Bluegrass Parkway

Highway in Kentucky, US

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
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

[edit]

The Bluegrass Parkway's previous shield

### As a toll road

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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.[2] 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 which occurred in 1991.[citation needed]

#### Toll plazas and charges

[edit]

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 [3][4] | 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

[edit]

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.[4]

## Route description

[edit]

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.[5]

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.[6]

## Proposals

[edit]

### Connection with Interstate 64

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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Bluegrass Parkway" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

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 been finalized. Such a connection would likely face opposition in the Lexington area due to the many horse farms that would be adversely affected as the thoroughbred breeding industry is an important direct employer and a major tourist draw in the region.[7]

## Exit list

[edit]

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

* Incomplete access

## References

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1. ^ a b "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.
2. ^ "Park City Daily News — Google News Archive Search". google.com.
3. ^ 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.
4. ^ a b 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.
5. ^ "Bluegrass Parkway: Lexington to Elizabethtown - Kentucky - Interstate 411". interstate411.us. March 29, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2024.
6. ^ 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.
7. ^ Puente, Victor (January 30, 2024). "Good Question: Are there any plans to connect the Blue Grass Parkway to I-64?". WKYT.com. Retrieved May 10, 2024.

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

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KML file (edit • help)

Template:Attached KML/Bluegrass Parkway

KML is from Wikidata

* v
* t
* e

Parkways and named highways in the Commonwealth of Kentucky

Parkway system|

* Audubon Parkway
* Bluegrass Parkway
* Cumberland Expressway
* Hal Rogers Parkway
* Mountain Parkway
* Western Kentucky Parkway

Named highways|

* Eagle Way
* Gene Snyder Freeway (I-265/KY 841)
* Henry Watterson Expressway (I-264)
* AA Highway
* KY 9
* KY 10
* Industrial Parkway (KY 67)
* Mammoth Cave Parkway
* KY 70
* KY 255
* Man o' War Boulevard (KY 1425)
* Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Expressway (I-65)
* New Circle Road (KY 4)
* Paris Pike
* US 27
* 68)
* Russellville Bypass
* US 68
* US 431
* The Trace (LBL)
* Veterans Memorial Highway
* KY 101
* KY 259
* Veterans Outer Loop
* US 68
* KY 1519
* KY 3600
* Wendell H. Ford Expressway
* US 60
* US 231

Pre-highway system roads|

* Dixie Highway
* US 31W
* US 25
* Jackson Highway
* U.S. Route 31E

Former parkways|

* Kentucky Turnpike
* I-65
* Pennyrile Parkway
* I-69
* I-169
* Purchase Parkway
* I-69
* William H. Natcher Parkway
* I-165

*[mi]: Miles
*[km]: Kilometers
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*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template