Any plans to widen I-65 from Goodlettsville to KY line? (Franklin: move to, money)

[censusdata]

There is only 24 miles between the 6 lane stretches of I-65 in Goodlettsville and in the southern part of Kentucky. Does anyone know of any TNDOT plans to widen this stretch?

[bran_smith]

i hope soo ..but who knows

[MiddleTNresident]

Never heard of any such plans. In fact, when they widened the road from exit 95 (to Hendersonville) to exit 90 (Briley), that was just part of the project. They were suppposed to keep going further south (south of exit 90 and the Briley junction) but they ran out of money. So 65 south of that point is in deplorable condition, badly needs paving, too narrow, etc. etc. If they ever look to work on 65 again, it will be to finish the project they abandoned south of Briley.

[GrnMtnFire]

I'd say it probably won't happen due to the rural nature of that area.

[MiddleTNresident]

The only work I did hear about possiibly occurring for the northern portions of I-65 was the possible addition of more exits, either at Union Road, New Hall Road or both. Like the previous poster said, it's too rural and not enough new development/traffic is occurring to justify widening it. That portion is way less busy, traffic-wise, than the stretch they did widen south of Goodlettsville. But more exits would be nice since there are long stretches with no escape route if accidents occur.

They would also have to do some serious blasting if they wanted to widen the road southbound at exit 104/Bethel Road which cuts through mountain and rock and is the worst downhill grade/accident location for trucks in the area. It already has an extra lane for the northbound side, but if you ask me, the southbound side needed an extra lane more than the northbound side did (but I'm glad at least one side has extra room). Exit 104 area can get scary at times. The extra right lanes that do occur are on uphill grades to allow trucks to move to the right since they get really slow on uphill runs....if only all trucks obeyed the signs to move right (they don't). That makes it tricky when merges occur once those extra right lanes disappear and trucks suddenly move back to lanes that have other traffic. I would be happy for a widening that eliminates all those merges, but I don't expect it anytime soon. I know where the scary merges occur and I keep my distance to allow trucks back in my lane.....but those unfamiliar with the area don't, and those are places where accidents are most likely to occur. It's rural, but it's not trouble-free because of all the truck traffic. And there's a LOT of truck traffic.

[DonCorleone]

My bet is that any work on I-65 is going to come second to the expansion of I-65 south of town from Franklin to Spring Hill and beyond. As much as I'd like to see 65 expanded through Robertson County, that area down there needs it more. What a nightmare.

[supernerdgirl]

Originally Posted by DonCorleone

My bet is that any work on I-65 is going to come second to the expansion of I-65 south of town from Franklin to Spring Hill and beyond. As much as I'd like to see 65 expanded through Robertson County, that area down there needs it more. What a nightmare.

No kidding, whatever moron thought it would be ok to go down to two lanes from four was insane.

[memphis2]

Kentucky is widening all of 1-65 from Elizabethtown south to the Tennessee state line. I believe that is over 130 miles. Certainly, there are areas on that stretch far more rural than Robertson County. Hopefully, it will be done one day.

[supernerdgirl]

Originally Posted by memphis2

Kentucky is widening all of 1-65 from Elizabethtown south to the Tennessee state line. I believe that is over 130 miles. Certainly, there are areas on that stretch far more rural than Robertson County. Hopefully, it will be done one day.

that seems pretty unnecessary.

[MiddleTNresident]

Of course, if any stretch of I-65 does get widened (agreed that the Franklin area needs help, too) it's important to remember that traffic will get MUCH WORSE rather than better during that time. I avoided I-65 for years while they were widening it between Briley and Rivergate and it seemed like it would never get finished.