Eagle Way

Last updated

Eagle Way

Route information
Length16.920 mi [1]  (27.230 km)
ExistedMid-1970s–present
HistoryCompleted in 2001
Component
highways
Major junctions
West/North endElongated circle 107.svg KY 107 (Greenville Road) north of Hopkinsville
Major intersectionsFor all junctions, see article
East/South endUS 68.svgElongated circle 80.svg US 68 (Jefferson Davis Highway) / KY 80 east of Hopkinsville
Location
Country United States
State Kentucky
Highway system
  • Kentucky State Highway System

Eagle Way (also known locally as the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard or the Hopkinsville Bypass) is a major partial beltway that circles almost completely around the outer portions of the city of Hopkinsville, Kentucky.

Contents

Route description

The roadway includes the entire length of the US 68 Bypass and the first 5.894 miles (9.485 km) of Kentucky Route 1682. The road is located entirely in Christian County in western Kentucky. [1]

History

As a connector road

The bypass originally only consisted of a 5.894 miles (9.485 km) extension of KY 1682 when it was first built at some time between 1973 [2] and 1976. [3] That road began life as a connector from KY 107 to US 41 on the north side of Hopkinsville.

Construction of the bypass (1999–2001)

Construction of the initial bypass, which was included in a $600 million widening project of US 68 that had proposals dating as early as 1991, [4] went under construction and was completed by 1999. The project also included re-routing the KY 1682 western terminus. [5] The first "new" section went from US 68 on the west side of Hopkinsville to a junction with U.S. Route 41 Alternate on the south side. By the 2000–2001 fiscal year, an extension from US 41 Alternate to another junction with US 68 on the east side of town was constructed and completed. [6]

New Interchange

In 2011, Eagle Way began providing access to the then-recently extended Pennyrile Parkway, now Interstate 169, which was really completed in 2012 when it was extended all the way to the Interstate 24 corridor in southern Christian County.

Future

Future plans call for one final extension of the Hopkinsville Bypass that will go through the northeastern side of Hopkinsville going from the KY 107/KY 1682 junction to the pre-existing eastern junction of US 68/KY 80 and US 68 Bypass, thus making it an orbital beltway. This will also involve a new crossroad intersection with Kentucky Route 507 on the east side of town. If it comes into fruition, the target date of completion should be before or in the year 2025. The state highway designation for the final extension will be determined upon completion. [7]

Major intersections

The beltway has intersections with KY 91 and KY 272, along with US 41 Alternate. The beltway crosses the following highways/roads more than once:

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky Route 80</span> Highway in Kentucky, United States

Kentucky Route 80 (KY 80) is a 483.55-mile-long (778.20 km) state highway in the southern part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. The route originates on the state's western border at Columbus in Hickman County and stretches across the southern portion of the state, terminating southeast of Elkhorn City on the Virginia state line. It is the longest Kentucky State Highway, though the official distance as listed in route logs is much less due to multiple concurrencies with U.S. Route 68 (US 68) and US 23.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky Route 100</span> State highway in Kentucky, USA

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennyrile Parkway</span>

The Edward T. Breathitt Pennyrile Parkway was the designation for the 71.3-mile (114.7 km) freeway from Henderson to Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The parkway originally began at an interchange with the Audubon Parkway and US 41 near the city of Henderson. It travelled south through rolling hills to its former southern terminus at Interstate 24 (I-24) south of Hopkinsville. A seven-mile (11 km) section was left unconstructed from US 41 Alternate south to I-24 despite its approval in 1976 from the Parkway Authority for construction. This connection was completed and opened to the public on March 1, 2011. The first 1.8 miles (2.9 km) of the extension to the US 68 bypass were completed and opened to traffic in September 2008. The construction was then completed to exit 5, with the final section to I-24 opened on March 1, 2011. The parkway's northern terminus was truncated south to the Western Kentucky Parkway in 2013 when Interstate 69 was extended along that section of the highway. The remaining section of the Parkway was redesignated as Interstate 169 on May 7, 2017, thereby replacing the last section of the Pennyrile Parkway. Despite the designation changes, it continues to be referred to as the Pennyrile Parkway by most in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky Route 70</span> State highway in Kentucky, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky Route 91</span> State highway in Kentucky, United States

Kentucky Route 91 is a 49.783-mile-long (80.118 km) state highway that traverses three counties in western Kentucky. It begins in Hopkinsville, Kentucky and ends at the Ohio River, the Kentucky-Illinois state line in northern Crittenden County.

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Kentucky Route 107 (KY 107) is a 56.907-mile-long (91.583 km) east–west state highway in west–central Kentucky. The western (southern) terminus of the route is an "end of state maintenance" terminus near the Fort Campbell military reservation south of Donaldson Creek near La Fayette, and its northern (eastern) terminus is at an intersection with U.S. Route 431 (US 431) in Lewisburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky Route 1682</span> State highway in Kentucky, United States

Kentucky Route 1682 is an east–west state highway that traverses central and eastern Christian County in western Kentucky. It is 15.295 miles (24.615 km) long.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky Route 109</span> State highway in Kentucky

Kentucky Route 109 (KY 109) is an 90.309-mile-long (145.338 km) north–south state highway that traverses four counties in western Kentucky's Pennyrile region. It traverses Christian, Hopkins, Webster, and Union counties.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kentucky Route 272</span> State highway in Kentucky, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 41 Alternate (Tennessee–Kentucky)</span> U.S. Highway in Tennessee and Kentucky

U.S. Route 41 Alternate, also signed U.S. Route 41A in Tennessee (US 41A), connects the town of Monteagle, Tennessee, with Hopkinsville, Kentucky, 10 miles (16 km) north of the Tennessee line. It serves the city of Clarksville, Tennessee, on its way to Nashville, where it briefly runs concurrently with US 41. It then separates again to serve Shelbyville, Winchester, and Tullahoma before rejoining the main route atop Monteagle Mountain. US 41A runs west of US 41 for its entire length, aside from one mile in downtown Nashville where they are concurrent. US 41A is also concurrent with U.S. Route 31A from Nashville to Triune, Tennessee, for a distance of approximately 25 miles (40 km).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 169 (Kentucky)</span> Highway in Kentucky

Interstate 169 (I-169) is a 34.271-mile-long (55.154 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway that travels along the former southern section of the Pennyrile Parkway in Kentucky. The highway was designated on May 7, 2017, after President Donald Trump signed legislation designating the route. It travels north from a trumpet interchange with I-24 south of Hopkinsville to a cloverleaf interchange with its parent, I-69, and the Western Kentucky Parkway near Nortonville.

References

  1. 1 2 Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. "Official DMI Route Log". Apps.transportation.ky.gov. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  2. Kentucky Department of Relations (1973). Official Kentucky Department of Highways Road Map (PDF) (Map). Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Relations. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  3. Kentucky Department of Relations (1976). Official Kentucky Department of Highways Road Map (PDF) (Map). Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Relations. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  4. Bryan, Lamar (February 8, 1991). "US 68 widening draws little flak in Todd County". Kentucky New Era . pp. 1A, 2A. Retrieved February 8, 2024 via Google Books.
  5. Kentucky Department of Relations (1999). Official Kentucky Department of Highways Road Map (PDF) (Map). Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Relations. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  6. Kentucky Department of Relations (2001). Official Kentucky Department of Highways Road Map (PDF) (Map). Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Relations. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  7. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 30, 2016. Retrieved June 7, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)