Interstate 465
Interstate 465 (or I-465) is the beltway circling Indianapolis, Indiana. It is roughly rectangular in shape and has a perimeter of approximately 85 km (53 miles). It lies almost completely within the boundaries of Marion County, except for two short sections on the north end in Boone and Hamilton Counties. It crosses Interstates I-65, I-69, I-70, and I-74, and provides additional access to I-65 via spur I-865. It is a major access road to Indianapolis International Airport, located at the western I-70 crossing. An $800 million project is underway to refurbish the western edge of the loop, with an estimated completion in 2010.
In 2002, David Letterman's late-night talk show sidekick and band leader Paul Shaffer was honored by having a street in Thunder Bay, Ontario named for him. This led Letterman to ask (on his program) why he couldn't have his own eponymous road, and he suggested I-465 be named the David Letterman Expressway. His fans took the idea seriously, especially in the Indianapolis area where highway signs promoting the idea were displayed. Advertisers and traffic reports started to refer to I-465 as the "DLX," or later the "David Letterman Bypass," a reference to his quintuple heart bypass surgery in January 2000. Letterman even telephoned the Mayor of Indianapolis, Bart Peterson to make his case, but eventually the idea went nowhere.