Interstate 475 (I-475) is a 15.83 mi 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 mph 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. 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 mi to the north-northwest. 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.

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; it opened two years later. At the time, I-75 going into Macon was not yet complete. The Bibb County Commission named the highway in honor of former Commission Chair Larry Justice, who retired in 2000.

Exit list