Pennyrile Parkway

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The Edward T. Breathitt Pennyrile Parkway is a 56.6 mile controlled-access highway from Henderson to Hopkinsville, Kentucky. It is one of nine highways that are part of Kentucky's parkway system. The section between the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway near Mortons Gap and the northern terminus in Henderson is a part of Future Interstate 69.

The road is named after Edward T. Breathitt, a former Kentucky governor. Originally called the Pennyrile Parkway from its opening in October of 1969 at a cost of $69.2 million. It was renamed for Breathitt in 2000.

The parkway begins at Henderson as an apparent continuation of U.S. Highway 41 at exit 81. It travels south through rolling hills for 73 miles (117 km) to its southern terminus at Hopkinsville. A section measuring 7.45 miles was left unconstructed from US 41 Alternate at Hopkinsville to Interstate 24 despite its approval in 1976 from the Parkway Authority for construction. This connection, now served by Alternate U.S. 41, is planned to be built by the end of the decade. Construction has begun on the first 1.8 miles of the extension to the U.S. 68 bypass.

The parkway passes the cities of Madisonville, Sebree, Mortons Gap, and Earlington. It intersects with the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway near Madisonville, and with the Audubon Parkway just south of Henderson.

The Breathitt Parkway, as with all nine parkways, was originally a toll road. By Kentucky state law, toll collection ceases when enough toll has been collected or funds received from other sources, such as a legislative appropriation, to pay off the construction bonds for the parkway. In the case of the Breathitt, toll booths were removed in 1992 when bonds were paid off ten years ahead of schedule.

A section near the middle of the parkway, in the Madisonville area, was free from tolls from the road's opening; this section was also signed as U.S. 41. The 41 designation has since been removed and applied to the former U.S. Highway 41A through Madisonville and other nearby cities; this road was the original U.S. 41 before the parkway opened.

The portion of the parkway from Madisonville to Henderson, as mentioned above, is now part of the proposed southern extension of Interstate 69. On May 15, 2006, Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher announced that the Breathitt Parkway between Henderson and Madisonville will be incorporated into Future Interstate 69. That same day, highway crews began installing "Future Interstate 69 Corridor" signs along this segment and the Western Kentucky Parkway between Mortons Gap and Interstate 24.