Kentucky to study new interstate beltway around Louisville

[NWI_Irish96]

The terrain southwest of the I-64 crossing does not lend itself to another crossing, and with the sparse population of that area on the IN side, there isn't huge demand either. Upgrades to Cane Run/Greenbelt would be less expensive and just as effective.

I think there would be plenty of demand if there was another river crossing.

Where does the crossing go and then where does the road go once it crosses? A crossing at the end of the Snyder freeway dumps you out on IN 111 south of IN 211, which is a very desolate area. If you try to go inland from the river at all you hit some very steep terrain. There's really no use for a crossing there. There's no crossing between New Albany and Mauckport because there's nothing there to justify having one.

The end of the Snyder freeway seems like the logical place for a crossing if it was going to eventually be part of a complete I-265. It would probably have to be a CSVT-style crossing where the roadway remains elevated for ~1000 ft on the Indiana side.

It may seem like there's not much demand because it's all getting pushed to Louisville, but I imagine I-64 and the western side of I-264 are no picnic during peak times. If there was another crossing with a connection to I-64, it would get plenty of use by traffic connecting between I-64 WB and I-65 SB and vice versa. That would also reduce the burden on the I-64 crossing. I'm not saying this is a high priority, but it is certainly a much higher priority than a third beltway.

Even though they're surface streets, Greenbelt/Cane Run aren't bad to get you up to 264, even during peak times. The 64 crossing is also not bad during peak times. A direct freeway connection would save only a handful of minutes.

[hbelkins]

That bridge at Brandenburg provides a high-speed route to I-65 in the Elizabethtown area. Take IN 135 from Corydon, then cross the river and it becomes KY 313 (renumbered from KY 79). A new-terrain route has been built all the way to I-65 between E-town and Lebanon Junction. Various intersections with other new-terrain routes and US 31W provide access to Radcliff and E-town.

The big issue with KY 44 in Bullitt County is the need for a TWLTL between Shepherdsville and Mt. Washington. I'm intimately familiar with that section, as I have two first cousins who live near the east city limits of Shepherdsville.

With improvements to US 31E/150 in place between Bardstown and Mt. Washington, there's a de-facto outer bypass that gives access to I-265 via the BG Parkway.

[ctkatz]

Is Lousiville big enough for a third beltway?

With a metro population of 1.3mil, I'm going with a hard no. There's tons of metro areas with double that population that doesn't even have a second beltway.

I see your hard no and raise you and absofreakinlutely no.  as a louisville resident I can say from just looking at local traffic let's get the third lane of the gene snyder installed first and still have traffic issues before we go talking about another belt loop.  any talk about a new outer belt is probably someone in frankfort trying to stick it to louisville while pocketing some funds.  lexington needs one completed full limited access beltway before we get a third.

[ukfan758]

Is Lousiville big enough for a third beltway?

With a metro population of 1.3mil, I'm going with a hard no. There's tons of metro areas with double that population that doesn't even have a second beltway.

I see your hard no and raise you and absofreakinlutely no.  as a louisville resident I can say from just looking at local traffic let's get the third lane of the gene snyder installed first and still have traffic issues before we go talking about another belt loop.  any talk about a new outer belt is probably someone in frankfort trying to stick it to louisville while pocketing some funds.  lexington needs one completed full limited access beltway before we get a third.

I wouldn't be surprised if it's politicians from Bullitt, Shelby, and Oldham County that have been pushing this 3rd beltway proposal. There's a lot of other projects that need to be done first. In Louisville alone you have finishing the 265 widening all the way to 65, widening the last mile of 264 from Westport Rd to 71, reconstructing the US-42/264 interchange, fixing aspects of the 264/65 interchange, widening 71 all the way to downtown, widening 64 all the way to downtown, and rebuilding+widening 65 inside 264.

Outside of Louisville you have the Lexington beltway that you mentioned, widening 64 between Shelbyville and Lexington, widening 75 to the Tennessee line, widening 71 from Crestwood to La Grange, rebuilding and widening 71/75 inside 275, and the Brent Spence Bridge replacement project. I-65 might need to be widened to 4 lanes each way from 265 to E-town in the near future as well.

[I-55]

Is Lousiville big enough for a third beltway?

With a metro population of 1.3mil, I'm going with a hard no. There's tons of metro areas with double that population that doesn't even have a second beltway.

I see your hard no and raise you and absofreakinlutely no.  as a louisville resident I can say from just looking at local traffic let's get the third lane of the gene snyder installed first and still have traffic issues before we go talking about another belt loop.  any talk about a new outer belt is probably someone in frankfort trying to stick it to louisville while pocketing some funds.  lexington needs one completed full limited access beltway before we get a third.

I wouldn't be surprised if it's politicians from Bullitt, Shelby, and Oldham County that have been pushing this 3rd beltway proposal. There's a lot of other projects that need to be done first. In Louisville alone you have finishing the 265 widening all the way to 65, widening the last mile of 264 from Westport Rd to 71, reconstructing the US-42/264 interchange, fixing aspects of the 264/65 interchange, widening 71 all the way to downtown, widening 64 all the way to downtown, and rebuilding+widening 65 inside 264.

Outside of Louisville you have the Lexington beltway that you mentioned, widening 64 between Shelbyville and Lexington, widening 75 to the Tennessee line, widening 71 from Crestwood to La Grange, rebuilding and widening 71/75 inside 275, and the Brent Spence Bridge replacement project. I-65 might need to be widened to 4 lanes each way from 265 to E-town in the near future as well.

I-75 could MAYBE be widened to Corbin and that's it. South of there it's not needed and Tennessee won't even think about doing anything on that stretch. Widening inside 265 (and especially 264) would be very costly especially since 65 is elevated through downtown. Most of the other upgrades I can see happening within the next 10-15 years.

[webny99]

I-75 could MAYBE be widened to Corbin and that's it. South of there it's not needed and Tennessee won't even think about doing anything on that stretch.

The six-lane stretch south of Lexington is great. I would love to see it widened all the way to Knoxville, although that may never happen, especially Tennessee's segment over Jellico Mtn (which can get very slow and crowded with heavy truck traffic).

[SkyPesos]

I-75 could MAYBE be widened to Corbin and that's it. South of there it's not needed and Tennessee won't even think about doing anything on that stretch.

The six-lane stretch south of Lexington is great. I would love to see it widened all the way to Knoxville, although that may never happen, especially Tennessee's segment over Jellico Mtn (which can get very slow and crowded with heavy truck traffic).

Considering that TN is not widening I-65 between Nashville and KY border, I doubt seeing a I-75 widening anytime soon.

[I-55]

I-75 could MAYBE be widened to Corbin and that's it. South of there it's not needed and Tennessee won't even think about doing anything on that stretch.

The six-lane stretch south of Lexington is great. I would love to see it widened all the way to Knoxville, although that may never happen, especially Tennessee's segment over Jellico Mtn (which can get very slow and crowded with heavy truck traffic).

Considering that TN is not widening I-65 between Nashville and KY border, I doubt seeing a I-75 widening anytime soon.

TN is slowly upgrading segments of 65, but again, slowly. ]

[Buck87]

I-75 could MAYBE be widened to Corbin and that's it.

The projects to widen it as far south as exit 29 (North Corbin) are already under construction. I'd like to see it go to at least exit 11 in Williamsburg, so that all the KY county seats along I-75 would be served by a 6 lane facility.