U.S. Route 60 (US 60) is a major U.S. Highway in the American state of

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. In the early days of the U.S. Highway System, US 60 was originally to be numbered as US 62. Following extensive lobbying and complaints filed by Kentucky governor William J. Fields to the

American Association of State Highway Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United St ...

, the route was re-designated as US 60 before the system was finalized. In Kentucky, US 60 parallels the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

(the northern boundary of the state). US 60 enters Kentucky from

Cairo, Illinois Cairo ( , sometimes ) is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County, Illinois, Alexander County. A river city, Cairo has the lowest elevation of any location in Illinois and is the only Illinoi ...

, traveling northeast to

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

, then takes a direct eastward route (near

Interstate 64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at Interstate 70, I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and U.S. Route 61, US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern ter ...

, I-64) to rejoin the Ohio River in downtown

Ashland, Kentucky Ashland is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon the southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West ...

. Both US 60 and US 23 run concurrently from Ashland to Catlettsburg where US 60 turns east and enters

Kenova, West Virginia Kenova is a city in Wayne County, West Virginia, United States, situated at the confluence of the Ohio and Big Sandy rivers. The city's name is a portmanteau of Kentucky, Ohio, and Virginia (Va), owing to its location where the three states me ...

. US 60 is the longest route in Kentucky, running across the width of the state, passing through 22 of Kentucky's counties and through the cities of Paducah, Henderson, Owensboro,

, the state capital of Frankfort, and Lexington.

Route description

US 60 is concurrent with US 51 and US 62 from the Ohio River bridge to the town of Wickliffe. At Wickliffe, US 60 separates from the other routes and heads generally northeast toward the city of Paducah. Between Wickliffe and Paducah, the towns of Barlow, La Center and Kevil are situated along the route. In Paducah, US 60 intersects with I-24, and I-24's business loop enters the city concurrent with US 60. In the midtown area, the route once again meets US 62, and also meets US 45. Once out of the city of Paducah, US 60 again veers to the northeast, roughly following the Ohio River until reaching Smithland, where the route again turns to the east, passing through the small town of Burna. From Burna, US 60 passes through Salem. The next city along the route is Marion. At Marion, US 60 turns once more to the north, where it heads toward Sturgis. From Sturgis, the route continues generally northward to Morganfield. In recent years, a bypass of US 60 around the south and east sides of Morganfield has taken a great deal of traffic congestion out of the city. US 60 passes through Waverly and Corydon before reaching Henderson. At Henderson, the route intersects Kentucky Route 136 (KY 136), KY 425 and US 41A. US 41A is concurrent with US 60 along Green Street in the city of Henderson as it intersects with KY 812 and KY 351. At the US 41 interchange, US 41A ends and US 60 continues alone, bypassing the cities of Owensboro, Lewisport, Hawesville, and Hardinsburg. In

Fort Knox Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository (also known as Fort Knox), which is used to house a larg ...

, US 60 connects with US 31W, and they remain together until downtown

. Originally built as a bypass route around downtown Louisville, US 60 Alt. used several existing roads running through Louisville to get between the east and south sides of town without having to travel through the heavily congested downtown or west ends of town. US 60 Alt. runs northeast to southwest from St. Matthews to Shively; including a stretch on one of Frederick Law Olmsted's last remaining parkways,

Eastern Parkway Eastern Parkway is a major east–west boulevard in the borough (New York City), New York City borough of Brooklyn. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, it was built between 1870 and 1874 and has been credited as the world's fir ...

. Before its completion and designation as I-264 in 1984, the Henry Watterson Expressway connecting

Dixie Highway Dixie Highway was a United States auto trail first planned in 1914 to connect the Midwest with the South. It was part of a system and was expanded from an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final system is better understood as a network o ...

(US 31W/US 60) and Shelbyville Road (US 60) was signed US 60 Bypass. After passing Shelbyville, it continues through the state capital of Frankfort, becomes four lanes and then heads more south than east toward

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

. In Versailles, US 60's eastbound lanes are very briefly the westbound lanes of US 62, which runs more south than west at that point. After turning east and intersecting the Bluegrass Parkway, US 60 is one of the major routes through Lexington. At the intersection for Keeneland Race Course, the road becomes heavily traveled six-lane highway, Versailles Road. It passes Blue Grass Airport before intersecting with Lexington's beltway, New Circle Road (Ky 4) and becomes a four-road going into downtown Lexington. it once followed the one-way pair of Maxwell and High streets (and still so appears on Google Maps) but is now signed along Oliver Lewis Way to Main Street, which after a one-way pair with Vine Street becomes Richmond Road (US 25). US 60 follows Midland Avenue (named after the old Midland Trail, which US 60 generally follows in Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia). At the intersection with East Third Street US 60 bears right and becomes Winchester Road. It intersects

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes and Southeastern United States, Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end ...

and from there roughly parallels I-64 and goes to

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

and passes just north of the terminus of the Mountain Parkway but does not intersect with the former toll road. It proceeds to Mount Sterling, Morehead, past

Carter Caves State Resort Park Carter Caves State Resort Park is located in Carter County, Kentucky, Carter County, Kentucky, United States, along Tygarts Creek. It is formed by Carter Caves, and nearby Cascade Caves, which were added to the park in 1959. On December 16, 1981 ...

, on to Grayson and finally to Ashland. US 23 southbound follows US 60 eastbound into Catlettsburg, where they split at 35th Street. US 23 southbound continues straight as a four-lane highway, while US 60 eastbound turns onto 35th Street, passes Oakland Avenue, and enters

via the Billy C. Clark Bridge.

History

When the first finalized proposal for the U.S. Highway System was presented by the

Bureau of Public Roads The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

in December 1925, the route between Ozark, Missouri and what would become

U.S. Route 52 U.S. Route 52 (US 52) is a major U.S. Highway in the Central United States that extends from the northern to southeastern region of the United States. Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S. Highways, US 52 primarily follows a north ...

(US 52) in West Virginia near

was originally proposed as US 62. The US 60 designation was proposed along a different highway from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

via

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

. On December 8, 1925, a complaint was registered by Kentucky governor William J. Fields over the placement of the US 60 designation, being unhappy no major U.S. Highways ending with the number "0" were planned through his state. Major U.S. Highways ending in "0" were planned to be the main east–west routes of the system. The two closest major east–west routes, US 50 and US 70, were planned to run through states located north and south of Kentucky. Fields therefore proposed the US 60 designation be re-routed through Kentucky. Fields' opposition to the original numbering plan led to an arranged meeting with the

(AASHO) Executive Committee in Chicago. Attending was Cyrus Avery, an AASHO committee leader representing the state of

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and a proponent of the Chicago to Los Angeles route. Avery disagreed with Fields' complaint and stated the US 60 designation should remain on the Chicago Los Angeles route. Following the meeting, the Executive Committee decided to retain the US 60 designation for the Chicago to Los Angeles route, taking the side of Avery. The Committee however, did attempt to rectify Kentucky's complaints by extending the eastern terminus of the proposed US 62 from its endpoint in West Virginia near Ashland to

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the List of c ...

. US 62 would also be extended from Ozark to

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

. Fields was not pleased with the US 62 extension and continued to campaign for US 60 to be routed through Kentucky. Fields later returned to AASHO with support from Kentucky's

Congressional A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...

delegation and presented his argument to AASHO's chairman Thomas H. MacDonald on January 25, 1926. MacDonald agreed with Fields' argument and AASHO subsequently exchanged the number of the Los Angeles to Chicago route with the Newport News to Springfield route. Following the change, Avery opposed removing "US 60" from the Los Angeles to Chicago route, stating the state Oklahoma had already undergone extensive preparation for the "US 60" designation, producing official signage and printing maps in anticipation for the new number. Avery was further upset that the decision to re-designate the Chicago to Los Angeles route had been done without his knowledge or consent. Officials from

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

also heavily protested the change in numbering. AASHO officials rebutted against Avery's complaints citing he had consented to a possible number swap in the earlier Chicago meeting. Nevertheless, AASHO, tried to present a compromise to both Fields and Avery, returning the US 60 designation to the route between Los Angeles and Springfield, but re-designating the Springfield to Chicago route as "US 60N" and the Springfield to Virginia Beach route as "US 60E". Neither side agreed with the compromise and demanded to have their way. Eventually, Avery and his allied proponents agreed to let Kentucky have "US 60" so long as the Chicago to Los Angeles Route became " US 66" instead of "US 62". Fields had no objection to this proposal as it meant his route would now be designated as "US 60". When the finalized U.S. Highway system was approved on November 11, 1926, U.S. Route 60 was officially designated through Kentucky, giving the state a main U.S. Highway ending with the number "0". US 60 was later extended to Los Angeles on June 8, 1931. The route would later be truncated to

Brenda, Arizona Brenda is a census-designated place (CDP) in La Paz County, Arizona, La Paz County, Arizona, United States. Description The community is located approximately east of Quartzsite, Arizona, Quartzsite and northeast of Interstate 10 in Arizona, ...

. Until 2010, US 60 passed through the city of Owensboro, while US 60 Bypass ( Wendell H. Ford Expressway) skirted the city to its south. The city of Owensboro and state of Kentucky requested the decommissioning of US 60 within the city, and the

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway A highway is any public or private road ...

approved the request, making the expressway the main line of US 60. As of April 2011, signage has been changed, and US 60 now solely follows the expressway around Owensboro. Especially in the eastern and central part of the state, US 60 has been largely replaced by I-64 for long-distance travel, since both routes follow each other through much of this area. However, several cities in this area rely on US 60 to connect them to the Interstate. By contrast, in the western part of the state, US 60 is not paired with an Interstate Highway and serves a much more independent purpose, connecting communities located along and near the

Major intersections

References

External links

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

Further reading

External links