FROM MAYFIELD TO FULTON, HIGHWAY REDESIGNATED INTERSTATE 69, AFTER TWO-YEAR PROJECT

Following Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear's  announcement Dec. 20 that newly-completed upgrades of the Purchase and Pennyrile parkways mean 55 miles of new Western Kentucky interstate will now provide safer, better connections for families, businesses, and future job growth in the state, in Graves, Hickman and Fulton counties, a two-year project to upgrade 21 miles of the Julian Carroll-Purchase Parkway to interstate standards is now complete, and the highway has been redesignated Interstate 69 from Mayfield to Fulton. 
The interstate extension will improve traffic flow and safety for all travelers who use the route.
The $33.9 million interstate extension included widening culverts, modernizing guardrails and improving drainage as well as reconstructing bridges, overpasses and exits. One of the most significant modernizations was to KY 339’s Exit 14 cloverleaf interchange. Originally designed to accommodate tollbooths, it was converted to a diamond interchange with extended ramps. The newly implemented design enhances safety for motorists traveling at interstate speeds.
With construction complete, new I-69 signage is up and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has officially added the roadway to the National Highway System.
Once the I-69 Ohio River crossing between Henderson and Evansville, Ind., is complete, the interstate will run continuously from Fulton to the Kentucky-Indiana border at Henderson.
A nearly $14 million project to upgrade 34 miles of the Edward T. Breathitt-Pennyrile Parkway between the I-69 interchange in Hopkins County and Interstate 24 south of Hopkinsville in Christian County, which began in 2023, is now complete. It added improved bridges, increased bridge clearances, newly designed ramps, rehabilitated road surfaces, and guardrails – meeting standards that allowed FHWA to redesignate the parkway as Interstate 169.
The new I-169 will now serve as a direct interstate link from I-24 to I-69, right through the heart of Western Kentucky. It connects the local communities and also shortens the distance between the Indiana and Tennessee state lines by 44 interstate miles.