Interstate 565 (I-565) is a 22-mile (35 km) long Interstate spur that connects Interstate 65 (I-65) in Decatur, Alabama with U.S. Highway 72 in Huntsville, Alabama.

I-565 serves the cities of Decatur, Madison, and downtown Huntsville. It also provides a route to the Huntsville International Airport.

I-565 forms a part of Appalachian Development Highway System Corridor V. U.S. Route 72 Alternate runs concurrent with I-565 for the entire length of I-565.

When the Interstate Highway System was first laid out during the mid-1950s, Interstate 65 was routed on a north-south bee line connecting Nashville, Tenn., with Birmingham, Ala. This route passes just to the east of Decatur, which was a major river port on the Tennessee River at the time. Huntsville, however, was still a small town about twenty miles (32 km) to the east of I-65.

During the latter 1950s and all through the 1960s, Huntsville underwent massive population growth due to the establishment of the U.S. Army Missile Command at Redstone Arsenal, and the new NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. By 1960, Huntsville had grown to more than twice the size of Decatur. It became clear that an Interstate Highway spur route would be beneficial to connect Huntsville with I-65, and thence to the rest of the country. I-565 was chosen as the Federal Highway Administration's number for this proposed spur expressway. It was decided that rather than terminating at the western edge of Huntsville, I-565 would extend farther eastward, providing an east-west freeway for Huntsville. On the eastern edge of Huntsville, I-565 was designed to feed into U.S. Highway 72, which was being widened to a four-lane highway running from Huntsville to Kimball, Tenn., where it feeds into Interstate 24.

Construction of I-565 began in 1987, and the freeway was opened on October 26, 1991. By the time construction had begun, Huntsville had become the most populous city in the contiguous United States without a freeway connection to the Interstate Highway System.[citation needed]

When I-565 was first opened, it was signed as a north-south highway. This created some confusion because the highway runs roughly east–west. It was re-designated soon after opening.

Unlike many urban Interstate Highways which have a uniform speed limit of 55 mph (89 km/h), I-565 has a speed limit of 70 mph (110 km/h), continuing well into the city.

On November 20, 2006, a school bus carrying high school students collided with another vehicle or swerved to avoid a collision and drove off an elevated off-ramp, falling nose-first approximately 30 feet (9.1 m) to the ground. Four teenage girls were killed in the accident.

Plans are currently in place to extend I-565 east several miles past the junction of U.S. Highway 72 along a newly upgraded freeway section of US 72 east of Huntsville. Construction could start on two new exits at Moores Mill Road and Shields Road by 2015. In Madison, Ala., construction should start by 2013 to create an interchange at County Line Road. An extension of 565 west, from the current terminus at I-65, along the route of Alabama Hwy. 20 and Alternate US 72 to its junction with U.S. Highway 31 near Decatur, is also planned. In January 2007, politicians in Northwestern Alabama announced that they would launch a campaign to extend I-565 westward to Florence. I-565 is part of a proposed highway that would connect Memphis, Tenn., with Atlanta. Ga., via Rome, Ga., and Chattanooga as part of ISTEA High Priority Corridor 7.