Purchase Parkway

Purchase Parkway
Route information
Length:	52.333 mi[1] (84.222 km)
Existed:	1966 – present
Major junctions
South end:	US 51 / SR 215 / I-69 in Fulton
	US 51 in Fulton US 45 in Mayfield US 68 north of Benton I-24 / I-69 near Calvert City
North end:	US 62 / KY 1523 near Calvert City
Location
Counties:	Fulton, Hickman, Graves, Marshall
Highway system
Highways in Kentucky Interstate US State Parkways

The Julian M. Carroll Purchase Parkway is a controlled-access highway in the US state of Kentucky running from Fulton to Calvert City, near Kentucky Dam, for a length of 52 miles (84 km). It begins at the Tennessee state line concurrent with U.S. Route 51 (US 51) only a few yards from an intersection with US 45W, US 45E, and US 45 at its western terminus, and US 62 just north of Interstate 24 (I-24) at its eastern terminus. It is one of nine highways that are part of the Kentucky Parkway System.

The parkway between its southern terminus and I-24 is designated as Future I-69; the route will be signed as I-69 after required upgrades to the mainline and several interchanges have been completed, tentatively in 2018. The parkway passes the cities of Mayfield and Benton, Kentucky.

History

The Purchase Parkway formerly used a light blue shield.

Federal legislation designated the entire length of the Purchase Parkway as I-69 in 2002. On June 6, 2008, President George W. Bush signed HR 1195 (SAFETEA-LU Technical Corrections Act of 2008), reaffirming the I-69 designation for the Purchase Parkway and further authorizing Kentucky to sign the route as such with Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) approval. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet had planned I-69 signs on the parkway during the summer of 2008, but the FHWA required the KYTC to either upgrade substandard portions of the route or obtain a design waiver before it the parkway could be signed as I-69.

Originally named Purchase Parkway for the Jackson Purchase area it diagonally traverses, the road was renamed for Julian M. Carroll, a former Kentucky governor from McCracken County, in 2001. The Purchase Parkway carries the unsigned designation of Kentucky Route 9003 (JC 9003). The Mayfield Bypass, which was incorporated into the parkway following its construction, is also signed as US 45 Bypass.

Completed in 1966, the parkway incorporates a pre-existing four-lane divided bypass around Mayfield. This section of the parkway is also designated as US 45 Bypass.

Except for the Mayfield bypass which remained free, the parkway was originally a toll road, as were all Kentucky parkways. State law requires that toll collection cease when enough tolls are collected to pay off the parkway's construction bonds; that occurred in 1992. It is constructed similarly to the Interstate Highway system.

Future

The Julian M. Carroll Purchase Parkway from the junction with Interstate 24 west was legally designated to become part of I-69. On May 15, 2006, Governor Ernie Fletcher announced that the Purchase Parkway would become part of the alignment of I-69 in Kentucky, along with parts of I-24, the Edward T. Breathitt Pennyrile Parkway, and the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway. To reflect this, Future I-69 shields were erected along the parkway in the summer of 2006. Additional federal legislation enacted in 2008 confirmed the route of I-69, and authorized Kentucky to immediately begin signing the Purchase Parkway (and parts of the Western Kentucky Parkway and Pennyrile Parkway) as I-69, even though the parkways did not yet meet Interstate Highway standards.

The reason the 2008 legislation (HR 1195) immediately applied the I-69 designation to the Purchase Parkway was to tap into federal Interstate Highway money to fund upgrades to the parkway. This is because Interstate Highway funds typically could not be used to upgrade an existing freeway until it is designated and signed as an Interstate. Median improvements near Mayfield, increased bridge heights to 16 feet (4.9 m), shoulder improvements, and interchange reconstructions will all need to take place to bring the alignment into federal compliance. No official funding has been set in the six-year plan stipulating modernization of the parkways that will be affected by I-69's routing, nor has any official study been completed.^[2]

Because Kentucky is using an existing expressway for I-69, highway officials will likely avoid years of costly environmental studies required by other states, as the upgrades are being performed within the footprint of the existing highway.

Funding remains the big issue for upgrading the parkways to I-69, as there is no funding in the state's 2006 Six-Year Transportation Plan specifically for I-69. However, it is likely that Kentucky will perform the required upgrades on individual segments of the Purchase Parkway when the pavement reaches the end of its lifespan, through "Pavement Preservation Projects." This approach is similar to the way New York is upgrading its substandard Route 17 Expressway to I-86.

Exit list

County	Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Fulton	Fulton	0.000	0.000		Future I-69 / US 51 south	Continuation into Tennessee
		0.030	0.048	0	KY 116 / KY 166 – Fulton, Hickman
		1.424	2.292	1	US 51 north – Clinton, Fulton	North end of US 51 concurrency
		2.478	3.988	2	KY 307 – Fulton
Graves	Wingo	13.645	21.959	14	KY 339 – Wingo, Clinton
	Mayfield	21.256	34.208	21	US 45 Byp. south	South end of US 45 Byp. concurrency; signed as exit 21B northbound (exit 21A is to remain on the parkway as it merges with US 45 Byp.)
		22.239	35.790	22	KY 80 – Fancy Farm, Mayfield
		23.701	38.143	24	KY 121 – Wickliffe, Mayfield
		24.713	39.772	25	US 45 / US 45 Byp. – Paducah, Mayfield	North end of US 45 Byp. concurrency
		27.452	44.180	27	KY 131 – Airport
Marshall	Benton	40.805	65.669	41	US 641 Spur south – Hardin, Murray
		42.568	68.507	43	KY 348 – Benton, Symsonia
	Draffenville	46.953	75.564	47	US 68 – Kenlake State Park, Kentucky Lake Recreation Area
	Calvert City	51.394	82.711	52	I-24 / I-69 north – Nashville, Paducah	Signed as exits 52A (east) and 52B (west); Northern end of I-69 overlap
		52.333	84.222		US 62 / KY 1523 – Calvert City, Eddyville, Paducah	At-grade intersection; eastern terminus of KY 1523
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• Julian M. Carroll Purchase Parkway at KentuckyRoads.com
• Exit list for Purchase Parkway