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[hbelkins]

Oh, and it's the Mountain Parkway.  No nicknames for that. 

Around here, it's "the parkway" and some even call it "the toll road" even though the tolls have been off for 35 years.

Funny thing is that my relatives up the hollers in Wheelwright or outside Prestonsburg (Abbott Creek) consider some areas along the Mountain Parkway the real land of scary hillbillies that'll shoot you if you come to their door and the like.

Magoffin County is a world unto itself.

[CardInLex]

The new infrastructure bill includes that the Cumberland will become a spur of I-65.

Page 445

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/01/politics/read-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-text/index.html

[sparker]

The new infrastructure bill includes that the Cumberland will become a spur of I-65.

Page 445

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/01/politics/read-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-text/index.html

And if you read a bit further, you'll find it even has a designated number: I-365.  That's not particularly ambitious; it ends at the existing US 27 junction near Somerset rather than continuing east to I-75 (and beyond) as the previous I-66 proposal specified.  At this point it appears that neither KDOT nor the state's congressional delegation have an appetite for new construction beyond what it will entail to bring the former parkway up to Interstate standards. 

[CardInLex]

You are correct about it being I-365.

I was hoping the MLC BG Pkwy would become I-565 in this bill too. But fingers crossed for later.

[hbelkins]

The new infrastructure bill includes that the Cumberland will become a spur of I-65.

Page 445

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/01/politics/read-bipartisan-infrastructure-bill-text/index.html

And if you read a bit further, you'll find it even has a designated number: I-365.  That's not particularly ambitious; it ends at the existing US 27 junction near Somerset rather than continuing east to I-75 (and beyond) as the previous I-66 proposal specified.  At this point it appears that neither KDOT nor the state's congressional delegation have an appetite for new construction beyond what it will entail to bring the former parkway up to Interstate standards.

There's a construction project underway to turn the KY 80/KY 461 intersection east of Somerset into a grade-separated interchange. The through movement, for now, will be 461 south to 80 west, and 80 east to 461 north. The interchange is being built to serve as the future eastern end of the Cumberland Parkway, which is to be expanded from US 27 to that location. When that extension is complete, 80 west/Cumberland west and 80 east-Cumberland east will also be a through movement. But until it's built, through traffic on 80 will have to use a loop ramp westbound and what amounts to a slip ramp eastbound.

The interchange project got funded through one of those named competitive grant efforts (INFRA or BUILD or whatever that particular one was called).

[seicer]

Are there plans / maps out there now that show the location of the Parkway extension from Somerset?

That's interesting about the through movements. Does that mean that a future extension east along KY 80 is dead? Or that in the future both KY 461 and KY 80 could be four-laned? And what about I-66?

[froggie]

The interchange project got funded through one of those named competitive grant efforts (INFRA or BUILD or whatever that particular one was called).

According to local media I've pulled up, part of the funding is a $25M BUILD grant.

That's interesting about the through movements. Does that mean that a future extension east along KY 80 is dead? Or that in the future both KY 461 and KY 80 could be four-laned? And what about I-66?

In case you weren't aware, the project includes about 3 miles of 4-laning along 461 as well as an interchange on 461 at Valley Oak Dr/Pin Oak Dr.

[seicer]

I had forgotten. I did find that KYTC has a map of the active projects which shows the alignment of the extension, along with plans for the four-laning: https://maps.kytc.ky.gov/activehighwayplan/?xmin=-9432928.711601421&xmax=-9384009.013498973&ymin=4447888.271183945&ymax=4470475.413042184

[ibthebigd]

I wish KYTC would have websites for big projects like this and the US 127 realignment around Wolf Creek Dam.

I'm from Indiana and INDOT always makes good pages about projects.

SM-G950U

[hbelkins]

The interchange project got funded through one of those named competitive grant efforts (INFRA or BUILD or whatever that particular one was called).

According to local media I've pulled up, part of the funding is a $25M BUILD grant.

That's interesting about the through movements. Does that mean that a future extension east along KY 80 is dead? Or that in the future both KY 461 and KY 80 could be four-laned? And what about I-66?

In case you weren't aware, the project includes about 3 miles of 4-laning along 461 as well as an interchange on 461 at Valley Oak Dr/Pin Oak Dr.

There's been an industrial area along 461 north of 80 for decades. 461 was originally improved to just beyond those factories and I drove the old route a few times before the current alignment to I-75 finally got built.