Kentucky Route 79 (KY 79) is a 102-mile-long (164 km) north–south state highway that traverses five counties in west-central Kentucky. It can be seen as an extension of U.S. Route 79 (US 79), as they have the same number and once intersected; KY 79 begins in the same city that US 79 ends, and both travel on a northeast–southwest diagonal path.

Kentucky Route 79 marker
Kentucky Route 79
Map
KY 79 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by KYTC
Length102.004 mi[1] (164.160 km)
Major junctions
South end KY 3519 in Russellville
Major intersections
North end KY 313 / KY 448 in Brandenburg
Location
CountryUnited States
StateKentucky
CountiesLogan, Butler, Grayson, Breckinridge, Meade
Highway system
  • Kentucky State Highway System
US 79 KY 80

Route description

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Logan County

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KY 79 starts at an intersection with KY 3519, an old alignment of US 431, Main Street in downtown Russellville, while US 79's end is currently at an intersection with US 68 and KY 80 on the eastern side of Russellville. KY 79 has an intersection with the four-lane divided US 68/KY 80 alignment. The two routes once met at the intersection of Main Street and Ninth Street, which carried the US 79 route to US 68 before the bypass.

KY 79 traverses northeastern Logan County, with intersections with KY 1038 and KY 2377.

Butler County

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After entering Butler County, KY 79 has intersections with KY 626 in Davis Crossroads and KY 1153. It then joins into a concurrency with US 231 just south of Morgantown; the two routes go into downtown Morgantown shortly after their interchange with I-165, the former William H. Natcher Parkway, and then meets KY 403 in downtown, and then KY 70 on the north side. KY 70 joins KY 79 and US 231 and all three routes are carried over the Green River from Morgantown to Aberdeen.

KY 79 departs at the Aberdeen Grocery, but KY 70 does not break up until reaching an intersection one mile north on US 231. After the split from US 231 and KY 70, KY 79 has an intersection with KY 1328 not more than 0.25 miles (0.40 km) from the split from US 231. Kentucky Route 79 crosses KY 70 for a final time, and becomes known as Caneyville Road.

KY 79 passes through Butler County's northern communities of Welcome and Welch's Creek where it meets up with KY 340.

Grayson County

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After KY 79 enters Grayson County and has access to the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway on the south side of Caneyville and would also intersect KY 185 at that route's northern terminus, and immediately after that, it crosses US 62 in downtown Caneyville.

KY 79 then goes north towards Pine Knob and Short Creek, where it intersects KY 54 at Short Creek, goes through the developed portion of Falls of Rough, and then passes the Rough River Dam State Park.

Breckenridge and Meade Counties

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While traversing the Rough River Dam, KY 79 crosses into Breckinridge County, where it intersects with KY 105, and then meets up with KY 259. KY 79 joins KY 259 from the lake area until they both reach the intersection with U.S. Highway 60 at Harned, southeast of Hardinsburg. While KY 259 makes a left turn to join US 60 westbound, KY 79 turns onto eastbound US 60, and stays with US 60 until reaching Irvington, where KY 79 enters Meade County, and heads for Brandenburg. On the southwest side of Brandenburg, KY 79 ends at an intersection with KY 313 and KY 448. The route once went to the nearby Ohio River bridge, but that was superseded with the completion of KY 313, the Joe Prather Highway, through Meade County.

History

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From 1929 until 1944, KY 79 was originally assigned to a rural highway in Simpson County. That route ran from the Tennessee state line, continuing south as Tennessee State Route 49, northeastward to Franklin; this route later became Kentucky Route 383.[2]

From 1944 until 1958, the KY 79 designation only existed on its course from Irvington to Brandenburg; the current alignment of KY 79 from Russellville to Axtel was signed as KY 105. With the 1958 extension of U.S. Route 79 into Kentucky from Clarksville, Tennessee,[3] KY 79 was extended to its length to serve as an unofficial extension of US 79 about eight years later.[citation needed]

In Meade County, KY 79 previously ran around the west side of Brandenburg to the Matthew E. Welsh Bridge across the Ohio River, where it terminated on the Indiana state line to become Indiana State Road 135. However, in 2018, the designation was replaced by KY 313, truncating KY 79 to its current terminus.[4]

Major intersections

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CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
LoganRussellville0.0000.000   KY 3519 (Main Street)Southern terminus; former US 431
1.7682.845   
 
US 68 (Russellville Bypass) / KY 80 to US 431
3.1485.066 
 
KY 1588 east (Proctor Mill Road)
Western terminus of KY 1588
4.6497.482 
 
KY 1038 east (Plainview Church Road)
Western terminus of KY 1038
9.07514.605 
 
KY 103 south (Chandlers Road)
Northern terminus of KY 103
13.36521.509 
 
KY 2377 west (Anderson Store Road)
Eastern terminus of KY 2377
Butler17.03927.422  KY 626
21.15034.038 
 
KY 3182 east (Richland Church Road)
Western terminus of KY 3182
23.27837.462 
 
KY 1153 south (Sandy Creek Road)
Northern terminus of KY 1153
Morgantown27.55844.350 
 
US 231 south (Bowling Green Road)
Southern end of US 231 concurrency
27.99845.058 
 
KY 1468 west (Gardners Lane Road)
Eastern terminus of KY 1468
28.89346.499  
 
 
 
 
 
I-165 / US 231 Truck north / KY 79 Truck north – Bowling Green, Owensboro
Former William H. Natcher Parkway; truck route follows northbound I-165; I-165 exit 26
30.23448.657 
 
KY 403 south (Porter Street)
Southern end of KY 403 overlap
30.30248.766 
 
KY 2161 north (Main Street)
Southern terminus of KY 2161
30.58049.214  KY 2162
30.87249.684 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
KY 70 west / KY 403 north / US 231 Truck south / KY 79 Truck south (Veterans Way) to I-165 – Rochester, Logansport
North end of KY 403 overlap; south end of KY 70 overlap; truck route follows KY 70 west
Green River31.616–
31.896
50.881–
51.332
Bridge
Aberdeen32.68552.601 
 
 
 
 
 
US 231 north / KY 70 east (Beaver Dam Road) to I-165
Northern end of US 231 and KY 70 concurrency
32.93553.004  KY 1328 (Leonard Oak Road)
33.55454.000  KY 70 (Brownsville Road)
36.29858.416 
 
KY 2713 north (Dexterville-Banock Road)
Southern terminus of KY 2713
39.26863.196 
 
KY 340 north (Oak Ridge Road)
Southern end of KY 340 overlap
39.53263.621 
 
KY 340 south (Brooklyn Road)
Northern end of KY 340 overlap
Grayson46.88375.451 
 
KY 736 north (Windy Ridge Road)
Southern terminus of KY 736
48.639–
48.835
78.277–
78.592
  Western Kentucky Parkway – Elizabethtown, PaducahInterchange; Parkway exit 94
Caneyville49.81980.176 
 
KY 185 south (Main Street) – Bowling Green, Roundhill
Northern terminus of KY 185; KY 79 turns left
49.85480.232  US 62 (Maple Street) – Beaver Dam, Leitchfield
Post53.49086.084 
 
KY 2804 east (Hopewell Road)
Western terminus of KY 2804
Short Creek57.39292.363  KY 54 (Owensboro Road)
61.93899.680  KY 736 – Cave Creek Recreation Area
63.128101.595  KY 110 – Falls of Rough
Breckinridge66.840107.569 
 
 
 
KY 105 north (McQuady-Axtel Road) / KY 2201 south (Old KY 105) – Cloverport
Southern terminus of KY 105; northern terminus of KY 2201
Axtel68.386110.057 
 
KY 1740 east (Kingswood-Mattingly School Road)
Western terminus of KY 1740
70.246113.050 
 
KY 259 south – Leitchfield
Southern end of KY 259 overlap
Westview75.868122.098 
 
KY 690 east
Western terminus of KY 690
Kingswood77.580124.853 
 
KY 1740 west (Kingswood-Mattingly School Road)
Eastern terminus of KY 1740
Kingswood77.814125.229 
 
KY 232 east
Western terminus of KY 232
Harned79.942128.654 
 
 
 
  US 60 west / KY 259 north – Hardinsburg, Owensboro
Northern end of KY 259 overlap; southern end of US 60 overlap
Harned80.412129.411 
 
KY 1401 east
Western terminus of KY 1401
Garfield83.832134.915 
 
KY 86 west (Garfield-Lodiburg Road)
Southern end of KY 86 overlap
Hensley85.233137.169 
 
KY 86 east
Northern end of KY 86 overlap
89.373143.832 
 
KY 333 east
Southern end of KY 333 overlap
89.726144.400 
 
KY 333 west (Webster-Basin Springs Road)
Northern end of KY 333 overlap
Irvington91.920147.931 
 
US 60 east – Louisville
Northern end of US 60 overlap
92.163148.322 
 
KY 2202 south (Woodlawn Street)
Northern terminus of KY 2202
92.887149.487 
 
KY 477 north
Southern terminus of KY 477
Meade95.030152.936  KY 428 (Guston Road)
96.839155.847 
 
KY 1726 south (Dooley Road)
Northern terminus of KY 1726
97.627157.115 
 
KY 261 south (Sandy Hill Road)
Northern terminus of KY 261
Midway98.178158.002 
 
 
 
KY 144 east / KY 1239 west (Midway Road)
Eastern terminus of KY 1239; southern end of KY 144 overlap
99.601160.292 
 
KY 144 west (Payneville Road)
Northern end of KY 144 overlap
Brandenburg102.004164.160  
 
KY 313 (By Pass Road) / KY 448 north (High Street)
Northern terminus; southern terminus of KY 448; continues as KY 448 beyond KY 313
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Special routes

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Kentucky Route 79 Truck

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Kentucky Route 79 Truck
LocationMorgantown, Kentucky
Length2.772 mi (4.461 km)

Kentucky Route 79 Truck (KY 79 Truck) is a truck route in Morgantown, Kentucky. It runs concurrently with the entire route of US 231 Truck as the main KY 79 alignment runs concurrently with US 231's main alignment throughout the city. It serves as a by-pass route around Morgantown. Its component routes include I-165 from the Main Street interchange to the KY 70 interchange, and KY 70 (Veterans Way) from the I-165 junction to the US 231/KY 79/KY 403 junction on the north side of town.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Kentucky Transportation Cabinet - Division of Planning - Highway Information System Official Milepoint Route Log Extract". Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  2. ^ Kentucky Department of State Highways (September 15, 1939). Road Map of Kentucky (PDF) (Map). c. 1:760,320. Frankfort: Kentucky Department of State Highways.
  3. ^ Kentucky Department of Highways (1962). Kentucky Official Highway Map (PDF) (Map). c. 1:760,320. Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Highways. §§ A6–B6.
  4. ^ "Meade County Primary Road System" (PDF). Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. July 2, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
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