Bluegrass Parkway
The Martha Layne Collins Blue Grass Parkway is a controlled-access highway running from Elizabethtown, Kentucky to Woodford County, Kentucky, for a length of 71.134 miles (114.479 km). It intersects with Interstate 65 at its western terminus, and U.S. Route 60 at its eastern terminus. It is one of seven highways that are part of the Kentucky parkway system. The road is designated unsigned Kentucky Route 9002 (BG 9002). It is constructed similar to the Interstate Highway system, though sections do not measure up to current Interstate standards.
Bluegrass Parkway | |
|---|---|
| Martha Layne Collins Blue Grass Parkway | |
| Route information | |
| Maintained by KYTC | |
| Length | 71.134 mi[1] (114.479 km) |
| Major junctions | |
| West end |  I-65 in Elizabethtown |
| East end |  US 60 near Versailles |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Kentucky |
| Counties | Hardin, Nelson, Washington, Anderson, Mercer, Woodford |
| Highway system | |
| |
History
As a toll road
The parkway was opened in November 1965 as the Kentucky Bluegrass parkway (the "Kentucky" was dropped a few years later) and was originally a toll road, as were all Kentucky parkways. The parkway route largely parallels that of U.S. Route 62. State law requires that toll collection ceases when enough tolls are collected to pay off the parkway's construction bonds; that occurred in 1991.
Toll plazas and charges
The table below shows the locations of the former toll plazas, and toll charges that were previously charged for consumer-sized, or class 1 vehicles.
| Exit | Location [2][3] | Through cars charge | Enter or Exit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Boston | 40 cents | 20 cents |
| 34 | Bloomfield | 50 cents | 25 cents |
| 59A-B | Lawrenceburg | 40 cents | 20 cents |
| Full-length trip | $1.30 | ||
Name changes
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In 2003, the road was renamed in honor of Martha Layne Collins, the first female governor of Kentucky. Previously, it was the Kentucky Bluegrass parkway (and signed as "KB Parkway"), then later renamed the "Blue Grass Parkway" (sometimes with "Bluegrass" as one word, though in the highway's name, it was officially two words), and often called the "BG Parkway" because of the abbreviation once used on its original signs from 1965 until they were replaced by a shield with the Collins name in 2003.[3]
Route description
The parkway begins in Hardin County, at its I-65 junction near Elizabethtown. The parkway traverses Nelson, northern Washington, northern Mercer, southern Anderson, and Woodford counties, passing Bardstown, Lawrenceburg, and ending just east of Versailles.
The toll plazas, which were removed in 1991, were located at the following locations:
- Exit 10 at Boston
- Exit 34 at Bloomfield, and
- Exit 59 at Lawrenceburg.[4]
Proposals
Connection with Interstate 64
No connection to I-64 was planned as it had not been constructed and would not open until the late 1970s.
| Under the provisions of Chapter 173 of the Acts of 1960, Kentucky Revised Statutes (Section 175.410 to 175.990), the Turnpike Authority of Kentucky was created as an independent corporate agency and instrumentality of the Commonwealth of Kentucky for the financing and construction of one or more turnpike projects. |
| The Department of Highways had traffic and engineering studies made relative to the construction of the Central Kentucky Toll Road which is approximately 71 miles (114 km) in length, extending from a point on the Kentucky Turnpike and I-65 in the vicinity of the City of Elizabethtown in the county of Hardin to a point on US 60 east of the city of Versailles in the county of Woodford.[5] The toll road opened to traffic on October 27, 1965. |
| -"Central Kentucky Toll Road (Bluegrass Parkway)" |
By the time the road opened, however, it was first named the Kentucky Bluegrass parkway, and then later renamed just the Bluegrass Parkway. There have been talks for a direct connection from the eastern terminus of the parkway at US 60 to I-64, but all have failed. Such a connection would almost certainly draw enormous opposition in the Lexington area due to the many horse farms that would be adversely affected; the thoroughbred breeding industry is an important direct employer and a major tourist draw in the region.
Exit list
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hardin | Elizabethtown | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0 |   I-65 to Western Kentucky Parkway – Louisville, Elizabethtown, Nashville, Paducah | Western terminus and signed as exits 0A (south) & 0B (north); I-65 exit 93 and parkway ends |
| Youngers Creek | 7.900 | 12.714 | 8 |    KY 583 to US 62 – Youngers Creek | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | |
| Nelson | | 9.523 | 15.326 | 10 |  KY 52 to US 62 – New Haven, Boston | |
| Bardstown | 20.459 | 32.926 | 21 |  US 31E – Bardstown, Hodgenville | ||
| 24.469 | 39.379 | 25 |  US 150 – Bardstown, Springfield | |||
| | 33.301 | 53.593 | 34 |  KY 55 – Springfield, Bloomfield | ||
| Washington | Brush Grove | 41.401 | 66.628 | 42 |   KY 555 south – Springfield, Lebanon | |
| Anderson | | 47.838 | 76.988 | 48 |  KY 53 to US 62 – Willisburg | |
| | 58.791 | 94.615 | 59 |   US 127 to I-64 – Lawrenceburg, Frankfort, Harrodsburg, Danville | Signed as Exits 59A and 59B | |
| Woodford | Versailles | 68.248 | 109.835 | 68 |  KY 33 – Versailles | |
| 71.134 | 114.479 | 72 | US 60 – Versailles, Lexington | Eastern terminus and signed as exits 72A (west) & 72B (east); parkway ends | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | ||||||
References
- "Kentucky Transportation Cabinet — Division of Planning — Highway Information System Official Milepoint Route Log Extract". Archived from the original on April 30, 2007. Retrieved April 8, 2007.
- Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (1988). Kentucky Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). c. 1:760,320. Frankfort: Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Bluegrass Parkway Toll Rates inset. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- Kentucky Department of Transportation (1976). Kentucky Official Highway and Parkway Map (PDF) (Map). c. 1:760,320. Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Transportation. Bluegrass Parkway Toll Rates inset. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
- Kentucky Department of Transportation (1976). Kentucky Official Highway and Parkway Map (PDF) (Map). c. 1:760,320. Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Transportation. Bluegrass Parkway toll schedule inset.
- "Park City Daily News — Google News Archive Search". google.com.
- Carlyle, Jeffrey. "Re: Lexington loop?" Online posting. May 1, 2002. May 1, 2002.
- "Report on Examination of Financial Statements and Supplemental Data — Central Kentucky Toll Road (Bluegrass Parkway)." Cook and Taylor Certified Public Accountants. June 30, 1982. Accessed March 12, 2004.