Indiana Roads - I-465/US 31/36/40/421/SR 37
, US 31/36/40/52/421, SR 37/67
All of the routes are de facto together, but technically only I-465 follows the beltway and the other routes disappear.
Let's finish getting ugly shields out of the way. These are on 38th St. WB at I-465 Exit 17.
Clockwise
Makeshift road trailblazers directing traffic onto the Exit 23 ramp at 86th St. (see the photos on the I-465 main page).
I-465, and only 465, NB until it picks up US 52 from I-865.
Turning the corner, two button copy signs for US 421 at Exit 27 that are gone now, courtesy Doug Kerr.
Eastbound into the sun, dipping back into Marion County (Indianapolis) as I head past plenty of button copy, strange off-highway sculptures, and one interesting bridge with an interesting (ugly) clearance sign. Keystone Ave. was SR 431 until 2007, hence the obvious state route shield omission from the advance signs and reflective patches on advance exit signs. Notice that Exits 31 and 37 are for the identically numbered routes. This is likely coincidence, because the beltway's exit numbers start at I-65 in the south like the FHWA intended, but it's still a head-scratcher. Exit 37A used to be for IN 37 South, but not too long ago (and probably close to when it happened to US 31), SR 37 was pulled out of the city and strung along the beltway. In this eastbound stretch, three new routes join the party: US 421, US 31, and here SR 37.
The last button copy is now just before Shadeland Ave., but courtesy Michael Summa, there was of course plenty more in 1979, back when exit tabs were centered and men were men. The last photo is also the only one on this page that is shared with US 40.
Counterclockwise
US 40 is already gone (just after US 52 joined the party) and US 36/SR 67 exit after the first photo. The second photo is the combined Exit 40 ramp with Shadeland Ave., and is here not for the button copy it doesn't have but for the use of mixed case on the bottom line where it should be all upper case.
Turning from north to west and losing SR 37 as well, coincidentally at Exit 37. The new-looking Keystone Ave. on the last photo's sign was probably SR 431 in button copy. That route disappeared in 2007.
Down to the next exit and off the ramp.
Ending with a couple of non-button copy signs. US 31 disappears at Exit 31, marking two routes in six miles that exit at the right number. Most routes can't manage one. Note that I-465 is signed as exiting from itself, which it does, although it used to spawn I-465 Spur (sort of the same route) whereas now the straight-ahead highway is I-865, which comes to an inexplicable Exit 0. The only exits on I-865 are at I-65 and I-465, so it should not have exit numbers. Freeway signs should not use the font seen in the last photo. We move on.
The rest of the WB run, all button copy except for the 1/2-mile Exit 27 advance sign, which is here for the NJDOT-style black background shield. With US 421 exiting there and US 52 following I-865, all of the routes are finally gone and I-465 gets to breathe free for once.
SB until the I-74 multiplex page takes over (see first link below). The little Lafayette Road shield is at Exit 21 in this direction. In the last two photos, Exit 16A should be for US 136 West, which begins heading eastward but quickly turns the right direction once out of the interchange.
And then, in 2011, the signs were gone, and there was all sorts of construction underway. The through route of I-74 WB (from I-465 NB) was temporarily closed and the through route of Crawfordsville Rd./US 136 was permanently closed, leaving I-465 SB as the only access to head west. In the first two photos, the new I-74 overpass (from I-465 NB) leaves room for a diamond ramp to slice through and meet US 136 on the west side of I-465. US 136 will therefore end at the beltway without crossing it, marking the last US highway officially removed from inside.
Bonus: 86th St. EB at Michigan Rd., former US 421. State-named shields are extremely rare in Indiana.
Onto I-74/465/US 31/36/40/SR 37
Back to I-465 main page
Exit 27 or 49B to US 421 alone
Exit 31 to US 31 alone
Exit 37 to SR 37 alone
(Exit 42) to US 36 alone
(Exit 46) to US 40 alone
Exit 16A to US 136
Exit 16B or 49B to I-74 WB
Exit 25 to I-865
Exit 25 (or 20) to I-65
Exit 37 to I-69
(Exit 40) to Shadeland Ave.
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