Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum I-65 growing pains

So, the wife bought a new horse trailer from a dealer in Seymour Indiana, the good news is straight up I-65 the bad news is straight up I-65. Got through the mess around Calera with no major issues next hurdle was Nashville, wrong timing 5:30pm took way more than a hour to navigate that disaster, if Elon left me $$$ with the conditions of living around Nashville might be a hard pass return trip was around 3pm and still a total disaster, major crash 15 miles south of Louisville N and S shutdown around 4pm we make a few side steps and avoided most of it also helped we were still navigating Nashville when the wreck happened, Louisville was fine at 8:30 pm but a stand still at 12:30 on the return.

Waze app, helped a lot, was readjusting constantly dealing with the wreck even 3 hours before we were able to get there

My heart goes out for y’all that travel that route regularly

I drove it the other day. I hate to imagine another 10 years of growth

One day in the very distant future I-65 will have enough lanes for the traffic.

Doubt it. That would mean doing more than 1 extra lane at a time.

Don’t mean to hijack the thread but you mentioned using the Waze app. I’ve always used Google Maps and wondered if Waze was better?

Actually wife did the driving on the way there and I was using both comparing one to the other, it seems Waze was a little better with the reports and stuff but I may not be using the same google app as you

To add, also used ChatGPT to find out what was happening and it was finding news links to the wreck, lanes, roads shutting down also helped.

Waze is about the most aggravating thing I’ve ever heard in a vehicle. Especially when the person has the volume on it WAO and it screams every time there is a “VEHICLE REPORTED ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD”!!! Now if we are going on a trip and my buddy has that on in his truck, I just go in mine. Just another thing to distract drivers. I don’t need to know that there is a disabled vehicle on the side the road or a cop 3 miles up the road. I much rather google maps. Of course this is just my opinion. I’m sure some people find it useful. I DO NOT!!

Never turn mine on

In my experience Waze does better (faster reroutes and cops) if you are semi familiar with the area, but Google Maps does better actually directing (think which lane for turns, naming exits, etc..) if you are unfamiliar with your travel route.

I use Waze when travelling and love it, but I do not have the volume on...I can see the issues it addresses (cars on side of road, police, etc) and I use the navigation feature as well. DoA will not use the navigation feature because he does not want to listen to the navigation but does have the volume up for the other things.

I don't know if the other map apps allow users to add issues into it, such as wrecks, traffic jams, police, etc, but Waze does, which is one of the reasons we use it. I have marked myself on the shoulder before hoping other users can move to the other lane well ahead of "car on shoulder". I find it more helpful at night when visibility isn't as great.

Normal Alabama traffic is bad enough especially 565 to Cullman and Birmingham to Calera. I travel the length of 65 in Alabama on a regular basis. It needs to be at minimum three lanes from Athens in the north to Georgiana in the south and in several stretches four lanes. Add to it that the Alabama beaches saw about 16 million visitors in 2025 and the FL panhandle another 5 - 10 million and you have enormous traffic pressure on an interstate designed for a fifth of the traffic is handles. We also have seen a huge jump in container ship traffic through the Port of Mobile which has resulted in more truck traffic on 65. For six months of the year, weekend travel is almost impossible from Birmingham to Georgiana.

Great economic benefits to the state from tourism and trade but we also should be adding taxes to those industries for direct contribution to infrastructure improvements up state. We suffer for their growth.

I like the waze app just becasue it helps avoid speeding tickets with the police notifications.

I originally didn't like it becasue of the specific vehicle on the side of the road notifications. An update or two back they started allowing you to turn off specific notifications you don't want and turning that one off eleminated about 90% of the alerts.

I did a quick run and back to the Nashville airport yesterday morning. No congestion except at the Madison and Franklin Tn intersections. Even then it kept moving but was slow several times. Left at 6:30 am. Two Tennessee State Troopers were making sure the lights were kept on at HQ though. One tracking the other writing tickets.

The growth down here in and around Gulf Shores just about unparalleled compared to just about anywhere I have been in the state with the possible exception of Huntsville.

In addition to all the rows and rows of houses going up in Foley, they are building a new Margaritaville on the intercoastal and it will have 400 housing units in it.

I doubt it. About the time they add an extra lane it will already be time to add another.

I said very distant future. Flying car's like on the Jetson's will be normal by then.

Only when cars fly.

I don't even want to imagine people texting and flying...

Do you remember when it stopped in Georgiana and you got back on 31 to Montgomery.

When I was a kid we used to go hunting with my Dad's cousin all the time. Some of his buddies were illegally travelling on the future I-65, thinking they had hit the honey hole of travel headed south to go hunting. They were running along the unfinished interstate early one morning before daylight and ran into a bridge abutment that was about 2-3 feet above the unfinished graded dirt roadway. Killed everyone in the car.