KentuckyRoads.com - Interstate 175

I-175 was �discovered� as a line item in a report for the 107th congress: House Report 107-108 in the United States House of Representatives, report detailing proposed spending of the U.S. Department of Transportation for Fiscal Year 2002, includes $2,400,000 for "I 175 feasibility and planning study, Kentucky"; however, no mention of an I-175 can be found anywhere in the Kentucky Transportation Project Statewide Transportation Plan.

Mike Hancock from the transportation cabinet reported the following concerning I-175:

As you may be aware, the concept of "I-175" has been around for a long time. The basic idea is that by building a high-type road straight from I-75 south of Lexington, KY, to I-75 east of Chattanooga, TN, you could cut some length and travel time off a trip along I-75 through Kentucky and Tennessee. Obviously, this is an extremely expensive proposition and has traditionally been discounted because of the cost. The recent designation by Congress of some money to study this corridor implies that Congress is interested in determining the feasibility of "I-175". This money does not guarantee that the route will be built, as the total cost of the project would likely approach $3 billion. It does, however, indicate an interest to know if such an expenditure would be justifiable.

Funding was not included for I-175 in the final conference version of the Transportation spending bill that passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 30, 2001 and the U.S. Senate on Dec. 4, 2001. The bill was eventual approved by the president; so it appears any plans for an I-175 are now dead.

On the Tennessee side of the equation, there is a mention on this page about I-124 in Tennessee about a plan to eventually extend the I-124/US-27 freeway to the Kentucky state line. It is possible that this plan is the southern portion of I-175 plan.

Related images: [2 images related to this topic.]

Related link:

Ohio Valley Transit: I-175 - Brief description of the proposal.

I-175 News Items

Transportation Spending Bill Passes Both Houses of Congress

Posted: 8-Dec-2001 4:52AM CST

Topics: Topic listing supressed. [35 topics related to this item]

The conference version of the Transportation spending bill has passed both houses of Congress and is now waiting to be signed by the President.

Kentucky is mentioned several places in the bill:

$2,000,000 for an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) providing Eastern Kentucky rural highway information,
$750,000 for an ITS for Lexington,
$2,000,000 for a statewide transportation operations center,
the corridors for I-66 and I-69 have been redefined: I-66 is now defined to use the Nunn Cumberland Parkway and I-69 is now defined to use the Carrol Purchase Parkway,
Kentucky may now post signs saying "Future I-69" on the Purchase Parkway and "Future I-66" in the Cumberland Parkway,
$4,000,000 for to help access to an industrial park in Clay and Leslie counties,
$50,000 for work on Kentucky 55,
$1,600,000 for work on Kentucky 192 in McCreary county,
$1,000,000 for improvements to the intersection at the end of Grover Carey Bridge in Owensboro,
$250,000 for work on Kentucky 61 in Green county,
$300,000 for work on Kentucky 92 in Whitley county,
$20,000,000 for I-66 (I believe this is the Somerset-London segment.),
$2,500,000 for I-66 in Pike County,
$320,000 for work on KY 1848 between I-64 and US 60,
$1,000,000 for the Monticello Street underpass in Somerset,
$1,000,000 for work on the Pennyrile Parkway (I believe this is for the southern extension to I-24),
$1,500,000 for work on Stone Coal Road in Johnson county,
$2,000,000 for work on US 25 near Renfro Valley,
$5,000,000 for work on US 27 between Somerset and KY 70,
$80,000 for work on US 27 near Burnside,
$850,000 for work on US 431 near Lewisburg,
$500,000 for right-of-way for US 60 in Henderson County,
$100,000 for work on US 41A,
$50,00 for Estill County bypass lighting around Irvine,
$300,000 for Estill County industrial park access road,
$400,000 for Fegenbush Lane Bridge at Fern Creek,
$1,000,000 for Henderson riverfront project,
$1,000,000 for engineering work on Kentucky 61 from Kentucky 487 to Columbia,
$800,000 for Johnstown Road,
$2,350,000 for Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for Regional Trail Improvements,
$1,000,000 for improved access to Louisville's water front park,
$600,000 for median on US 42 from Harrods Creek to River Road,
$1,800,000 for Owensboro Riverfront redevelopment project,
$42,600 for Park City sidewalks,
$2,000,000 for Somerset downtown revitalization,
$6,600,000 for Southern bypass around the southwestern portion of Somerset,
$125,000 for Vine Grove sidewalks,
$2,000,000 for Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge,
$1,400,000 for Cold Hill Road,
$995,000 for Craigs Creek Road,
$1,500,000 for Daniel Boone Parkway between mileposts 37 and 44,
$2,000,000 for Brent Spence Bridge replacement I-75 and I-71 near Cincinnati,
$375,000 for work at I-75 Exit 11,
$2,500,000 for Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges project,
$885,000 for Kentucky Scenic byways (Country Music Highway, Wilderness Road Heritage Highway, Cumberland Cultural Heritage Highway),
$30,000,000 for work Appalachian Development Highway System,
$4,534,000 for the Kentucky Transportation Department to provide buses, vans, cutaways, and bus facilities in the Commonwealth of Kentucky,
$1,500,000 for Big South Fork Scenic Railroad enhancement project, and
$5,000,000 for Southern Kentucky Intermodal Transportation Park.

Quite an impressive haul; however, there is no funding for I-175.

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Updated: 8-Feb-2004 6:31AM CST