Kentucky

[hbelkins]

I-65 is just as busy in Tennessee and does just fine without it being six lanes outside of the Nashville area.

I agree by biggest issue with Kentucky by far is they have gone way overkill with widening all these rural freeways but ignore widening the urban ones like New Circle Rd and I-64 in Louisville.

There are significant right of way issues with both routes, especially I-64 with the tunnels and park land. Best solution to that would be to widen I-71 inside the Watterson and sign it as an alternate for I-64.

[seicer]

The issue with many of Kentucky's rural freeways - I-65 and I-75 especially, isn't that they carry a lot of traffic. They can safely handle their VPD fine. But it's the percentage of trucks that use it that compounds the issue - it's very high, some of the highest percentages for traffic in the nation.

It's also why New Circle Road / KY 4 has remained four lanes for so long. With the exception of the northwest part of the freeway, it really doesn't experience chronic congestion or backups. Traffic flows, sometimes slowly, but it doesn't grind to a halt under normal circumstances. Widening the entrance/exit lanes, and widening the ramps has helped a lot in recent years.

[dvferyance]

I-65 is just as busy in Tennessee and does just fine without it being six lanes outside of the Nashville area.

I agree by biggest issue with Kentucky by far is they have gone way overkill with widening all these rural freeways but ignore widening the urban ones like New Circle Rd and I-64 in Louisville.

There are significant right of way issues with both routes, especially I-64 with the tunnels and park land. Best solution to that would be to widen I-71 inside the Watterson and sign it as an alternate for I-64.

I-64 in Louisville is the equivalent to I-43 on Milwaukee's north shore. Two interstates in the stone age that should have been widened decades ago.

[seicer]

I-64 moves for 95% of the day. Even in rush hour, it's not as bad as it could be, mainly because a significant amount of traffic uses I-71 to I-264 or I-265 to reach the eastern suburbs. And now that I-265 is complete, through traffic has another alternative for bypassing that segment. And for inner-city traffic, they use Baxter/Bardstown, Lexington and Frankfort - not I-64, as those city streets are more direct.

Its construction was a compromise - and is why it's just four lanes. For better or worse, it won't be widened.

[hbelkins]

The issue with many of Kentucky's rural freeways - I-65 and I-75 especially, isn't that they carry a lot of traffic. They can safely handle their VPD fine. But it's the percentage of trucks that use it that compounds the issue - it's very high, some of the highest percentages for traffic in the nation.

It's also why New Circle Road / KY 4 has remained four lanes for so long. With the exception of the northwest part of the freeway, it really doesn't experience chronic congestion or backups. Traffic flows, sometimes slowly, but it doesn't grind to a halt under normal circumstances. Widening the entrance/exit lanes, and widening the ramps has helped a lot in recent years.

Improvements are being made to the northwestern part of the freeway. One of the biggest problems of afternoon congestion on that segment is the glare from the sun, especially in the fall when the sun gets lower in the sky. It's brutal; I've experienced it. The section from about Newtown/Georgetown around to Leestown is awful.

[roadman65]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/William+H.+Natcher+Bridge/@37.8630769,-87.0062096,5187m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x886fad08f81b1535:0xd1c78c60654fc1a1!8m2!3d37.9013752!4d-87.0340559  I was noticing how close to US 60 that KY 2080 is to the highway.  Also being that the Hatcher Bridge was opened in 2002 with its old crossing located in Owensboro, I assume that KY 2080 was the old US 60 alignment and the current US 60 (and 231) were both constructed along with the bridge opening?

[Captain Jack]

Yes, KY 2080 is the old US 60 alignment prior to the construction of the bridge.

You can see where the US 60 bypass used to T into this alignment on the eastern edge of Owensboro.

I still get a little confused when I come into Owensboro from the east...mainly because I want to hit the Wonder Whip as I enter town..lol

[jnewkirk77]

Sorry, need to correct this a bit: It's actually KY 2830. And yes, it is the former US 60 northeast of what is now KY 144.

The four-lane from what is now the junction of 144 and 2830 out to the 60/231 Natcher Bridge junction opened in the 1997-98 timeframe, with the bridge itself opening in October '02.

It really doesn't seem like it's all been open that long ... but then I don't feel 41 years old, myself ... 

[seicer]

https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt7kwh2dbx06#page/1/mode/1up/search/%22interstate+64%22

Page 11 - this is a 1962 view of I-64 with what looks like Shelby County. Interesting cost comparisons between asphalt and concrete pavement and where they were used on I-64.

[JMoses24]

Northern

Interstates, Expressways & Parkways

New outer auxiliary lane on I-71/75 from SR 536 north to U42 (C 2024).
New interchange at I-275 and Graves Road - future Exit 7 (C 2022).

The auxiliary lanes for I-71/75 from KY 536 to US 42 is already under construction northbound. The southbound side is slated to be constructed next year. Simultaneously, work is soon to begin on a pair of new Double Crossover Diamond interchanges at Mt Zion (KY 536) and Richwood Road (KY 338) later in the year.

The I-275/Graves Road interchange will begin construction later this year with expected completion in 2022.

Driving NKY Progress

[ibthebigd]

I just wish they would widen US 25 to 4 Lanes from Lexington to Ironworks Pike.

They also need to make a new lane on I-75 from Newtown Pike to Paris Pike that would relieve the rush hour congestion.

SM-G950U

[hbelkins]

They also need to make a new lane on I-75 from Newtown Pike to Paris Pike that would relieve the rush hour congestion.

SM-G950U

For some reason, over the past 12-18 months, traffic on eastbound I-64/southbound I-75 has been stacking up in the afternoon hours approaching Newtown Pike, and will be stop-and-go at least to Paris Pike and sometimes all the way to the split. I'm not sure why this is happening; I drove that route for years in the afternoon and it didn't happen like this, but it has been like this every time I've been on the way home from Frankfort the last year or so. It's enough to make me start wanting to take US 460 and KY 627 through Georgetown and Paris.

[Georgia]

did a cursory google search and couldnt find anything

how long is the 75 North welcome center going to be closed?
refurbishment project?
contractor was putting up a fence around the building today, presumably to keep the truckers out of the building as they are still allowed to park on the property as of now.

[hbelkins]

did a cursory google search and couldnt find anything

how long is the 75 North welcome center going to be closed?
refurbishment project?
contractor was putting up a fence around the building today, presumably to keep the truckers out of the building as they are still allowed to park on the property as of now.

https://kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-stream.aspx?n=FinanceandAdministrationCabinet&prId=129

[The Ghostbuster]

I'm not sure if any of you can answer my question, but why does the US 60 Owensboro bypass have it's exits numbered from 10 to 21? Shouldn't the exits be numbered 1 through 12 (or if going by US 60's actual mileage, 161 through 173)?

[bandit957]

I'm not sure if any of you can answer my question, but why does the US 60 Owensboro bypass have it's exits numbered from 10 to 21? Shouldn't the exits be numbered 1 through 12 (or if going by US 60's actual mileage, 161 through 173)?

It's probably numbered from where US 60 itself enters Daviess County.

[hbelkins]

I'm not sure if any of you can answer my question, but why does the US 60 Owensboro bypass have it's exits numbered from 10 to 21? Shouldn't the exits be numbered 1 through 12 (or if going by US 60's actual mileage, 161 through 173)?

It's probably numbered from where US 60 itself enters Daviess County.

Correct. For all routes other than interstates or parkways, Kentucky mileage resets at the western or southern border of each county.* A similar situation occurs for the two US 23 exits on the cut-through in Pikeville.

*An exception for I-265, as the numbering begins at KY 841's terminus at US 31W/US 60.

[bandit957]

Correct. For all routes other than interstates or parkways, Kentucky mileage resets at the western or southern border of each county.* A similar situation occurs for the two US 23 exits on the cut-through in Pikeville.

KY 9 has precisely one Interstate-style exit in all of Campbell County, which is the one to US 27. It's exit 14 because it's numbered from the Pendleton County line.

[wriddle082]

Correct. For all routes other than interstates or parkways, Kentucky mileage resets at the western or southern border of each county.* A similar situation occurs for the two US 23 exits on the cut-through in Pikeville.

KY 9 has precisely one Interstate-style exit in all of Campbell County, which is the one to US 27. It's exit 14 because it's numbered from the Pendleton County line.

In Tennessee, the mile markers of state highways also reset at county lines, and along most of Tennessee's non-interstate freeways, the exits are unnumbered, with two exceptions in the Nashville area.  TN 155 Briley Pkwy has its first numbered exit as 3 at I-24 on the SE side (roughly 3 miles from the beginning of TN 155 at US 31, but that particular exit is unnumbered), and they go counter-clockwise from there.  This doesn't create confusion since it stays completely in Davidson County.  TN 386 Vietnam Veterans Blvd, however, begins in Davidson County but enters Sumner County almost two miles later for the rest of its run, and the exits were originally unnumbered, but had numbers added later.  I think they changed the mile markers so they no longer reset at the county line so the exit numbers could stay consistent.  The blue median mileage reference markers do not seem to reset, according to GMSV.

[ibthebigd]

I saw an article in the Louisville newspaper about another bypass around Louisville is it even needed?

I feel like the I-69 bridge and 71/75 bridges are the most pressing need right now.

SM-G950U

[bandit957]

I saw an article in the Louisville newspaper about another bypass around Louisville is it even needed?

No. Same for Cincinnati.

Some people just want to build and build and build, and waste our resources just to make a buck. This isn't sustainable.

[hbelkins]

I saw an article in the Louisville newspaper about another bypass around Louisville is it even needed?

No. Same for Cincinnati.

Some people just want to build and build and build, and waste our resources just to make a buck. This isn't sustainable.

I certainly don't think either one is needed. I know developers are trying to push the Cincy outer loop as a way to open up areas of Gallatin, Owen, Pendleton, Campbell and possibly Bracken counties. I don't know exactly what's fueling the Louisville bypass drive, other than a whole lot of traffic on KY 44 between Shepherdsville and Mt. Washington. I haven't looked at the latest issuance in-depth, but this project was mentioned at a conference I attended last month. They're looking now at possibly doing spot improvements to KY 44, KY 53 and KY 55 in a rough loop involving Bullitt, possibly Spender, Shelby, and Oldham counties. A four-lane KY 44 would be very expensive. Even trying to get turn lanes at major intersections is costly. That corridor has absolutely boomed in the last 35 years. Lots of houses. My aunt lived in one of the last houses on 44 before you cross Floyd's Fork going west toward Mt. Washington (my first cousin lives there now). Now it's wall-to-wall residences along that 11-mile stretch.

[seicer]

H.B., did you have a hand in this? These two photos from Catherine Peters are from your neck of the woods 

[hbelkins]

No, I found out about them after the fact. They generated a bit of discussion around here.

[sparker]

^^^^^^^^^
Its seems like the now-overused/trite phrase ".....stay in your lane, bro....."  might actually be applicable and even appropriate in the situation illustrated above.