Interstate 475 (I-475) is a 15.83-mile-long (25.48 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway in Georgia, splitting off from I-75/State Route 540 (SR 540) and bypassing Macon. It is also unsigned State Route 408 (SR 408). This is the preferred route for through traffic, as I-75 enters Downtown Macon and reduces to four lanes (two in either direction; undergoing widening), and has a 60-mile-per-hour (97 km/h) speed limit, in addition to the highway interchange with I-16.
 Interstate 475 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larry Justice Highway | ||||
 I-475 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Auxiliary route of I-75 | ||||
| Maintained by GDOT | ||||
| Length | 15.83 mi[1] (25.48 km) | |||
| Existed | 1967[2][3]–present | |||
| NHS | Entire route | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |   I-75 / SR 540 near Macon | |||
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| North end | I-75 near Bolingbroke | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Georgia | |||
| Counties | Bibb, Monroe | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Route description
I-475 carries six lanes (three in each direction) throughout its entire route (expanding to eight lanes at both junctions with I-75), except at its northernmost terminus with I-75, where it briefly reduces to four lanes. One rest area can be found along the northbound lanes south of Exit 9 at mile marker 7.7. [4]
The road has also been equipped with traffic cameras, which are a part of the Georgia Navigator system that has been extended via fiber optics all the way from the Atlanta metropolitan area, nearly 100 miles (160 km) to the north-northwest.[5]
The entire length of I-475 is part of the National Highway System, a system of routes determined to be the most important for the nation's economy, mobility, and defense.[6][7]
History
Built in stages between 1965 and 1967, I-475 was originally built with two lanes in each direction, and a wide median with forest, mostly of sweetgum trees. When the one lane was added in each direction, every bit of the median was paved, with a full-lane-wide shoulder in both directions instead of the narrow ones with two lanes in each direction, and a Jersey barrier designed to prevent head-on collisions, instead of leaving, replanting any trees, other landscaping or native vegetation.
In 1965, the entire length of the highway was under construction;[2] it opened two years later. At the time, I-75 going into Macon was not yet complete. [2][3]
The Bibb County Commission named the highway in honor of former Commission Chair Larry Justice, who retired in 2000.[8]
Exit list
| County | Location | mi | km | Old exit | New exit | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bibb | | 0.0 | 0.0 |   I-75 south (SR 401) / SR 540 west (Fall Line Freeway) – Valdosta, Columbus | Southern terminus; southbound exit and northbound entrance; I-75 exit 156 | ||
| Macon | 0.4 | 0.64 | 1 | Hartley Bridge Road | Added exit in 2009 with new collector–distributor lanes; exit 155 on I-75 southbound, collector–distributor Lanes from Hartley Bridge Road entrance going northbound to I-475 and I-75 | ||
| | 3.9 | 6.3 | 1 | 3 |   US 80 / SR 22 (Eisenhower Parkway) – Macon, Roberta | ||
| | 5.6 | 9.0 | 2 | 5 |  SR 74 (Thomaston Road / Mercer University Drive) – Macon, Thomaston | ||
| | 9.4 | 15.1 | 3 | 9 | Zebulon Road | To US 41/SR 19 | |
| Monroe | | 15.1 | 24.3 | 4 | 15 |   US 41 / SR 19 (Rivoli Road) – Bolingbroke | |
| | 15.83 | 25.48 |  I-75 north (SR 401) – Atlanta | Northern terminus; northbound exit and southbound entrance; I-75 exit 177 | |||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||||
See also
References
External links
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