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[hbelkins]

What does need to be finished is the London-to-Ashland corridor. KY 30 from Tyner to Levi, KY 11 from Levi to Beattyville, KY 715 from Zachariah to Pine Ridge, and KY 7 from north of West Liberty to Sandy Hook and a short section near Grayson Lake. Part of KY 7 in Elliott County is now under construction.

Major gravedig and arguably off topic, but I feel like writing about what I've found messing around with Google Maps in eastern Kentucky. 

I Googled London to Ashland, and this route came up as the second choice behind I-75, KY 627, and I-64. It's currently 28 minutes longer but 13 miles shorter. Not bad. The average speed is over 50mph compared to 62 on the Interstates+ route, which also really isn't bad. When the improvements that HB mentioned are done, the route might be of equal merit to the 75-627-64 route, despite that probably not being an explicit goal of the project.

Oh: According to Google, new KY 30 from near KY 847 to KY 11 at Levi is open. That's 5.4 miles.

I also checked Lexington to Wytheville, VA. The Interstates are the quickest way, but the second choice is KY 15 through Hazard, then US 23 and US 58 Alt. to I-81. the KY 15 route is about  20minutes longer, but 20 miles shorter, and of course avoids the tolls on the WV Turnpike. KY 15 looks squiggly on the map, but a lot of it has been improved over the years. The average speed on KY 15 from Jackson to Pound Gap is 49mph, compared to 55mph on the whole route, including 110 miles on Interstates and Mountain Parkway.

So, freeways, expressways and APD-type highways aren't everything. Not everything worth building looks good on a map.

Five miles of KY 30 from KY 847 at Travellers Rest to KY 11 at Levi opened a couple of years ago. The segment from KY 847 southwest to US 421 is now under construction.

Traffic moves well on KY 15 at 55 mph or more from Campton to Whitesburg, with the exception of Jackson and Hazard. Part of the delays you may have seen on KY 15 relate to four-laning north of Hazard, where construction causes frequent tie-ups. That will be done in a couple of years. There's also a widening project under consideration to make some improvements to US 119 between Whitesburg and US 23.

[Tom958]

Five miles of KY 30 from KY 847 at Travellers Rest to KY 11 at Levi opened a couple of years ago. The segment from KY 847 southwest to US 421 is now under construction.

Nice! Looks like it'll be about ten miles long and cut two or three miles and nine minutes or so from the route. Maybe I can check it out as a side trip on the way to Lexington in a few years.

Traffic moves well on KY 15 at 55 mph or more from Campton to Whitesburg, with the exception of Jackson and Hazard. Part of the delays you may have seen on KY 15 relate to four-laning north of Hazard, where construction causes frequent tie-ups. That will be done in a couple of years. There's also a widening project under consideration to make some improvements to US 119 between Whitesburg and US 23.

Small steps add up!

[Rothman]

What does need to be finished is the London-to-Ashland corridor. KY 30 from Tyner to Levi, KY 11 from Levi to Beattyville, KY 715 from Zachariah to Pine Ridge, and KY 7 from north of West Liberty to Sandy Hook and a short section near Grayson Lake. Part of KY 7 in Elliott County is now under construction.

Major gravedig and arguably off topic, but I feel like writing about what I've found messing around with Google Maps in eastern Kentucky. 

I Googled London to Ashland, and this route came up as the second choice behind I-75, KY 627, and I-64. It's currently 28 minutes longer but 13 miles shorter. Not bad. The average speed is over 50mph compared to 62 on the Interstates+ route, which also really isn't bad. When the improvements that HB mentioned are done, the route might be of equal merit to the 75-627-64 route, despite that probably not being an explicit goal of the project.

Oh: According to Google, new KY 30 from near KY 847 to KY 11 at Levi is open. That's 5.4 miles.

I also checked Lexington to Wytheville, VA. The Interstates are the quickest way, but the second choice is KY 15 through Hazard, then US 23 and US 58 Alt. to I-81. the KY 15 route is about  20minutes longer, but 20 miles shorter, and of course avoids the tolls on the WV Turnpike. KY 15 looks squiggly on the map, but a lot of it has been improved over the years. The average speed on KY 15 from Jackson to Pound Gap is 49mph, compared to 55mph on the whole route, including 110 miles on Interstates and Mountain Parkway.

So, freeways, expressways and APD-type highways aren't everything. Not everything worth building looks good on a map.

Five miles of KY 30 from KY 847 at Travellers Rest to KY 11 at Levi opened a couple of years ago. The segment from KY 847 southwest to US 421 is now under construction.

Traffic moves well on KY 15 at 55 mph or more from Campton to Whitesburg, with the exception of Jackson and Hazard. Part of the delays you may have seen on KY 15 relate to four-laning north of Hazard, where construction causes frequent tie-ups. That will be done in a couple of years. There's also a widening project under consideration to make some improvements to US 119 between Whitesburg and US 23.

I hate that traffic light at KY 15 and US 119 just outside of Whitesburg.  Also, last time I was there, old KY 15 signs were up everywhere through town.  Not Business 15 signs, but actual old KY 15 shields.

[Buck87]

I-75 widening update:

MM 69-60 is done

60-55 is still a construction zone, with some bridge work going on, some short sections of median concrete barrier left to be built, and possibly a final coat of asphalt. It has about a 3 mile section where the northbound lanes are in a split 1+1 configuration while the southbound lanes are 2 together.

49-40 has a little progress toward the south end and some bridge work started, but for most of the constuction zone traffic is using the existing lanes as is, just with Jersey barriers along the inside lanes.

33-29 is coming along nicely, with the parts with a wide median looking like the pic below, and the regular width sections also have a good bit of paving done across the whole median. Traffic is still more or less on the original lanes here as well.

One thing a little different about this section is that all the lane marking are done in orange paint. I dont recall seeing that before in a construction zone.



VS988

[rte66man]

I can't get a current image on Google so I'm wondering if the US 68/KY 80 Land Between the Lakes bridges are being replaced with 4 lanes or just wider 2 lane bridges?

Fixed original. Thx

FIFY.

And yes, the new bridges are four lanes with a shared use bike-hiking lane. The Kentucky Lake bridge has been open for a few years, and I think the Lake Barkley bridge is done now.

[hbelkins]

One thing a little different about this section is that all the lane marking are done in orange paint. I dont recall seeing that before in a construction zone.



VS988

I thought I had posted a link to the press release about that.

[Georgia]

man, that orange paint looked weird at night this evening. 

[ibthebigd]

Is there anyway to fix I-264

Seams they put to many exits on 264

I remember one time it took me 45 Minutes to get from blankenbaker to the Airport at like 4 PM

SM-G950U

[hbelkins]

Is there anyway to fix I-264

Seams they put to many exits on 264

I remember one time it took me 45 Minutes to get from blankenbaker to the Airport at like 4 PM

SM-G950U

The Watterson Expressway portion of I-264 was originally built as a US 60 bypass of downtown. There were a number of locations where neighborhood streets ended with a forced right turn onto the Watterson. If you have an old Gousha Louisville map from the 1960s or early 1970s, you can see those connections. They were eliminated when there was major widening in the 1970s/1980s.

[Buck87]

Reporting live from the TN welcome center with an update on KY I-75 widening:

60-55:
southern half completely done, northern half has the SB lanes in a split config. Looks to be pretty far along.

49-40:
4 lanes open close to original alignment, shifted slightly to outer shoulder. All but one mile of the median area is in some stage of paving with the remaining mile still having a little drainage work to finish up. Except for one 3-4 block section, no work started on median barrier.

33-29:
Northern half traffic is on new pavement in former median while old pavement is being torn out. Southern half traffic is on outward shifted original alignment while median paving and barrier work is pretty far along, and there's still a lot of work to do on the bridge in the middle of this section.

VS988

[ThatRandomOshawott]

After decades of talk, real construction work commenced on the widening of US 641 between Murray and Hazel. Construction work is currently happening between Glendale Road in Murray and the bridge just south of Tabard Drive to widen the route to four lanes. Traffic in that area is being routed to a new pavement, while the old alignment is being replaced.

[Great Lakes Roads]

I-75 Widening UPDATE (from north to south):

60-55: Right lane was closed around the exit 59 interchange to do some sign installation, but everything south of that interchange was opened and three-laned (SB direction only)... looks pretty nice and almost done!

49-40: All lanes are still shifted to the right... Concrete wall installed and paved in the former median with a few gaps in between as well as both ends of the project- probably something to do with a new traffic pattern when KYTC reconstructs the original lanes and near the bridges that will be replaced... New bridge pier constructed in the median on both pf the US 25 bridges right next to the existing 1960's bridge, and it also looks a bit higher than the original bridge... Moving along slowly...

33-29: Except for the southern mile and a half section where the SB lanes split, everything else is pretty much focused on rebuilding the original SB lanes as well as part of the northbound lanes... The bridge over the Laurel River has all SB traffic onto the new bridge deck while they are redoing the original SB bridge... I was stuck in traffic for about a half-hour due to the right lane being blocked off on the southern part of the construction... Also, they are using orange paint through this construction zone (which I was surprised to see it from KYTC)...

[Avalanchez71]

U.S. 41 through Henderson.

Henderson needs US 41 as is.  They have already committed to I-69 and there will no longer be a Breezewood in KY.

[Harvestman]

Former KY 8 west of Silver Grove is slowly slipping into the Ohio, but I suppose re-routing it onto US 27 and putting up some temporary barriers (unlit, already knocked down) counts as "fixing" it.

[Buck87]

I was on I-75 through KY on Friday, update on the widening:

60-55:
All new lanes are now open

49-40:
Southbound traffic is in the split configuration on the new pavement of the future inside lanes as work is shifting to the original southbound lanes. Northbound traffic is on the old pavement.

33-29:
Similar to the 49-40 configuration, but a little further along. Half of this section has an extra wide median while the other half is a standard width median with the southbound lanes in a split configuration.


VS988