Interstate 64 (US 40)

Interstate 64 (US 40)
Name	Interstate 64 (US 40)
Route	I-64/US 40
Length mi	approx. 255
Direction	A=West
Terminus a	St. Louis
Direction b	East
Terminus b	Richmond
States	Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia

Interstate 64 (US 40) is a major east–west limited-access highway linking the Midwest and the East Coast across multiple states. The route connects the urban centers of St. Louis, Evansville, Louisville, Charleston, Huntington, Norfolk-area corridors, and Richmond, intersecting numerous historic routes and modern corridors. It serves freight, commuter, and long-distance travel functions and parallels segments of historic auto trails and U.S. numbered highways.

Route description

The route begins near St. Louis, crossing the Missouri River approaches and running concurrently with Interstate 55 urban ramps and linking to Interstate 70 and Interstate 44 before entering Illinois. Through East St. Louis it intersects Interstate 255 and the Gateway Arch National Park corridor near Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. Continuing through Indiana the route bypasses Evansville and intersects U.S. Route 41 and Interstate 69 connectors near Vanderburgh County, then traverses toward Scott County to meet Interstate 265 and Interstate 64 spurs serving Louisville. In Kentucky the highway crosses the Ohio River via the Clark Memorial Bridge or parallel crossings and links to Interstate 65 and Interstate 71 near downtown Louisville and the Mammoth Cave National Park corridor farther west. East of Louisville it follows the Bluegrass Region and joins corridors toward Huntington and Charleston, intersecting U.S. Route 60 and U.S. Route 23 near Appalachian gateways. In Virginia the route passes through the Shenandoah Valley approaches and the Richmond–Norfolk Hampton Roads region, connecting with Interstate 95, I-295, and the Chesapeake Bay approach via the Jordan Bridge and Monitor–Merrimac Memorial Bridge–Tunnel alternatives for traffic to Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

History

Originally aligned along sections of the National Road and the U.S. Highway System, the corridor incorporated portions of U.S. Route 40 during mid-20th-century planning influenced by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956. Early construction tied into projects funded under the Interstate Highway System and involved engineering works near the Mississippi River and Appalachian crossings influenced by regional plans from agencies such as the Tennessee Valley Authority for adjacent corridors. Major milestones included urban completions in St. Louis, the opening of river crossings near Louisville amid coordination with Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Indiana Department of Transportation, and Appalachian upgrades overseen by West Virginia Department of Transportation. The route saw successive widening and interchange modernization projects through partnerships with the Federal Highway Administration, and it played roles during events like Hurricane Isabel evacuations and logistics movements related to Operation Iraqi Freedom supply lines.

Major intersections

Major junctions include connections with Interstate 70 near St. Louis, Interstate 55 approaches, Interstate 69 and U.S. Route 41 near Evansville, and Interstate 65 and Interstate 71 near Louisville. Eastward, key interchanges occur with U.S. Route 23 and U.S. Route 60 near Huntington and Charleston, and with Interstate 95 and I-295 in the Richmond area. The highway interfaces with coastal approach routes to Norfolk and the Hampton Roads Bridge–Tunnel and intermodal links to Norfolk Naval Base logistics corridors.

Auxiliary routes and business loops

The corridor features auxiliary routes and business spurs in multiple metro areas, such as urban connectors maintained by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Indiana Department of Transportation that link to downtown cores like Louisville and St. Louis. Business loops serve historic commercial strips aligned with U.S. Route 40 through Charleston and smaller towns along the Ohio River, and short designations tie into parkway systems like the Bluegrass Parkway and regional expressways administered by municipal authorities such as Richmond and City of St. Louis.

Transportation and traffic data

Traffic volumes vary from high urban Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) counts near St. Louis and Louisville—with heavy commercial vehicle percentages used by carriers like United Parcel Service and FedEx—to lighter rural flows across Kentucky and West Virginia Appalachian segments. Freight routes intersect with Class I rail corridors owned by Union Pacific Railroad and CSX Transportation, and intermodal terminals near Port of Richmond and Port of Long Beach—as part of broader supply chains—affect seasonal and surge traffic. Safety performance and pavement condition assessments are carried out by state DOTs and reported to the Federal Highway Administration, with metrics aligned to Highway Safety Manual methodologies and National Performance Management Research Data Set targets.

Future plans and improvements

Planned initiatives include interchange reconstructions funded through state capital programs and federal grants administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation, corridor widening projects in metropolitan bottlenecks, and bridge rehabilitation projects coordinated with agencies such as the Army Corps of Engineers for river crossings. Long-range strategies consider multimodal integration with Amtrak corridors, park-and-ride expansions tied to Metra-style regional systems, and resiliency upgrades to address climate-related flooding risks identified by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Public–private partnership proposals and transportation planning studies by metropolitan planning organizations such as the Metropolitan Planning Organization networks are evaluating congestion pricing, freight bypasses, and transit-oriented developments adjacent to major interchanges.

Category:Interstate Highways