Kentucky Route 80 (KY 80) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

in the southern part of the U.S. state of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. The route originates on the state's western border at

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

in Hickman County and stretches across the southern portion of the state, terminating southeast of Elkhorn City on the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

state line. It is the longest Kentucky State Highway, though the official distance as listed in route logs is much less due to multiple concurrencies with U.S. Route 68 (US 68) and US 23. The route was split into two segments from 2003 to November 2009. Construction and relocation of KY 80 in Graves, Calloway, and Marshall counties during this time caused the route to be split. A new, four-laned section of KY 80 opened in Calloway County on November 25, 2009. The route is now four-lanes from Mayfield to Bowling Green after the widening to four lanes from Canton to Cadiz was completed in 2020.

Route description

Jackson Purchase region

From

, the road passes through

Hickman Hickman or Hickmann may refer to: People * Hickman (surname), notable people with the surname Hickman or Hickmann * Hickman Ewing, American attorney * Hickman Price (1911–1989), assistant secretary in the United States Department of Commerce * ...

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, and Graves counties to Mayfield. Before 2003, the road passed through Mayfield and into Marshall County before converging with US 68 in

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

. The two-lane segment of former KY 80 from Mayfield to Aurora now has two separate designations. From Mayfield to Brewers in Marshall County, the road retains its former co-designation as KY 58. The segment from Brewers to Aurora is now designated as KY 402. From Mayfield, KY 80 travels along a new four-lane corridor into Calloway County and on to

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

. The route continues through eastern Calloway County and into Marshall County before converging with US 68 near the eastern terminus of KY 402 in Aurora.

Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake to Somerset

From Aurora, it follows US 68 through Trigg,

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

Todd Todd or Todds may refer to: Places ;Australia: * Todd River, an ephemeral river ;United States: * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated ...

, and

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gov ...

counties to

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

( Warren County). From Bowling Green through

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...

, Kentucky Route 80 remains overlapped with US 68 serving eastern Warren,

Barren Barren primarily refers to a state of barrenness (infertility Infertility is the inability of a person, animal or plant to reproduce by natural means. It is usually not the natural state of a healthy adult, except notably among certain eusoc ...

and Metcalfe Counties until it goes a little past downtown Edmonton. From

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

, KY 80 is paralleled (and largely supplanted) by the Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway, which is officially designated as the future route of Interstate 66 (I-66), although interest in that project has been lost. KY 80 serves rural portions of

, Metcalfe (including the city of

), Adair, Russell, and Casey counties to

( Pulaski County).

Somerset to Hazard

Between Somerset and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

( Laurel County), KY 80 is again the primary route. The state's I-66 proposals call for KY 80 to again be bypassed in this area, with the new road to share only the crossing over the Rockcastle River gorge. This proposal has met with controversy, with area residents preferring that the new Interstate be built on the existing KY 80 right of way. From London to

Hazard A hazard is a potential source of harm. Substances, events, or circumstances can constitute hazards when their nature would allow them, even just theoretically, to cause damage to health, life, property, or any other interest of value. The probab ...

, KY 80 is again supplanted, this time by the former Daniel Boone Parkway, renamed the

Hal Rogers Parkway The Hal Rogers Parkway, formerly named the Daniel Boone Parkway, connects Somerset and Hazard in southeastern Kentucky. This toll road opened in November 1971, and the tolls were removed June 1, 2003. The original extent of the highway was ...

in 2003. KY 80 serves rural portions of

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay pa ...

, Leslie, and

Perry Perry, also known as pear cider, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally the perry pear. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. It is also mad ...

counties before rejoining the Parkway near Hazard.

Hazard to Pikeville and the Virginia border

KY 80 is a modern four-lane highway (though not

controlled access A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

) from Hazard through Knott County to Watergap in Floyd County where it converges with US 23. This section of Kentucky Route 80 was completely new construction, with the old highway's segments renamed with several designations, primarily KY 550. KY 80 continues, concurrent with US 460 until reaching Belcher in Pike County and continues into

from Elkhorn City as Virginia State Route 80.

History

Pre-1960s

KY 80's original western terminus was on the east side of Bowling Green during the 1930s and early 1940s. It was extended to its current length, including the concurrency with US 68, in around the late 1940s or early 1950s. Originally, KY 80 continued westward via ferry across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest Drainage system (geomorphology), drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson B ...

Belmont, Missouri Belmont is an extinct town in Mississippi County, on the eastern border of the U.S. state of Missouri at the Mississippi River. The GNIS classifies it as a populated place under the name "Belmont Landing". History Belmont was platted in 1853, and ...

, where it connected with Missouri Route 80, which travels west to US 61/ US 62 near Sikeston, Missouri. That ferry has long since been discontinued.

Late 20th century realignments

KY 80's original alignments in Knott and

counties were renumbered to KY 550 at some point around 1979–1980. Several other segments of KY 80 were rerouted in various areas between Somerset and Prestonsburg between 1977 and 1984. When the US 68/KY 80 four-lane realignment was completed in the late 1990s, several of the route's old alignments were kept intact, notably in areas between Hopkinsville and Bowling Green. Old alignments of US 68/KY 80 in Fairview, Elkton, Russellville, Auburn, Bowling Green and Glasgow were converted into

business route A business route (or business loop, business spur, or city route) in the United States is a short special route connected to a ''parent'' numbered highway at its beginning, then routed through the central business district of a nearby city ...

s of US 68. Sometime in 2007, the route was rerouted onto a bypass route around Cadiz; the original alignment in that city also became a US 68 business loop.

Rerouting in the Purchase area

The KY 80 alignment from Brewers to Aurora was renumbered as KY 402 at some point during the 2002/2003 fiscal year. In the late 2000s, KY 80 was re-routed onto a four-lane highway from Mayfield to Aurora via the northern outskirts of

. The segment from US 641 to US 68 was completed in 2006, while the remainder was built during the 2008/2009 fiscal year.

Eggners Ferry Bridge collapse of 2012

On January 26, 2012, the

Eggner's Ferry Bridge Eggner Ferry Bridge, also known as Eggner's Ferry Bridge, is a four-lane bridge in Trigg and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The current through-arch bridge opened to traffic on April 7, 2016, replacing a two-lane bowstring tr ...

carrying KY 80 and US 68 over Kentucky Lake (

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other name ...

) near Aurora collapsed because a cargo ship crashed into one of the bridge's support pillars. The bridge re-opened to traffic in May 2012, but it was replaced by a four-lane bridge that was built more than three years afterwards. A new bridge with similar design over Lake Barkley was completed in 2018 to replace the old bridge there.

Major intersections

Special routes

Mayfield business route

Kentucky Route 80 Business (KY 80 Bus.) is a

of KY 80 located in Mayfield, in

Graves County Graves County is a county located on the southwest border of the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,649. Its county seat is Mayfield. The county was formed in 1824 and was named for Major Benjamin ...

. The main alignment of KY 80 has a gap within the city from the

Purchase Parkway The Julian M. Carroll Purchase Parkway is a controlled-access highway in the US state of Kentucky running from Fulton to Mayfield, near Kentucky Dam, for a length of . It begins at the Tennessee state line concurrent with U.S. Route 51 (US ...

( Future Interstate 69) interchange to US 45 in downtown Mayfield. KY 80's main alignment resumes beyond the US 45 junction.

Pulaski County connector route

Kentucky Route 80 Connector (KY 80 Conn.) is a roadway in Pulaski County that connects KY 80 with KY 3261. It is located on the west side of

just outside of the city limits.

Somerset business route

Kentucky Route 80 Business (KY 80 Bus.) is a business route of KY 80 located in

, the Pulaski County seat. It begins on the west side of Somerset at KY 80's junction with the KY 914 bypass. It intersects US 27 and KY 1247 in downtown. Its eastern terminus after intersecting KY 192 is at mile point 21.161 of the main route of KY 80 on the east side of Somerset.

Floyd County spur route

Kentucky Route 80 Spur (KY 80S) is a spur route of KY 80 in southern Floyd County. It connects KY 80 with KY 1428 at

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

References

External links