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Governor Steve Beshear's Communications Office
Gov. Beshear inaugurates new Interstate 69
With new highway signs unveiled, ‘We have put I-69 on the Kentucky map’
NORTONVILLE, Ky.– Governor Steve Beshear, accompanied by federal highway officials and business leaders, today ceremonially unveiled a red, white and blue shield sign designating Kentucky’s newest interstate highway – Interstate 69 in Western Kentucky.
“Today we can say that we have put I-69 on the Kentucky map,” Gov. Beshear said.
Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez was among a throng of people joining the Governor for a sign unveiling at Southside Elementary School, at Nortonville in Hopkins County – a site that looks upon the newly designated I-69.
Interstate 69 will eventually run from the Ohio River at Henderson to the Tennessee border at Fulton. But the initial, designated segment is 55 miles long, running from roughly Eddyville to Nortonville.
It includes 38 miles of the Wendell Ford/Western Kentucky Parkway, which will be upgraded to federal interstate standards in several areas, and 17 miles of current I-24, which will bear dual signs for both interstate routes.
“This is a milestone in Kentucky transportation, but our job is not finished,” Gov. Beshear said. “Now we turn to the work of completing the entire I-69 corridor from the Ohio River to the Tennessee border.”
FHWA Administrator Mendez approved the I-69 designation on Aug. 25, along with an agreement between FHWA and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) that spells out improvements Kentucky will undertake to bring parts of the Ford/Western Kentucky Parkway up to interstate standards. The agreement also identifies highway design features that are at less than interstate standard but which FHWA has deemed acceptable.
KYTC opened bids for the project on Friday, Oct. 21. The cabinet is scheduled to consider awarding a contract on Monday, Oct. 31. The apparent low bidder was Rogers Group Inc., bidding $10.32 million.
Scheduled work will include upgrading guardrails and bridge rails, improving exit and entrance ramps at interchanges and raising some overpass bridges to increase clearance. Future agreed improvements include widening paved shoulders and reconstructing the KY 109 interchange at Dawson Springs in 2012.
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