Bluegrass Parkway

x70px Bluegrass Parkway
Route information
Length:	71.134 mi (114.479 km)
Major junctions
West end:	I-65 in Elizabethtown
	US 31E near Bardstown US 150 near Bardstown US 127 / KY 513 near Lawrenceburg
East end:	US 60 near Versailles
Location
Counties:	Hardin, Nelson, Washington, Anderson, Mercer, Woodford
Highway system
Highways in Kentucky Interstate US State Parkways

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 nine 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. Long range plans suggest that the Blue Grass Parkway could become part of Interstate 50.

History

File:MLC Bluegrass Parkway Shield.png

The Bluegrass Parkway's previous shield

In 2003, the road was renamed in honor of Martha Layne Collins, the first female governor of Kentucky. Previously, it was simply 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 used on its signs.

The parkway was opened in November 1965 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.

Route description

The parkway passes the cities of Bardstown, Harrodsburg, and Versailles. The toll plazas were located at (from west to east):

• Exit 10, New Haven/Boston
• Exit 34, Springfield/Bloomfield
• Exit 59, Lawrenceburg/Harrodsburg

Future

Interstate 64

No connection to Interstate 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 Interstate 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. 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 renamed the Bluegrass Parkway. There have been talks for a direct connection from the eastern terminus of the parkway at US 60 to Interstate 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.

Interstate 50

Bluegrass Parkway has been considered for the routing of the cross nation Interstate 50 through the area.

Exit list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Hardin	Elizabethtown	0.000	0.000	0	I-65 – 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. 1 May 2002. 1 May 2002.
2. "Report on Examination of Financial Statements and Supplemental Data — Central Kentucky Toll Road (Bluegrass Parkway)." Cook and Taylor Certified Public Accountants. 30 June 1982. Accessed 12 March 2004.

External links

• KentuckyRoads.com — Martha Layne Collins Blue Grass Parkway
• YouTube Video: Kentucky Blue Grass Parkway West