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[hbelkins]

Sunday evening and Monday morning, I drove the entire length of I-69 in Kentucky, northbound from the Tennessee state line to Henderson.

Observations:

1.) "Future I-69 corridor" signs are posted along the entire route of the Purchase Parkway, and intermittently along the included portion of the Pennyrile Parkway.

2.) There is no mention of I-69 whatsoever on I-24 eastbound.

3.) A sign replacement project is underway. I noticed new posts approaching I-24 on the Purchase, all along the I-69 portion of the WK, and southbound on the Pennyrile approaching the WK. I don't understand this. Kentucky uses demountable copy and route shields on its guide signs, so it would be a simple matter to add I-69 shields where appropriate. If they are changing out exit numbers on the I-69 portion of the WK, it would be easier to just change the exit tabs the way they did on the Natcher when they had to change exit numbers because of the new extension.

4.) In order to achieve proper interstate bridge clearance, looks like they lowered the level of the route surface in a couple of places. A Jersey barrier has been placed in those areas.

[seicer]

How old were the signs? The ones on the WK were not that old - maybe 15 to 20 years, but some signs in the state are pretty damn old - like the Mountain Parkway that have got to be approaching 40.

[hbelkins]

How old were the signs? The ones on the WK were not that old - maybe 15 to 20 years, but some signs in the state are pretty damn old - like the Mountain Parkway that have got to be approaching 40.

Not that old. In fact, one of the signs set to be replaced is for Mineral Mound State Park on the WK. It's a Clearview sign and looks practically new.

The Mountain Parkway signs date back to around 1976 or so. They replaced text-based non-button copy signs that were 1963 originals. All of the signs eastbound, with the exception of a couple of mileage signs, have been replaced between Clay City and Slade.

[SSF]

It was weird seeing those massive signs right behind the old signs, and all to add only one interstate shield and word "south"(i was traveling on SB Pennyrile heading back to Atlanta).  The new signs are probably at least 25% bigger than the old signs.

[hbelkins]

It was weird seeing those massive signs right behind the old signs, and all to add only one interstate shield and word "south"(i was traveling on SB Pennyrile heading back to Atlanta).  The new signs are probably at least 25% bigger than the old signs.

That's unusual. Most of Kentucky's recent installations have been smaller than the signs they replaced.

[Grzrd]

from the current six-year highway plan:
PROJECT REVIEW TO LOCATE ALIGNMENT FOR INTERSTATE 69 AROUND HENDERSON FROM E.T. BREATHITT PARKWAY (PENNYRILE PARKWAY) TO OHIO RIVER CROSSING. (I-69 CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENT). (10CCR) D $1 million, 2012

(above quote from I-69 Ohio River Bridge thread)

With 2013 rapidly approaching, I emailed the generic KYTC "Contact Us" address (I did not want to impose on HB) about the extent of progress on the above project:

Q:
The 2012 Recommended Highway Plan (http://transportation.ky.gov/Program-Management/Highway%20Plan/2012RecommendedProjectListing.pdf), on page 54, has the following $1 million 2012 listing :
"PROJECT REVIEW TO LOCATE ALIGNMENT FOR INTERSTATE 69 AROUND HENDERSON FROM E.T. BREATHITT PARKWAY (PENNYRILE PARKWAY) TO OHIO RIVER CROSSING. (I-69 CORRIDOR IMPROVEMENT)"
Has work started & when should it be finished?

A:
There are twelve total I-69 projects in the 2012 Recommended Highway Plan totaling $155 million worth of commitment.  Each of these projects are at various stages of planning and design.  The project you referenced in your question is in the early stages of planning.  The Recommended Highway Plan has money set aside for its construction in 2019.  This is a target construction date and at this time we are uncertain as to if that date is realistic or not.  Regardless, the Cabinet has a long way to go before we begin to construct this project.
Jeff Jasper, P.E., Director
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
Division of Highway Design

I had intended to only ask when the review would begin, not actual construction.  If KYTC believes some type of Kentucky-Indiana toll authority can be established for the bridge in the near future, then 2019 construction for I-69 to the east of Henderson may not be out of the question.

[seicer]

Such an authority may be doable. With one such authority authorized for the Ohio River Bridges Project to impose tolls for the East End Bridge and another with "strong" support from both Kentucky Governor Beshear and Ohio Governor Kasich for the Brent Spence Bridge (supplemental) Project. It's a reality that both of those projects would not be doable with conventional funding sources, both state and federal.

But if the I-69 bridge is tolled, what is to stop folks from using the existing US 41 bridges which are well within their capacity? If the 1931-era span is demolished and the three-lane bridge built in the 1960s is kept, that may be better. I can't see a need for three bridges - it's expensive to maintain these crossings.

[mgk920]

Going over aerial images of that area, I can see no way that the existing US 41 through the Henderson, KY area can be economically upgraded to full interstate status without screwing everything at the local level up along the way.

IMHO, the best routing (assuming no undue environmental hangups) would have I-69 diverge from the the existing Parkway by the railroad overcrossing just north of KY 351, run along the railroad to just south of US 60 where it would curve a bit northward and cross the railroad, running a short distance east of KY 414, then curve nearly due northward and cross the river.  From there, it would join I-164, feeding into that curve about a half-section east of Weinbach Ave, threading the highway between those ponds.  I-164 to the west could then connect to it just south of that pond that would be west of I-69.  The routing could be smoothed a bit if one or more of those ponds are expendable.

I would also find some way to simplify the area around the US 41/60 interchange for batter local utility, study the US 41 connection to the Parkway just south of KY 351 (is it really needed?) and preserve KY 425 for long-term future upgrading to be a permanent I-69.  (The Parkways from there to I-24 near Hopkinsville, KY would make a nice 'I-41' southward extension, too, I'd say!      )

Mike

[hbelkins]

Meant to post this a long time ago, but back in the summer I sat through a presentation on I-69 projects. Here is a link:

http://transportation.ky.gov/Highway-Design/Conference%20Presentation/An%20Update%20On%20I69%20Progress%20Schedules%20and%20Challenges.pdf

[Grzrd]

Meant to post this a long time ago, but back in the summer I sat through a presentation on I-69 projects. Here is a link:
http://transportation.ky.gov/Highway-Design/Conference%20Presentation/An%20Update%20On%20I69%20Progress%20Schedules%20and%20Challenges.pdf

Great info.  Thanks for sharing.

The next-to-last slide concerns the "End of Purchase Parkway in Fulton".  Did the presenters discuss whether any efforts have been made to coordinate with TDOT for corridor preservation at the state line (I recently asked TDOT this question in an email but have not received an answer yet)?

[hbelkins]

The next-to-last slide concerns the "End of Purchase Parkway in Fulton".  Did the presenters discuss whether any efforts have been made to coordinate with TDOT for corridor preservation at the state line (I recently asked TDOT this question in an email but have not received an answer yet)?

Nope.

[Grzrd]

Nope.

Shoot.

[tdindy88]

Question for those familar with this corridor in Kentucky. I know in Indiana there is a plan for a rest area that wasn't built, but will be in the future. Are there any plans for these kinds of services (welcome centers, rest areas, etc) on Kentucky's stretch of I-69?

[mukade]

Also, when will the Pennyrile section be signed? Are the upgrades happening in 2013?

Does the order of the slides in that KYTC PowerPoint imply that SIU 4 (Henderson Bypass) will be built before the SIU 6 (Purchase Pkwy section) upgrade?

[Revive 755]

Meant to post this a long time ago, but back in the summer I sat through a presentation on I-69 projects. Here is a link:

http://transportation.ky.gov/Highway-Design/Conference%20Presentation/An%20Update%20On%20I69%20Progress%20Schedules%20and%20Challenges.pdf

Page 7/49 makes a great case for making it easier to override FHWA on interstate designations on substandard freeways.  How many existing sections of interstates already have one or more of those features without any immediate plans to fix them?

Narrow medians?  I-44 in Missouri easily beats the one pictured:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=rolla,+mo&hl=en&ll=37.938356,-91.833528&spn=0.0143,0.033023&sll=42.032432,-88.091192&sspn=0.215482,0.528374&hnear=Rolla,+Phelps,+Missouri&t=m&z=16&layer=c&cbll=37.938356,-91.833528&panoid=mIGBRT6JmMoWuwN3vL-eBw&cbp=12,60.88,,0,19.94

Low bridges?  Pretty sure I've seen that haunched beam design elsewhere on interstates, yet I just can't find any examples on streetview tonight. So Michigan does not have fix their deficient bridges on I-94?
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=hartford,+mi&hl=en&ll=42.18325,-86.223793&spn=0.053742,0.132093&sll=42.183016,-86.224806&sspn=0.107994,0.264187&hnear=Hartford,+Van+Buren,+Michigan&t=m&z=14&layer=c&cbll=42.183272,-86.223637&panoid=uvQapwDuoen-X2tJakroTg&cbp=12,77.92,,0,1.25

Narrow shoulders?  Widening on I-44 actually made the shoulder narrower than it had been:http://maps.google.com/maps?q=rolla,+mo&hl=en&ll=37.961021,-91.772398&spn=0.028727,0.066047&sll=42.032432,-88.091192&sspn=0.215482,0.528374&hnear=Rolla,+Phelps,+Missouri&t=m&z=15&layer=c&cbll=37.961021,-91.772398&panoid=En3H2AvhM1CUcDz8FTtudg&cbp=12,263.39,,0,9.82

Outdated guardrail?  Who except an engineer or a roadgeek is really gonna notice that?

[jnewkirk77]

Question for those familar with this corridor in Kentucky. I know in Indiana there is a plan for a rest area that wasn't built, but will be in the future. Are there any plans for these kinds of services (welcome centers, rest areas, etc) on Kentucky's stretch of I-69?

I wonder how difficult it would be to obtain a copy of the 2008 I-69 Corridor Master Plan (the cover of which is shown in the presentation) ... surely such a topic would be covered in that.

[Grzrd]

I wonder how difficult it would be to obtain a copy of the 2008 I-69 Corridor Master Plan (the cover of which is shown in the presentation) ... surely such a topic would be covered in that.

The 2008 I-69 Corridor Master Plan, in addition to other I-69 corridor studies, can be found on this page on the KYTC website.

edit

I may be mistaken, but I believe that the December 2011 I-69 Strategic Planning Corridor Study Final Report For Purchase Parkway and Interstate 24 was not included in the slide presentation, but it is included on KYTC's I-69 webpage.

[jnewkirk77]

I wonder how difficult it would be to obtain a copy of the 2008 I-69 Corridor Master Plan (the cover of which is shown in the presentation) ... surely such a topic would be covered in that.

The 2008 I-69 Corridor Master Plan, in addition to other I-69 corridor studies, can be found on this page on the KYTC website.

edit

I may be mistaken, but I believe that the December 2011 I-69 Strategic Planning Corridor Study Final Report For Purchase Parkway and Interstate 24 was not included in the slide presentation, but it is included on KYTC's I-69 webpage.

Thanks!

[hbelkins]

Update on I-69 signage in Kentucky

[Grzrd]

Update on I-69 signage in Kentucky

This article reports that the switch to I-69 signage and mile points (the I-24 overlap will continue to have I-24 based mile points) occurred on December 14:

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet reports that a contractor for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet switched the new 38-mile section of Interstate 69 in Lyon, Caldwell, and Hopkins Counties to new mile points and new signage Friday.   Old mile markers for the former Western Kentucky Parkway have been removed or covered.
The change also reoriented the east-west direction of the former Parkway to north-south for Interstate 69 from the Interstate 24 Interchange near Eddyville to the Breathitt-Pennyrile Parkway Interchange near Madisonville.
Transportation Cabinet spokesman Keith Todd noted that there are a few old signs that will have to be removed over the next few days, but the new I-69 signs and mile markers are to be used to report emergencies to area agencies.
“Most of the old signage has been removed or covered,” Todd said.  “There are a few old signs that will be taken down on Monday.  I think the toughest challenge for everyone is the reorientation from east and west that we’ve used for so many years to the north-south direction for I-69.”
Todd emphasized that mile points along the “co-badged” section where I-24 and I-69 run together from the Purchase Parkway Interchange at I-24 Exit 25 near Calvert City to the I-24 Exit 42 Interchange near Eddyville will remain the same.
“Whenever two routes converge, the lowest number or oldest route is prime or dominant,” Todd said.
The work included updating some of the existing signage along Interstate 24 to current Interstate standards.  State signs crews have also placed signs along a number of state highways directing motorists to the new I-69 route.
The new section of I-69 starts with the 68 mile marker running eastward from the I-24 Interchange, crosses US 62 at mile point 71.784, meets KY 91 at mile point 79.771, crosses KY 109 at mile point 92.5, and ends at the I-69 Interchange with the Pennyrile Parkway at mile point 106.4.

[tidecat]

I understand I-24 is the older route, but I always thought the higher numbered route dictated exit numbers (like I-75 in Lexington).  Of course if age of the route is an acceptable criterion, the rout number really doesn't matter.

[hbelkins]

Photo galleries...

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.429116630493656.99094.111931842212138&type=1

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.460189167350170.94376.168622233173533&type=1

Press releases...

https://www.facebook.com/KYTCDistrict1/posts/453516394711773

https://www.facebook.com/KYTCDistrict2/posts/433328806734745

I understand I-24 is the older route, but I always thought the higher numbered route dictated exit numbers (like I-75 in Lexington).  Of course if age of the route is an acceptable criterion, the rout number really doesn't matter.

In that case, I-75 was the older route. I-64 beyond what is now the northern split wasn't completed until 1971. Prior to that, I-64 traffic was directed off of I-75 at KY 922 (Exit 115).

[rickmastfan67]

HB, is there a list of what the former "Western Kentucky Parkway" exit numbers will change to so they work with I-69's mileage?

[amroad17]

Just add 68 to the former exit numbers up to the Pennyrile Pkwy.  It will probably be, in order, 68, 72, 80, 92, and 106.  Then the numbers on the Pennyrile will change starting at 106 where exit 34 is.  Add 72 to the current exit numbers north of the WK Pkwy.

Will the exit numbers on the WK change east of the Pennyrile?

[mukade]

Or add 100 on the Pennyrile for continuity (and 96 on WK). Or not.

One thing I noticed on the incorrectly marked I-69 sections in Google Maps for Kentucky, they have a few miles near Henderson marked that will never be I-69. I am not exactly sure where the proposed new eastern I-69 bypass will be, but I thought it was before the Audubon Pkwy and near the Henderson southern bypass.