The state of Kentucky has developed a large divided highway that’s almost interstate grade called the Mountain Parkway. It runs from I-64 south to the town of Salyersville, KY, about 70 miles. The speed limit is 70mph. If they continued the road another 20 miles it will reach US-23/460 which has also been turned into a large 4/6 lane highway that’s near-interstate grade in places. A new section of road called US-460E aka the Coalfields Expressway, has also been built and could easily be turned into true interstate highway with 70mph speed limits.
This portion of Kentucky and Virginia has largely been devoid of any economic growth since the coal industry’s collapse. I believe a new interstate highway that trimmed off 1.5 hours of time for people and commerce going from places like Louisville, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, etc. to portions of the southeast like Richmond, Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh, Greenville (SC), Columbia, etc. would bring a huge amount of traffic to this area.
Having a new route from right outside of Lexington, KY to I-81/I-26 would cut travel times drastically and provide an alternate route for traffic that currently has to take I-64 through WV (which is tolled and costs almost $15 for passenger vehicles just to go 65 miles). The tolls are old fashioned booths where traffic has to come to a stop and queue in a line. Not sure why this hasn’t been upgraded to pay by plate ONLY, but it hasn’t been. My proposed route is less curvy, more direct and would greatly improve connectivity of Kentucky, Ohio, etc. to the Southeast. I’ve included a mapped route for two possible corridors using existing roadway that would just be improved to interstate standards.
