FRANKFORT, Ky. (Dec. 1, 2022) – Gov. Andy Beshear, whose Better Kentucky Plan includes continuous improvement of Kentucky’s transportation system, announced today that work will begin in December on a project to bring the Julian Carroll-Purchase Parkway up to interstate standards, allowing Interstate Highway 69 to be extended from Mayfield to Fulton.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) awarded the contract to Jim Smith Contracting of Grand Rivers. The two-year project includes modernizing the Kentucky Highway 339 Wingo Exit 14, converting it from a cloverleaf designed to accommodate a toll booth to a diamond interchange with extended ramps suited for an interstate.
Crews also will make improvements to Exits 1 and 2 at Fulton. The project will enable the extension of I-69 along the final 21 miles of the existing parkway. The project cost is $33.9 million, with a target to complete construction by the end of 2024.
Along with ongoing construction to complete a new I-69 Ohio River crossing between Henderson and Evansville, Indiana, the project through parts of Graves, Hickman and Fulton counties is a major step toward completing I-69 through Kentucky.
“Completion of I-69 from the Ohio River to the Tennessee border has been a long-held dream for the people of Western Kentucky,” Gov. Beshear said. “This upgrade will further support our business and industry growth and improve travel for everyone visiting the Jackson Purchase.”
Initial work on this latest I-69 project will include clearing brush around the Wingo interchange and utility work to prepare for full construction in the spring as weather allows.
Motorists will see construction signage installed in the coming weeks, with only a few intermittent traffic restrictions expected along the work zone until early March.
“The project includes converting the old toll booth cloverleaf at Wingo to a modern diamond ramp interchange,” said KYTC District 1 Chief Engineer Kyle Poat. “The contractor will also be widening culverts, upgrading guardrails, working on drainage and completing other improvements required to bring the existing parkway up to full interstate standards over the next two construction seasons.”
Motorists are asked to be mindful of the construction zone that will extend northward from the Kentucky-Tennessee state line at Fulton (mile point 0.0) to the end of I-69 at the 21-mile marker near the U.S. Highway 45/Kentucky Highway 80 Bypass at the southwest edge of Mayfield.
When construction activity ramps up in the spring, there will be a 55 mph work zone speed limit with an enhanced police presence in areas where crews are present.
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