U.S. Route 231 (US 231) in Kentucky runs from the
Tennessee state line near
Adolphus
Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...
to the
William H. Natcher Bridge on the
Ohio River
The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...
(
Indiana state line) near
Rockport, Indiana
Rockport is a city in Ohio Township and the county seat of Spencer County, Indiana, along the Ohio River. The population was 2,270 at the 2010 census. Once the largest community in Spencer County, the city has recently been surpassed by the t ...
. It crosses the state mainly in the west-central region, traversing
Allen,
Warren,
Butler
A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...
,
Ohio, and
Daviess Counties.
Route description
Running concurrently with
U.S. Route 31E
U.S. Route 31E (US 31E) is the easternmost of two parallel routes for U.S. Highway 31 from Nashville, Tennessee, to Louisville, Kentucky. (At one time, it split with U.S. Highway 31W at Sellersburg, Indiana, north of Louisville.)
Route d ...
for its first in Kentucky, US 231/31E enters the state from
Sumner County, Tennessee, and into Allen County. The two routes separate on the west side of
Scottsville after the
KY 100 junction. US 231 turns northwestward onto a four-lane highway on its way into Warren County, and into Bowling Green. Just before entering the city, US 231 crosses the southern terminus of
KY 9007, a short connector providing access to
I-65 and
I-165. US 231 crosses I-65 in the Greenwood neighborhood of Bowling Green, US 31W and US 68 within city limits, and I-165 on the northwestern edge of the city.
US 231 reaches Butler County to cross I-165 for a second time, and runs concurrently with
KY 79 on the southern end of
Morgantown. On the northern end of Morgantown,
KY 70 joins in on the concurrency as US 231, KY 79, and KY 70 cross the
Green River. Both state routes separate from US 231 in the
Aberdeen area before crossing the I-165 for a third time before entering Ohio County. US 231 meets
U.S. Route 62 in the
Beaver Dam/
Hartford area after crossing the
Wendell H. Ford
Wendell Hampton Ford (September 8, 1924 – January 22, 2015) was an American politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He served for twenty-four years in the U.S. Senate and was the 53rd Governor of Kentucky. He was the first person to be ...
Western Kentucky Parkway on the south side of Beaver Dam.
US 231 goes further north into Daviess County to join up with
US 60 (
Wendell H. Ford Expressway) to bypass Owensboro. US 60 splits from US 231 before leaving the state via the
William H. Natcher Bridge going into
Spencer County, Indiana.
Alternate names
U.S. 231 has several alternate names throughout its course in Kentucky. They include:
*
Scottsville Road (Allen/Warren County line to US 231 Bus/KY 880)
*
Campbell Lane (Bowling Green, from US 231 Bus/KY 880 to US 68/80)
*
Vietnam Veterans Boulevard (US 68/KY80 to US 231 Bus)
*
Morgantown Road (Warren County, US 231 Bus/US 68 to Butler-Warren County line)
*Bowling Green Road (Butler County south of Morgantown)
*South Main Street (Morgantown)
*
G.L. Smith Street (Morgantown)
*Beaver Dam Road (Aberdeen to Butler-Ohio County line)
*New Hartford Road (Daviess County, from Ohio County line to US 60)
History
In Kentucky, US 231 was originally signed as Kentucky Route 71, one of many charter routes of Kentucky's statewide system of highways when it was established in 1929. KY 71 originally ran from downtown Scottsville to downtown Owensboro. Portions of the original KY 71 in
Butler County was rerouted to a bridge over the Green River in the early 1950s, replacing the Morgantown Ferry. In 1952, US 231 replaced the designation of KY 71 in its entirety as the U.S. route was extended from the
Montgomery, Alabama area into Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana.
In August 1999, US 231 in Bowling Green was rerouted onto
KY 880 (Campbell Lane) from the
Scottsville Road intersection to the Morgantown Road intersection on the northwest side of town. The former alignment of US 231 into downtown Bowling Green was redesignated as
U.S. 231 Business.
In 2002, US 231 in Daviess County was rerouted onto the then-new
William H. Natcher Bridge northeast of Owensboro. It previously followed the current
KY 2155 and
KY 2262 onto the
Owensboro Bridge in downtown Owensboro into
Spencer County until the opening of the Natcher Bridge.
The stretch of US 231 from the Natcher Parkway (now I-165) interchange to Bell Street in Morgantown was widened to include a center lane for left-turning in 2013-2014.
[, page 1.]
Scottsville Road speed limit increase
In late May 2017, the
KYTC raised the speed limit of US 231 from near Scottsville to the near the
Drakes Creek bridge south of Bowling Green from the original to .
[French, Jackson (May 23, 2017). “State increases speed limit to 65 mph on U.S. 231.” '' Bowling Green Daily News'', May 23, 2017, pages 1A and 6A. Retrieved May 25, 2017.] This makes this stretch of US 231 the second section of a four-lane divided highway with unlimited access in the region with a 65 mph speed limit, the first being
US 68/
KY 80
Kentucky Route 80 (KY 80) is a state highway in the southern part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. The route originates on the state's western border at Columbus in Hickman County and stretches across the southern portion of the state, ...
from
I-24
Interstate 24 (I-24) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It runs diagonally from I-57, south of Marion, Illinois, to Chattanooga, Tennessee, at I-75. It travels through Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, ...
in
Trigg County
Trigg County is a county located on the far southwestern border of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,061. Its county seat is Cadiz. Formed in 1820, the county was named for Stephen Trigg, an officer in th ...
to the I-165 Exit 5 interchange at Bowling Green.
Major intersections
See also
*
*
*
U.S. Route 231
U.S. Route 231 (US 231) is a north-south United States Numbered Highway System, U.S highway that is a parallel route of U.S. Route 31, US 31. It runs for from St. John, Indiana, St. John, Indiana, at U.S. Route 41 in Indiana, US 41 ...
*
Special routes of U.S. Route 231
Several special routes of U.S. Route 231 exist and have existed in the past. In order from south to north, these special routes of U.S. Route 231 (US 231) are as follows.
Current routes Dothan business route
U.S. Route 231 Business (US ...
References
External links
Kentucky Transportation CabinetUS 231 at KentuckyRoads.com
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Kentucky
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