Russellville Bypass
| Russellville Bypass | |
|---|---|
| Route information | |
| Maintained by KYTC | |
| Length | 6.789 mi[1] (10.926 km) |
| Existed | 1998/99 – present |
| Component highways |
    |
| Major junctions | |
| Beltway around Russellville | |
     | |
| Highway system | |
The Russellville Bypass is the four-lane partial beltway around Russellville, located in Logan County in South-central Kentucky. The road is maintained by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet since the entire bypass carries a U.S. Highway route.[2]
Route description
The northern portion of the Russellville Bypass includes portions of US 68 and US 431 around the city. The bypass completely encircles the city of Russellville. US 68 joins the bypass on the west side of Russellville. US 431 departs on the northern side of town, while US 68 is the component for the remainder of the bypass all the way to the east side.[3]
Meanwhile, going north or east, US 79 turns right onto the southern portion of the bypass with US 431 south. US 79, alone goes back northeast to terminate at the junction with US 68 (which runs concurrently with KY 80) and the US 68 Business Route.
History
Construction and carried designations
The project of building the bypass began sometime in the mid 1990s. It started as a connector between US 68 and US 79 on the west side of town. Over time, it then connected with US 431 north of town, and eventually expanded to its current length by late 1998 or early 1999. Upon completion in early 1999, the road had a designation of US 68 Bypass.[4]
The by-pass also carried a third designation known as US 79 Truck when it was completed. However, that designation was since removed after US 79’s northern terminus was relocated to its current terminus at the western end of the bypass in the early 2010s. In the same period, US 68 and US 431 through Russellville were both rerouted onto the bypass, while the old alignments became signed as US 68 Business and KY 2146, respectively.
US 79 previously ran all the way through town to a junction with US 68 Business east of the downtown square just west of the bypass route’s eastern end. That was done to not only discontinue any confusion between US 79 and KY 79, but also in preparation for KY 100’s rerouting to the eastern end with US 68 on the east side that was completed in 2015.
Southern extension
In 2015, the then-proposed southern extension has been placed on the KYTC’s agenda. The project was completed and opened to traffic via a grand opening ceremony on November 7, 2017. KY 100’s western terminus was re-located to an four-way stop intersection with the new section of the bypass, and KY 100’s first few miles were consolidated into the southern bypass.[5] The Russellville Bypass became Kentucky’s second bypass route to completely encircle a city; the first was New Circle Road (KY 4) in the Lexington area.
Effects of the routes in Russellville
When the southern bypass was completed, US 431 was rerouted off of Nashville Road and onto the bypass from that intersection to the north side. US 431’s original alignment from the bypass to Ninth Street (KY 3240, originally US 79) is now signed as KY 2146, which already follows the original US 431 into downtown Russellville. The southern bypass completion also marked US 79’s return to the east side of town as that route was extended to be the primary designation for the southern bypass. US 79 previously followed Ninth Street to terminate at a junction with US 68 Business, which also marked KY 100’s western terminus until KY 100 was rerouted.
Major intersections
The entire route is in Logan County.
| Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.000 | 0.000 |   | Originally the western end of the bypass and US 79’s eastern terminus until November 2017 | ||
| 0.991 | 1.595 | | Western end of US 68 overlap | ||
| 1.564 | 2.517 |  | |||
| 2.572 | 4.139 | | Northern end of US 431 overlap | ||
| 2.955 | 4.756 |  | |||
| 5.062 | 8.146 | | |||
| 6.789 | 10.926 |  | Eastern terminus of US 68 Business, northern terminus of US 79; eastern ends of US 68 overlap (north half) and US 79 overlap (south half) | ||
| Western terminus of KY 100 since 2017 | ||||
 | Southern end of US 431 overlap | ||||
| |||||
| Western end of US 79 overlap; US 431 continues straight ahead | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||
See also
References
- 1 2 Commonwealth of Kentucky. "Official DMI Route Log". Retrieved 2 July 2016.
- ↑ DeLorme. Kentucky Atlas & Gazetteer Fourth Edition (Map, 2010), page 80.
- ↑ DeLorme (2010). Kentucky Atlas & Gazetteer (Map). Yarmouth, ME: DeLorme. p. 80. ISBN 0-89933-340-0.
- ↑ Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (1999). Kentucky Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Frankfort: Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. § J7.
- ↑ French, Jackson (November 8, 2017. “Section of Russellville bypass opens, completes loop around city”. Bowling Green Daily News. Retrieved November 18, 2017.