Bluegrass Parkway

Bluegrass Parkway
Martha Layne Collins Blue Grass Parkway
Route information
Maintained by KYTC
Length	71.134 mi (114.479 km)
Major junctions
West end	I-65 in Elizabethtown
Major intersections	US 31E near Bardstown US 150 near Bardstown US 127 / KY 513 near Lawrenceburg
East end	US 60 near Versailles
Location
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
Counties	Hardin, Nelson, Washington, Anderson, Mercer, Woodford
Highway system
Kentucky State Highway System Interstate US State Parkways

The Martha Layne Collins Blue Grass Parkway is a freeway 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.

History

The Bluegrass Parkway's previous shield

As a toll road

In 1963, the Kentucky Turnpike Authority recommended what was then known as the "Central Kentucky Turnpike" be constructed from Elizabethtown to the Lexington-Frankfort area. 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	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

Westbound Bluegrass Parkway near Bardstown

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.

Route description

The parkway begins in Hardin County, at a trumpet interchange with I-65 near Elizabethtown. It traverses Nelson, northern Washington, northern Mercer, southern Anderson, and Woodford counties, passing Bardstown, Lawrenceburg, and ending just east of Versailles at US-60, where high-speed ramps allow traffic to continue to Lexington via US-60 eastbound.

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.

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. There have been talks for a direct connection from the eastern terminus of the parkway at US 60 to I-64, but nothing has come from it. 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	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       Incomplete access

References

1. Carlyle, Jeffrey. "Re: Lexington loop?" Online posting. May 1, 2002. May 1, 2002.
2. "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.

External links

Template:Attached KML/Bluegrass Parkway

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