Hal Rogers Parkway

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Hal Rogers Parkway

Length:

59.088 mi^[1] (95.093 km)

West end:

US 25/KY 80 in London

East end:

KY 15/KY 80 near Hazard

Counties:

Laurel, Clay, Leslie, Perry

Major cities:

London, Hazard

Numbered highways in Kentucky
Interstates - U.S. Highways - State Highways

The Hal Rogers Parkway, formerly named the Daniel Boone Parkway, connects London and Hazard in southeastern Kentucky. This toll road opened in November 1971^{[citation needed]} and the tolls were removed June 1, 2003.^{[citation needed]} The original extent of the highway was to be 65.70 miles instead of today's 62.90, with that mileage to have been used on a limited-access London bypass. This, however, was not completed. The road is designated unsigned Kentucky Route 9006 (HR 9006).

1 History
- 1.1 Renaming controversy
2 Future
- 2.1 Interstate 66
3 Major intersections
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Renaming controversy

U.S. Representative Hal Rogers was the forerunner in getting the tolls lifted on the Daniel Boone Parkway. Former governor Paul Patton, to thank him for removing the tolls on the highway, renamed the Daniel Boone Parkway the Hal Rogers Parkway.

This stirred a lot of controversy among Kentucky residents and descendants of Daniel Boone who were offended that the famous pioneer, who helped settle Kentucky, was renamed for a sitting congressman whose main accomplishment was getting the tolls lifted off of the parkway. Soon after, the Associated Press picked up the controversy regarding the renaming of the parkway and outrage over the renaming has been heard across the United States and as far as the United Kingdom.

The toll booths were dismantled soon after the tolls were removed in June 1 of 2003 and new Hal Rogers Parkway signs replaced the Daniel Boone Parkway signs. The two at-grade toll booths at exits 34 and 44 were converted into regular intersections and the mainline toll booth near London was dismantled.

It is the only parkway in the state of Kentucky to be almost exclusively two-lanes with the occasional truck lanes on the hills. There is a center paint divider with rumble strips added as a safety feature. The only at-grade intersections are at Exit 34 and 44, from the western terminus at US 25 to KY 192, totaling four-miles, and from milepost 58 to Exit 59.

[edit] Future

[edit] Interstate 66

The parkway was designated a part of the "Future Interstate 66 Corridor," a proposed four-lane Interstate utilizing the existing Cumberland and Hal Rogers Parkway, among other routes, across the southern tier of Kentucky. It cannot be signed as an Interstate until it has permanent connections to the east and west, both of which have not been determined due to the King Coal Highway in West Virginia being demoted to a corridor-standard roadway for US 52.

[edit] Major intersections

From US 25/KY 80 to KY 192 in London, the Hal Rogers Parkway is a four-lane at-grade highway. East of KY 192, the parkway narrows to two lanes and becomes a grade-separated, limited-access highway except for intersections at the former locations of toll barriers along the road. In Hazard, the parkway intersects three local streets at-grade before terminating at KY 15/KY 80.

County	Location	Mile^[1]	#	Destinations	Notes
Laurel	London	0.000		US 25 / KY 80
		0.766		KY 1769	Northern terminus of KY 1769
		1.089		KY 30 / KY 354	Southern terminus of KY 30; northern terminus of KY 354
		2.250		KY 638
		3.010		KY 472
		3.877		KY 192	Eastern terminus of KY 192
Begin limited-access highway eastbound; begin at-grade intersections westbound
Clay	Manchester	20.437	20	KY 80 – London, Manchester
Clay	Big Creek	33.804		KY 66	At-grade intersection; formerly exit 34
Leslie		44.188		KY 118	At-grade intersection; formerly exit 44; northern terminus of KY 118
Perry		56.428	56	KY 451 – Hazard
Perry	Hazard	59.088	59	KY 15 / KY 80 – Hazard, Jackson