I-69 Signage marks remarkable progress for region

On October 25, 2011, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, accompanied by federal highway officials and business leaders, 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.

Victor Mendez, federal highway administrator, left, and Gov. Steve Beshear unveil a new I-69 sign during a ceremony at Southside Elementary School in Nortonville on October 25, 2011 to officially designate the Western Kentucky Parkway portion of the new Interstate. Photo: Jim Pearson, The Messenger.

Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez was among hundreds of people joining the governor at the sign unveiling at Southside Elementary School, at Nortonville in his native Hopkins County – a site that looks upon the newly designated I-69.



Gov. Steve Beshear and Southside Elementary principal Steve Eakins with students of Southside Elementary following the Interstate 69 sign unveiling, October 25, 2011  Photo: Lori Harrison/Hopkins County Schools



Interstate 69 will eventually run from the Ohio River at Henderson to the Tennessee border at Fulton.  The full I-69 corridor – a new mid-continent interstate highway – will travel from the Michigan border with Canada to the Texas border with Mexico.

The initial, designated segment in Western Kentucky is 55 miles long, running from 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 duals 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.” Key to that completion is upgrading the Pennyrile Parkway from Nortonville to Henderson, and a link around Henderson to a new Ohio River Bridge connecting to I-64 east of Evansville.

In 2007, Chambers of Commerce in 12 Western Kentucky counties organized into a group called Chamber Leadership Initiatives for Northwest Kentucky (C-LINK) to work with state and federal officials to secure the designation of portions of the Pennyrile, Western and Purchase parkways as Interstate 69. In the summer of 2009, Gov. Beshear named retired Transportation Cabinet district engineer Ted Merryman to direct the state’s efforts toward gaining federal approval for upgrades to the parkways to meet interstate standards.

The designation of an interstate corridor through Hopkins and adjacent counties has tremendous potential to impact economic development in the region since improved and more accessible transportation routes are critical to attracting new business and industry and retaining existing  ones. In addition, statistics document that counties with an interstate highway experience significantly higher per capita income than those with more restricted transportation access.