Kentucky

[noelbotevera]

Part of the reason I'm being overly harsh towards the Pikeville Cut Through is that I'm comparing it to the Appalachian Corridor projects in West Virginia -- didn't explicitly state that.

To me, the Cut Through doesn't really seem like much of a bypass given that, well, downtown Pikeville is right off the exit. You can see the town from both exits. However, I won't argue that the Cut Through saves time by reducing the amount of traffic lights on the main road. I'll take ~3 traffic lights over however many are on the business routes through Pikeville. In terms of distance saved, it's maybe about half a mile?

North of town is the strip mall mentioned earlier, with the US 23/US 119 junction a bit of a hassle to navigate mostly due to long lights. I imagine this is also where a lot of locals shop and eat, so the bypass ended up becoming a main street of sorts.

Assuming that this suburbia didn't exist back in the 1980s, I could believe that the Cut Through was the finishing touch on building a fast, modern road through southeastern Kentucky; especially considering a lot of the roads hadn't been touched since Daniel Boone trailblazing the area (according to what the NPS told me).

Contrast this to West Virginia's approach to building out their new roads during the '60s and '70s. Bypasses are total, traffic lights are generally avoided (okay, I'll bring up a few elephants -- Summersville on Corridor L, Logan and Charleston on Corridor G), more interchanges than intersections at major roads.

Does this mean West Virginia is better at road building than Kentucky? No, there's probably more favorable terrain at work in West Virginia, especially since building roads on the ridge line (less cuts, less blasting, etc. but the road has to already be high up) is a viable option there.

Again, I wasn't alive during the 1970s and make no claims to know Appalachia deeply as a region. From my perspective, chopping down an entire mountain and rerouting a bunch of infrastructure to save 3/4 of a mile seems excessive. Clearly, there's more to the story than I knew.

[GCrites]

Had the river relocation not happened the road project wouldn't have happened that way. It created flat right-of-way next to the river that they could use to route the road.

[Rothman]

Part of the reason I'm being overly harsh towards the Pikeville Cut Through is that I'm comparing it to the Appalachian Corridor projects in West Virginia -- didn't explicitly state that.

To me, the Cut Through doesn't really seem like much of a bypass given that, well, downtown Pikeville is right off the exit.

A simple look at Google Maps shows that this is quite a bizarre take on it.  No longer needing to loop through Pikeville was a decent time saver and then you had the flood effects mitigated already.  See also Prestonsburg.  Not sure what you're getting at in terms of "total bypass," especially since there are various WV communities not bypassed...

I suppose everyone's entitled to their opinion, but this one doesn't seem well supported.

[wriddle082]

Assuming that this suburbia didn't exist back in the 1980s, I could believe that the Cut Through was the finishing touch on building a fast, modern road through southeastern Kentucky; especially considering a lot of the roads hadn't been touched since Daniel Boone trailblazing the area (according to what the NPS told me).

The Pikeville Cut-Through was just one piece, albeit a pretty significant one, of the overall US 23 corridor reconstruction that mostly consisted of widening the existing US 23 alignments or, in a couple of areas, widened even older alignments, such as between just north of Prestonsburg and just south of Paintsville, which widened a corridor that was US 23 about 70 years ago but was more recently KY 1428.  Anyway, the real finishing touch was the Pound Gap reconstruction at the KY/VA border south of Jenkins that created one of the most impressive rock cuts you'll find anywhere.  That was the very last section built in the early 00's, whereas the oldest four lane sections can be found closer to Ashland, which was mostly done in the 60's.

[Rothman]

Assuming that this suburbia didn't exist back in the 1980s, I could believe that the Cut Through was the finishing touch on building a fast, modern road through southeastern Kentucky; especially considering a lot of the roads hadn't been touched since Daniel Boone trailblazing the area (according to what the NPS told me).

The Pikeville Cut-Through was just one piece, albeit a pretty significant one, of the overall US 23 corridor reconstruction that mostly consisted of widening the existing US 23 alignments or, in a couple of areas, widened even older alignments, such as between just north of Prestonsburg and just south of Paintsville, which widened a corridor that was US 23 about 70 years ago but was more recently KY 1428.  Anyway, the real finishing touch was the Pound Gap reconstruction at the KY/VA border south of Jenkins that created one of the most impressive rock cuts you'll find anywhere.  That was the very last section built in the early 00's, whereas the oldest four lane sections can be found closer to Ashland, which was mostly done in the 60's.

Why leave out the bypassing of Prestonsburg itself?

Didn't do downtown Prestonsburg any favors, but it dramatically changed the area (although I think the big cut to put the Walmart in predated the bypass, if memory serves).  The MAC wouldn't have been where it is now without the bypass...

[freebrickproductions]

Hope no-one minds me bumping this because I'm still a bit curious.

Apologies if it's already been mentioned in the thread, but I noticed recently when I went through the area at the start of this month that Exit 11 on I-169 in Hopkinsville is in the process of being converted from its traditional cloverleaf-style tollbooth interchange to what I assume is something of a more standard diamond configuration. However, when trying to look it up, I can't find any information online about the project, does anyone know what KYTC plans on doing with the interchange?

[hbelkins]

Assuming that this suburbia didn't exist back in the 1980s, I could believe that the Cut Through was the finishing touch on building a fast, modern road through southeastern Kentucky; especially considering a lot of the roads hadn't been touched since Daniel Boone trailblazing the area (according to what the NPS told me).

My first real memory of Pikeville is from the fall of 1982, when I passed through there on the way to Elkhorn City to check out the town where I had a job offer (I turned it down, in large part because I would have had to drop out of college to accept the job). The commercial stretch along US 23 north of Pikeville proper (Coal Run) was very much there. The development on the west side of the river, accessible from the bridge at the US 119 traffic light, wasn't there yet, but there was quite a bit along US 23 on the east side of the river.

Again, I wasn't alive during the 1970s and make no claims to know Appalachia deeply as a region. From my perspective, chopping down an entire mountain and rerouting a bunch of infrastructure to save 3/4 of a mile seems excessive. Clearly, there's more to the story than I knew.

Again, the main purpose of the cut-through was to divert the river away from downtown Pikeville.

[hbelkins]

Assuming that this suburbia didn't exist back in the 1980s, I could believe that the Cut Through was the finishing touch on building a fast, modern road through southeastern Kentucky; especially considering a lot of the roads hadn't been touched since Daniel Boone trailblazing the area (according to what the NPS told me).

The Pikeville Cut-Through was just one piece, albeit a pretty significant one, of the overall US 23 corridor reconstruction that mostly consisted of widening the existing US 23 alignments or, in a couple of areas, widened even older alignments, such as between just north of Prestonsburg and just south of Paintsville, which widened a corridor that was US 23 about 70 years ago but was more recently KY 1428.  Anyway, the real finishing touch was the Pound Gap reconstruction at the KY/VA border south of Jenkins that created one of the most impressive rock cuts you'll find anywhere.  That was the very last section built in the early 00's, whereas the oldest four lane sections can be found closer to Ashland, which was mostly done in the 60's.

Why leave out the bypassing of Prestonsburg itself?

Didn't do downtown Prestonsburg any favors, but it dramatically changed the area (although I think the big cut to put the Walmart in predated the bypass, if memory serves).  The MAC wouldn't have been where it is now without the bypass...

My earliest recollection of Prestonsburg is from 1974 or so. At that time, KY 114 ended at US 23/460 where the current grade-separated interchange is. From that point, US 23/460 continued down into town, crossing the river and coming to a "T" intersection with what is now KY 1428 but at one time was US 23.

In the mid-1980s, the Walmart was built there up on the hill, and down closer to the highway was an Arby's. (In fact, the old alignment of US 23 is now the road where you turn off KY 114 to access Walmart.) When the US 23 four-lane was extended north toward Paintsville, the Arby's was a victim of eminent domain.

[Rothman]

Assuming that this suburbia didn't exist back in the 1980s, I could believe that the Cut Through was the finishing touch on building a fast, modern road through southeastern Kentucky; especially considering a lot of the roads hadn't been touched since Daniel Boone trailblazing the area (according to what the NPS told me).

The Pikeville Cut-Through was just one piece, albeit a pretty significant one, of the overall US 23 corridor reconstruction that mostly consisted of widening the existing US 23 alignments or, in a couple of areas, widened even older alignments, such as between just north of Prestonsburg and just south of Paintsville, which widened a corridor that was US 23 about 70 years ago but was more recently KY 1428.  Anyway, the real finishing touch was the Pound Gap reconstruction at the KY/VA border south of Jenkins that created one of the most impressive rock cuts you'll find anywhere.  That was the very last section built in the early 00's, whereas the oldest four lane sections can be found closer to Ashland, which was mostly done in the 60's.

Why leave out the bypassing of Prestonsburg itself?

Didn't do downtown Prestonsburg any favors, but it dramatically changed the area (although I think the big cut to put the Walmart in predated the bypass, if memory serves).  The MAC wouldn't have been where it is now without the bypass...

My earliest recollection of Prestonsburg is from 1974 or so. At that time, KY 114 ended at US 23/460 where the current grade-separated interchange is. From that point, US 23/460 continued down into town, crossing the river and coming to a "T" intersection with what is now KY 1428 but at one time was US 23.

In the mid-1980s, the Walmart was built there up on the hill, and down closer to the highway was an Arby's. (In fact, the old alignment of US 23 is now the road where you turn off KY 114 to access Walmart.) When the US 23 four-lane was extended north toward Paintsville, the Arby's was a victim of eminent domain.

The T-intersection between KY 114 and US 23/460 lasted a good long while into the 1980s.  Once the interchange was built, a decent amount of commercial development popped up around it, killing the town.  I mean, even Jerry's shut down after that (heh...the times my aunt and uncle dragged my parents into Jerry's given it was the "best around"... ).

I was pleasantly surprised last year that a strip in old downtown Prestonsburg, anchored by Billy Ray's Restaurant (not that Billy Ray), was still hanging on as of last year.  I'm betting it's subsidized by some sort of community grant.

[Plutonic Panda]

A 5 mile stretch of I-65 in Louisville is set to close for 2 months:

https://transportation.ky.gov/NewsRoom/I-65%20Central%20Corridor%20Closure%20Begins%20June%201%20to%20Replace%203%20Bridges.pdf

[ibthebigd]

I'm surprised KYTC isn't pushing long haul drivers and trucks to use I-265 around Louisville.

[I-55]

I'm surprised KYTC isn't pushing long haul drivers and trucks to use I-265 around Louisville.

If I were to guess, KYTC doesn't want a separate hazmat detour due to the tunnel on 265

[hbelkins]

I'm surprised KYTC isn't pushing long haul drivers and trucks to use I-265 around Louisville.

If I were to guess, KYTC doesn't want a separate hazmat detour due to the tunnel on 265

I'm not sure that there are any hazmat restrictions in that short tunnel.

At any rate, long-haul drivers are probably going to use the Sherman Minton Bridge and the western leg of I-265 in Indiana rather than go back east on I-64 to I-65 and then pay the toll to cross the river (or vice-versa for southbound traffic).

[wriddle082]

The fallout so far on Day 1 of the I-65 closure in Louisville has been that the 3rd Street "can opener" low clearance overpass has claimed FOUR trucks!

https://www.wdrb.com/news/i-65-shutdown/louisvilles-3rd-street-can-opener-strikes-multiple-trucks-on-first-day-of-i-65-closure/article_a7e4af90-3e9b-4004-9afc-612dffaf02e8.html

[Rothman]

Pfft.  I blame untrained drivers rather than the closure.

[webny99]

Pfft.  I blame untrained drivers rather than the closure.

Untrained drivers that were on a parallel route due to the closure...

[Rothman]

Pfft.  I blame untrained drivers rather than the closure.

Untrained drivers that were on a parallel route due to the closure...

Drive a tall vehicle, know your vehicle height and read low clearance signs.  Trucks hit bridges because of the drivers.

[Revive 755]

If I am looking at the correct underpasses, it looks like they do have a decent amount of signing.

SB at the northern underpass.
SB Advance 'all trucks over 11 feet must turn at next signal
Another SB advance sign

NB signs near the southern underpass - appears there may be a active overheight warning system as well?
NB advance sign
Another NB advance sign

[seicer]

Judging from the photos and videos coming out of Old Louisville, it seems that trucks are following their default Google Maps/Waze directions and taking narrow residential streets to bypass the closure, rather than using approved truck routes.

[wriddle082]

I think it's illegal in all 50 states for any CDL driver to touch or even look at their phone while moving, meaning they can't use Waze or Google Maps for GPS.  They need to only use a Garmin, TomTom, or Rand McNally trucker GPS, which can be purchased at any truck stop.

[Rothman]

I think it's illegal in all 50 states for any CDL driver to touch or even look at their phone while moving, meaning they can't use Waze or Google Maps for GPS.  They need to only use a Garmin, TomTom, or Rand McNally trucker GPS, which can be purchased at any truck stop.

I don't think this is true.  As long as it's hands free, I believe they can use phones for GPS in some states.

[hbelkins]

As of the time of this posting, the Can Opener has decapitated nine trucks.

One thing I've noticed is that District 5 has forsaken use of "Alternate US 60" signage in favor of rectangular "US 60A" signage. A Facebook post I saw this afternoon from one of the Louisville media outlets showed one of those US 60A signs.

I think it's illegal in all 50 states for any CDL driver to touch or even look at their phone while moving, meaning they can't use Waze or Google Maps for GPS.  They need to only use a Garmin, TomTom, or Rand McNally trucker GPS, which can be purchased at any truck stop.

I don't think this is true.  As long as it's hands free, I believe they can use phones for GPS in some states.

What would be the difference between looking at a Garmin/Tom Tom unit and looking at an iPhone/Android phone running Waze or Google Maps if both are mounted and not being held by hand?

[GCrites]

They can still get bad ideas by looking at Google Maps before they leave. Google Maps tells people to use roads unsuitable for semis to save time.

[wriddle082]

They can still get bad ideas by looking at Google Maps before they leave. Google Maps tells people to use roads unsuitable for semis to save time.

Exactly.  As far as I know, Waze and Google Maps do not have a "trucker mode".  If they did, and truckers knew this and used it with regularity, then most of these bridge strikes would be prevented.

[seicer]

There are dedicated mapping applications or devices that provide specialized truck routing, rated truck parking areas, Prepass weigh station/bypass notifications, fuel logging, and CAT scale locators. Depending on the unit, the maps should indicate bridge heights/restrictions, weight limits on roadways, etc.

e.g., https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/1281733/