Western Kentucky Parkway

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Western Kentucky Parkway

Length:

136.796 mi^[1] (220.152 km)

West end:

I-24 near Eddyville

Major
junctions:

US 62 near Eddyville

Pennyrile Pkwy near Nortonville

US 431/KY 70 near Central City
Natcher Pkwy near Beaver Dam

I-65 in Elizabethtown

East end:

US 31W/KY 61 in Elizabethtown

Counties:

Lyon, Caldwell, Hopkins, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Butler, Grayson, Hardin

Major cities:

Central City, Elizabethtown

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

The 136.796 mile Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway is a controlled-access highway running from Elizabethtown, Kentucky to near Eddyville, Kentucky. It intersects with Interstate 65 at its eastern terminus, and Interstate 24 at its western terminus. It is one of nine highways that are part of the Kentucky parkway system. On May 15, 2006, the section between the Breathitt (Pennyrile) Parkway at Madisonville and Interstate 24 became part of Future Interstate 69; crews installed "Future I-69 Corridor" signs along this segment during the last week of May 2006.

The road was renamed for Wendell H. Ford, a former Kentucky governor and United States Senator, in 1998. Previously, it was simply the Western Kentucky Parkway, and often called the "WK Parkway" because of the abbreviation once used on its signs. The road carries the unsigned designation of Kentucky Route 9001 (WK 9001).

1 Route description
2 History
3 Future
4 Exit list
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Route description

The parkway passes the cities of Leitchfield, Caneyville, Beaver Dam, Central City, Madisonville, Dawson Springs, Princeton and Eddyville. The toll plazas were, from west to east:

Mile 10, just west of Princeton
Exit 24, Dawson Springs
Exit 58, Central City
Exit 94, Caneyville (toll paid only by traffic exiting eastbound and entering westbound)
Exit 107, Leitchfield

At exit 77 near Beaver Dam, the parkway intersects with the William H. Natcher Parkway, which goes from Bowling Green to Owensboro. At exit 37 near Madisonville, the parkway intersects with the Edward T. Breathitt Pennyrile Parkway, which runs from Hopkinsville to Henderson.

A service area featuring a gas station and an Arby's restaurant is located in the median, just west of the interchange with the Natcher Parkway. It is the only such service area in the entire Kentucky parkway system. (Two other service areas were once located on the old Kentucky Turnpike, a toll road from Louisville to Elizabethtown that predated the parkway system and later became part of I-65; they were closed when toll collection ended and the turnpike was officially absorbed into the Interstate Highway system.)

[edit] History

This section does not cite any references or sources. (April 2007)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

The original segment of the parkway was envisioned as a 127-mile toll road extending from Elizabethtown to Princeton. The bonds were issued in 1961 and construction wrapped up on the original 127.19 miles in December of 1963 at a cost of $108,548,062. In 1968, construction wrapped up on a 6.60-mile extension of the Western Kentucky Parkway from Princeton to Interstate 24 in Eddyville coming in at a cost of $5,554,468. The extension was originally proposed to be 10.30 miles but only 6.60 miles were constructed, possibly due to a design realignment of Interstate 24 near Eddyville.

The parkway was originally a toll road, as were all Kentucky parkways. State law requires that toll collection ceases when enough tolls are collected to pay off the parkway's construction bonds; that occurred in 1987. It is constructed similar to the Interstate Highway system, though sections do not measure up to current Interstate standards.

[edit] Future

This section does not cite any references or sources. (April 2007)
Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

[edit] Interstate 66

The section of the parkway between the Natcher Parkway interchange to the western terminus is slated to become part of the proposed extension of Interstate 66.

[edit] Interstate 69

From the Edward T. Breathitt Parkway in Madisonville to Interstate 24, the Western Kentucky Parkway is planned to become part of Interstate 69 as soon as it is upgraded to Interstate highway standards. To reflect this decision, Kentucky transportation officials have erected "Future I-69" signs between I-24 and the Breathitt Parkway. Because Kentucky is using an existing expressway for I-69, highway officials will likely avoid years of costly environmental studies required by other states because the upgrades are being performed within the footprint of the existing highway.

Funding remains the big issue for upgrading the parkways to I-69, as there is no funding in the state's 2006 Six-Year Transportation Plan specifically for I-69. However, it is likely that Kentucky will perform the required upgrades on individual segments of the the Western Kentucky Parkway when the pavement reaches the end of its lifespan, through "Pavement Preservation Projects." This approach is similar to the way New York is upgrading its substandard Route 17 Expressway to I-86.

During a pavement preservation project, the existing pavement is removed, repairs are made to the highway's sub-base, and the road is then resurfaced. During such a project bridges and overpasses may be rehabilitated or replaced, drainage systems are upgraded, and other modifications are made to the mainline and interchanges improve safety on the road without completely reconstructing it, allowing it to remain at least partially open during construction.

Evidence that Kentucky may be taking this approach was reflected in a $23 million project completed in 2005 that replaced and upgraded 11 miles of pavement. This project was performed on a portion of the parkway that is expected to become part of I-69 west of the interchange with the Breathitt Parkway.

[edit] Federal Legislation Designating Parkways as I-69

On May 2, 2008 the House of Representatives passed HR-1195 (SAFETEA-LU Technical Corrections Act of 2008) which designates the Breathitt Parkway from Henderson to Madisonville, and the Western Kentucky Parkway from Madisonville to I-24 at Eddyville as I-69. It further designates the Audubon Parkway as a future spur (I-X69) of I-69 once necessary upgrades are completed. President Bush signed the bill on June 6, 2008, and I-69 signs may begin appearing on the Parkways during the summer of 2008. ^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

[edit] Exit list

County	Location	Mile^[1]	#	Destinations	Notes
Lyon	Eddyville	0.000	1	I-24 / to Purchase Parkway – Paducah, Nashville	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 1A (east) and 1B (west)
Lyon	Eddyville	3.702	4	US 62 – Eddyville
Caldwell	Princeton	11.700	12	KY 91/KY 139 - Marion, Princeton	Serves Lake Barkley State Resort Park
Caldwell	Princeton	13.116	13	KY 293 - Providence, Princeton
Hopkins	Dawson Springs	24.435	24	KY 109 - Dawson Springs, Providence	Serves Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park
Hopkins	Nortonville	38.311	38	Pennyrile Parkway - Hopkinsville, Madisonville	Signed as exits 38A (south) and 38B (north)
Muhlenberg		48.049	48	KY 175, Cemetery Road
	Powderly	52.518	53	KY 181 - Sacramento, Greenville	Serves Lake Malone State Park
	Central City	57.947	58	US 431 / KY 70 – Drakesboro, Central City	Serves Lake Malone State Park
Ohio	Beaver Dam	74.564	75	US 231 – Beaver Dam, Morgantown
Ohio	Beaver Dam	76.757	77	William H. Natcher Parkway - Bowling Green, Owensboro	Signed as exits 77A (south) and 77B (north)
Grayson	Caneyville	94.225	94	KY 79 - Caneyville, Morgantown	Serves Rough River Dam State Resort Park
	Leitchfield	106.965	107	KY 259 - Leitchfield, Brownsville
	Clarkson	111.875	112	KY 224 - Clarkson, Millerstown	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Hardin		123.474	124	KY 84 - Eastview, White Mills
	Elizabethtown	135.816	136	US 31W Byp. north - Fort Knox	West end of US 31W Byp. overlap
		136.545	137	I-65 / to Bluegrass Parkway - Nashville, Lexington, Louisville	Signed as exits 137A (south) and 137B (north)
		136.796		US 31W / KY 61 – Elizabethtown, Hodgenville	East end of US 31W Byp. overlap; at-grade intersection