Audubon Parkway

Infobox road
state=KY
marker_

highway_name=Audubon Parkway
alternate_name=
length_mi=23.441
length_round=3
length_ref=cite web|url=http://www.planning.kytc.ky.gov/data_reports.asp|title=Kentucky Transportation Cabinet - Division of Planning - Highway Information System Official Milepoint Route Log Extract|accessdate=2007-04-08]
established=
direction_a=West
starting_terminus=
junction=
direction_b=East
ending_terminus=
counties=Henderson, Daviess
cities=Henderson, OwensboroThe Audubon Parkway is a four-lane controlled-access freeway (formerly a toll road) connecting the cities of Henderson and Owensboro, Kentucky.

Named for John James Audubon, an early American naturalist, the Audubon's western terminus is the Edward T. Breathitt Pennyrile Parkway; the eastern terminus is the U.S. 60 bypass. The road opened on December 18, 1970 at a cost of $23.5 million and, at 23.4 miles, is the shortest of the nine roads in the state's parkway system. It is also the only road in the parkway system that has not had the name of a Kentucky politician attached to it.

The road carries the unsigned designation of Kentucky Route 9005 (AU 9005).

A white and gold shield was used along the Audubon Parkway until 2006, when a new, standardized blue-on-white marker was introduced for all of Kentucky's parkways.

History

Toll removal

The last two tolled parkways in Kentucky, the Audubon and the nearby William H. Natcher Parkway, which opened in 1972, had their tolls removed on Tuesday, November 21, 2006. Ernie Fletcher, who was governor at the time, announced the removal of the tolls at the Natcher Parkway's Hartford toll plaza on September 27, 2006. Fletcher himself manned the end loader which demolished one of the Audubon's Hebbardsville toll booths during a press conference and ceremony which heralded the end of toll collections.

With the end of toll collection, the Hebbardsville (KY 416) interchange was modified slightly, although its past as the parkway's only toll plaza remains in the modified-cloverleaf layout of the ramps. The islands where the toll booths were mounted were removed, and the pavement at the interchange was smoothed over, although the rumble strips approaching the interchange from both directions remain.

During 2008, the former toll plaza office on the south side of the interchange was demolished.

Future

Interstate 369

Daviess County officials proposed in 2005 that the Audubon be upgraded to an Interstate highway, specifically suggesting the number Interstate 369. This would, according to the proposal, take place when and if Interstate 69 is extended southward from Indianapolis, Indiana through Evansville and across the Ohio River near Henderson, Kentucky. The I-369 "spur" would connect Owensboro, Kentucky to I-69, which is to be routed along the following parkways (a new bridge will be built between Henderson and Evansville):

* The Edward T. Breathitt Pennyrile Parkway from the new bridge at Henderson southward to the
* Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway to Interstate 24, then west to the
* Julian M. Carroll Purchase Parkway, which it would follow to Tennessee.

It is a widely held belief that the Audubon would have to be significantly upgraded in order for it to be approved as an Interstate highway; specifically, the shoulders would need to be widened and the median would have to either be widened or have a safety barrier constructed along its entire 24-mile length. Any of these changes would be very expensive.

However, it would not be unheard of for the Audubon, or any of the other parkways proposed as Interstates above, to be "grandfathered" into the Interstate system by the issuance of a waiver; it has been done before, with such roads as the Kansas Turnpike, Pennsylvania Turnpike and others which do not (or did not at the time) meet the minimum Interstate standards.

Exit list

There are three interchanges along the parkway, each serving small communities in Henderson and Daviess counties. When the parkway first opened, the sole interchange was exit 10, but exits 5 and 18 were constructed in 1986.

References

External links

* [http://www.kytc.state.ky.us/Toll/Audubon.htm Official Kentucky Transportation Cabinet website with information and toll schedules for the Audubon Parkway]
* [http://transportation.ky.gov/planning/reports/SPRS_listings/listings/daviess.pdf State Primary Road System in Daviess County]
* [http://transportation.ky.gov/planning/reports/SPRS_listings/listings/henderson.pdf State Primary Road System in Henderson County]
* [http://www.millenniumhwy.net/exitguide/audubonparkway.html Exit list for Audubon Parkway]
* [http://www.kentuckyroads.com/audubon_parkway/ KentuckyRoads.com — Audubon Parkway]