Kentucky Route 259
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by KYTC | ||||
| Length: | 79.853 mi[1] (128.511 km) | |||
| Existed: | 1930s – present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| North end: |
 KY 144 near Rhodelia | |||
|
 US 31W north of Rocky Hill | ||||
| South end: |
  US 68 / KY 80 at Hays | |||
| Location | ||||
| Counties: | Meade, Breckinridge, Grayson, Edmonson, Warren | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Kentucky Route 259 (KY 259) is a 79.853-mile (128.511 km) state highway that traverses five counties in west-central Kentucky.
Route description
Warren/Edmonson County area
KY 259's southern terminus is at the intersection with the co-signed U.S. Route 68 (US 68) and KY 80 in Hays, in far eastern Warren County. It crosses Interstate 65 (I-65) via an overpass before crossing into Edmonson County and reaches the community of Rocky Hill, where it intersects KY 1339 (Apple Grove Road). It then crosses US 31W just north of Rocky Hill, and then turns northwest to intersect 422 and 2325 in the Pig community. When it meets KY 101 in Rhoda, KY 259 turns and continues on to the Edmonson County seat of Brownsville, where it will run concurrently with Kentucky Route 70 throughout its course through that city, over the Green River to a point near the Riverhill Shopping Center.
After leaving Brownsville, KY 259 then traverses the communities of Lindseyville, Sweeden (where it intersects KY 728), and Bee Spring (where it intersects KY 238). KY 259 skirts the Nolin Lake area after passing through Broadway.
Grayson County
KY 259 enters Grayson County and continues on through Anneta and Meredith. It intersects a very short KY 226, and then enters Leitchfield. It intersects the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway at its exit 107 interchange and meets US 62 in downtown Leitchfield. It also meets the eastern terminus of KY 54 (Owensboro Road) at the public square. After the second intersection of the Leitchfield By-Pass (the first one was after the WK Parkway interchange), KY 259 continues northward.
Breckinridge and Meade Counties
After reaching Breckinridge County, and the first junction with Kentucky Route 79, KY 259 and KY 79 run concurrently while bridging parts of the Rough River Lake. They reach the US 60 junction at Harned. KY 259 turns left to run concurrently with US 60 westbound, while KY 79 makes a right turn to join US 60 eastbound. KY 259 enters the city of Hardinsburg and then continues north to reach its northern terminus at KY 144 at Rhodelia, in western Meade County. Three different sections of KY 259 in Edmonson and Warren counties are marked as a Kentucky Scenic Byway.
History
In the beginning, KY 259 only ran from Hardinsburg to Rhodelia. The highway from Hays to Harned began its history as Kentucky Route 65 at the time of its inception.[2][3]
The then-KY 65 (during its concurrency with KY 70) in Edmonson County crossed the Green River by ferry until it was re-routed onto a bridge in the 1950s.[4][5][6]
At one point between 1959 and 1963, KY 65 was redesignated as the current KY 259, extending that route to its current longevity. This was done in order to avoid confusion between it and the then-planned-and-under-construction Interstate 65 in the Edmonson/Warren/Barren County area, and its entire course through west-central Kentucky, which was completed in 1967. To date, there was never another KY 65 designation ever since.[2][7]
Points of interest along the route
- Edmonson County Lion's Club Fairgrounds, near Rhoda. Home to the annual Edmonson County Fair (held in early September)
- Bee Spring Park.
- Moutardier Marina (via KY 2067), south of Anneta.
- Grayson County Airport, near Meredith
- Grayson Connty Fairgrounds, north of Leitchfield.
Related routes
References
- ↑ Commonwealth of Kentucky. "Official DMI Route Log". Retrieved 26 December 2012.
- 1 2 Official 1957 Kentucky State Highway Map
- ↑ Official 1939 Kentucky State Highway Map Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
- ↑ Edmonson County Highway and Transportation Map (1937 Edition)
- ↑ Edmonson County Highway and Transportation Map (1958 Edition)
- ↑ Uglybridges.com | KY-70 over GREEN RIVER AND CR-& CR 1203, Edmonson County, Kentucky
- ↑ Official 1964 Kentucky State Highway Map