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I-65 widening moving north

Started by ShawnP, November 06, 2010, 11:19:24 AM

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ShawnP



hbelkins

My understanding is the House and Senate have not decided on the road budget yet. This could get added back in, as the leaders of the two chambers will be negotiating in the interim between the last voting day of the session and the "veto day" coming up later.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

ShawnP

I hope it is put back but not much hope. NO doubt that it is badly needed as this area of I-65 has had some horrific crashes thru the years.

ShawnP

Good article with some information............a new section is going to bid in October for Horse Cave to Munfordville.

http://www.bgdailynews.com/news/local/wider-i--cuts-down-on-accidents/article_64e6eedf-e30f-5e5a-8a3a-2e7840f495a9.html

ShawnP


ShawnP

Went thru this week and there is great progress North of exit 43. Completed to MM53 and Under construction from MM53-65. I know it was a horrific sad crash a few years ago but the Amish Bus tragedy in the long run will save lives. Kentucky could ignore or go slow on I-65 six lanes before this accident but the accident has shown folks in Frankfort and DC just how dangerous this stretch of road is without six lanes. Kentucky  is doing their regular complete rebuild with better exits, drainage, landscaping, bridges, overpasses and even rock work in areas. The sections that are complete are a joy to drive on with lots of room and yes more safety features.

hbelkins

The bus accident didn't have anything to do with the number of lanes. It was a median crossover wreck.

I've never felt that the stretch of I-65 between E-town and Bowling Green was particularly dangerous.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

iamathousandapples

Quote from: hbelkins on December 27, 2013, 09:01:13 PM
The bus accident didn't have anything to do with the number of lanes. It was a median crossover wreck.

I've never felt that the stretch of I-65 between E-town and Bowling Green was particularly dangerous.

There always seems to be a lot of accidents on it though. Last time I drove down there there were 3 accidents nearly in a row. I wound up just taking US 31 all the way down even though it was a lot slower and practically the same distance.

I think it's more of the people that drive down it than the road itself. It's nice when you get that stretch all to yourself, but if you hit a lot of trucks they all like to do roughly 90. It's kinda ridiculous. Maybe that's just my luck.

Buck87

I drove 65 north from Tennessee to Elizabethtown on Tuesday, and the 6 laning was done from the TN line all the way to about MM 70 or so, where a long construction zone started. At that point the NB side was split into 2 separate single lanes on either side of the main jersey barrier, with the left one having no access to exits (which was warned by a portable VMS prior to the split). That configuration lasted for 10 miles or so before the 2 lanes came back together for the remainder of the construction zone, which ended just before the exits for E-town. 

It was dark, so I couldn't really see how much progress had been made in this area.

codyg1985

Quote from: Buck87 on January 14, 2016, 11:57:00 AM
I drove 65 north from Tennessee to Elizabethtown on Tuesday, and the 6 laning was done from the TN line all the way to about MM 70 or so, where a long construction zone started. At that point the NB side was split into 2 separate single lanes on either side of the main jersey barrier, with the left one having no access to exits (which was warned by a portable VMS prior to the split). That configuration lasted for 10 miles or so before the 2 lanes came back together for the remainder of the construction zone, which ended just before the exits for E-town. 

It was dark, so I couldn't really see how much progress had been made in this area.

That construction configuration has been very common during the widening projects along I-65.
Cody Goodman
Huntsville, AL, United States

mvak36

Just curious, how many more miles is there left to widen to 3 lanes?
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SteveG1988

Quote from: mvak36 on January 14, 2016, 04:12:05 PM
Just curious, how many more miles is there left to widen to 3 lanes?

I think that is the last stretch, from Bowling Green down to the state line.
Roads Clinched

I55,I82,I84(E&W)I88(W),I87(N),I81,I64,I74(W),I72,I57,I24,I65,I59,I12,I71,I77,I76(E&W),I70,I79,I85,I86(W),I27,I16,I97,I96,I43,I41,

Buck87

Quote from: SteveG1988 on January 14, 2016, 09:08:46 PM
Quote from: mvak36 on January 14, 2016, 04:12:05 PM
Just curious, how many more miles is there left to widen to 3 lanes?

I think that is the last stretch, from Bowling Green down to the state line.

Pretty sure that part is done, at least the northbound lanes were. I remember getting off at the Kentucky welcome center Tuesday night after 20 miles of frustration due to trucks passing trucks on the 4 lane portion north of Nashville, and then being very relieved to see 3 lanes when I got back on.

The part they're currently working on is south of Etown.

tidecat

The only parts that aren't six lanes are under construction, or literally within a 1/4 mile (if that much) of the Tennessee state line.  I guess technically part of the Lincoln Bridge heading north to Indiana is only two lanes due to the exit only lane for Exit 0, but that is also less than a mile long.
Clinched: I-264 (KY), I-265 (KY), I-359 (AL), I-459 (AL), I-865 (IN)

codyg1985

Quote from: tidecat on January 15, 2016, 08:54:06 PM
The only parts that aren't six lanes are under construction, or literally within a 1/4 mile (if that much) of the Tennessee state line.  I guess technically part of the Lincoln Bridge heading north to Indiana is only two lanes due to the exit only lane for Exit 0, but that is also less than a mile long.

Everything between Bowling Green and the Tennessee State line is six lanes. The new interchange that is under construction for TN 109 at the state line will extend the six lanes just a little bit south into Tennessee.
Cody Goodman
Huntsville, AL, United States

Buck87

Speaking of that area, what's up with the TN/KY border there? Anyone know why it jogs down to a corner centered right on 31W, essentially giving KY a triangle of land that would otherwise be part of TN?

thefro

Quote from: Buck87 on January 19, 2016, 10:00:14 AM
Speaking of that area, what's up with the TN/KY border there? Anyone know why it jogs down to a corner centered right on 31W, essentially giving KY a triangle of land that would otherwise be part of TN?

http://www.tnhistoryforkids.org/geography/bordernorth

Quote from: TNHistory for kids
Finally, I have always wondered why the Kentucky-Tennessee border dips down in Robertson County, Tennessee, and Simpson County, Kentucky (coincidentally, where Interstate 65 is). "I've always heard that it was called "˜dueling ground' because it was a no man's land between the two states where people could go to duel and avoid laws against it,"  says my friend Robert Brandt, author of the fascinating Compass American Guides Tennessee.

As it turns out, the so-called "Simpson County Offset"  was caused by human error. When Walker and Smith surveyed this part of the state in December 1779 and January 1780, they were able to do almost no astronomical observations in this part of the state due to cloudy weather. Also, Walker later noted, "there was some iron ore in that vicinity, which deflected the needle of the compass."

By 1830 it became obvious that the line was in the wrong place, which is why surveyors were sent to the area to redraw the line. Those surveyors determined about where the boundary line was supposed to be but wisely recommended in their report that the official border be left where it was. "Let Tennessee yield to Kentucky her claim to the triangular territory and let Kentucky yield to Tennessee her claim on the triangular territory in dispute,"  they recommended, and the state's agreed.

However, this didn't settle the matter. A generation after this survey, a Robertson County settler named Middleton continued to claim that 101 acres of his property that protruded into Kentucky was rightfully in Tennessee. Two surveyors sent to the area to settle the dispute in 1859 agreed with him, which is why a rectangular piece of land about 100 acres in size protrudes northward into Kentucky.

"There are many hearsay stories claiming they were offered a barrel of whiskey to survey around the Middleton offset, and allow it to become part of the state of Tennessee,"  Sames' book points out.

Buck87

Any update on the remaining section that was under construction this time last year?

codyg1985

Quote from: Buck87 on February 09, 2017, 04:06:28 PM
Any update on the remaining section that was under construction this time last year?

From what I can remember from driving that way in late October 2016, the widening is complete to Exit 65, and construction is underway to finish the widening to Elizabethtown.
Cody Goodman
Huntsville, AL, United States

ukfan758

Drove 65 this weekend, the road is now six lanes south of exit 71, leaving about 20 miles left of construction. Concrete walls have been installed all the way to the Western KY Pkwy. I would say the widening will be complete early to mid next year.

I-39

Riding on I-65 through Kentucky as I type this (no, I'm not driving). Still a fair amount of construction between Elizabethtown and Bowling Green.

ShawnP

Almost done.

My original 2017-19 prediction was spot on.

Next big project is a new exit in Bullitt County.

8 lanes from South of the Snyder to Lebanon Junction is on the long range radar. With heavy truck traffic plus crumbling 35 year old concrete it's time.

Will be a 400-500 million slow slog.


hbelkins

Quote from: ShawnP on December 23, 2018, 11:19:04 AM

Next big project is a new exit in Bullitt County.

This, plus the big news last week that the northern Kentucky outer loop is back on the radar, plus Kentucky's insistence on using BUILD grant money for DDIs in NKY instead of new construction in rural areas, is more proof that someone just doesn't get it. They continue to spend money on places that already have good transportation infrastructure and booming economies and withhold it from places that still rely on century-old roads to connect county seats and are seeing the economic renaissance pass them by.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

webny99

Quote from: JREwing78 on November 06, 2010, 03:12:19 PM
That's some aggressive widening there. I can think of many stretches of 4-lane freeway that have far more traffic than these stretches of I-65 reportedly do.

I'd be interested in knowing what the volumes are on these stretches. I'm sure much of the Thruway has higher volumes.



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