Interstate 475 (Georgia) Explained

State:GA
Type:I
Route:475
Alternate Name:Larry Justice Highway
Map Custom:yes
Map Notes:I-475 highlighted in red
Length Mi:15.83
Length Ref:[1]
Established:1967
Spur Type:I
Spur Of:75
Direction A:South
Terminus A: near Macon
Junction:
Direction B:North
Terminus B: near Bolingbroke
Previous Type:I
Next Type:I
Previous Route:420
Next Route:485
Counties:Bibb, Monroe

Interstate 475 (I-475) is a 15.83adj=midNaNadj=mid 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 60mph speed limit, in addition to the highway interchange with I-16.

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. [2]

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 100miles to the north-northwest.[3]

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.[4] [5]

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;[6] it opened two years later. At the time, I-75 going into Macon was not yet complete. [6] [7]

The Bibb County Commission named the highway in honor of former Commission Chair Larry Justice, who retired in 2000.[8]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Route Log - Auxiliary Routes of the Eisenhower National System Of Interstate and Defense Highways - Table 2. Federal Highway Administration. 5 October 2014.
  2. https://www.dot.ga.gov/GDOT/Pages/restareaswelcomecenters.aspx Rest Areas (Georgia Department of Transportation)
  3. Web site: 13 WMAZ traffic cams . May 8, 2022 . 13 WMAZ.
  4. National Highway System: Georgia . Federal Highway Administration . May 8, 2019 . August 10, 2019 .
  5. National Highway System: Macon, GA . Federal Highway Administration . May 9, 2019 . August 10, 2019 .
  6. 1966 . December 27, 2016 .
  7. 1967 . December 27, 2016 .
  8. News: Stucka . Mike . August 14, 2012 . Larry Justice, former Bibb County commission chairman, dead at 74 . The Telegraph . Macon, Georgia . October 15, 2013 . August 17, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120817003824/http://www.macon.com/2012/08/14/2137450/larry-justice-former-bibb-county.html . dead .