high speed limits right through Huntsville; it remains 70 mph (110 km/h) well into the urban area and 65 mph (100 km/h) on the elevated section through downtown.
Plans are currently in place to extend I-565 east several miles past the junction of
U.S. Highway 72 along a newly upgraded freeway section of U.S. 72 East of
Huntsville . Plans are also in place to extend I-565 west from the junction of
I-65 along the route of Alabama Highway 20 and Alternate U.S. 72 to the junction with
U.S. 31 in the northern city limits of
Decatur with eventual plans on building a new bridge over the
Tennessee River connecting on the west side of Decatur.
I-565 is planned to connect
Memphis, Tennessee with
Atlanta, Georgia and
Chattanooga, Tennessee as part of
ISTEA High Priority Corridor 7.
