U.S. Route 60 (US 60) is a major U.S. Highway in the American state of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. In the early days of the U.S. Highway System, US 60 was originally to be numbered as US 62. Following extensive lobbying and complaints filed by Kentucky governor William J. Fields to the American Association of State Highway Officials, the route was re-designated as US 60 before the system was finalized. In Kentucky, US 60 parallels the Ohio River (the northern boundary of the state). US 60 enters Kentucky from Cairo, Illinois, traveling northeast to

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

, then takes a direct eastward route (near

Interstate 64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchang ...

, I-64) to rejoin the Ohio River in downtown

Ashland, Kentucky Ashland is a home rule-class city in Boyd County, Kentucky, United States. The largest city in Boyd County, Ashland is located upon a southern bank of the Ohio River at the state border with Ohio and near West Virginia. The population was 21,6 ...

. Both US 60 and US 23 run concurrently from Ashland to Catlettsburg where US 60 turns east and enters

Kenova, West Virginia Kenova is a city in Wayne County, West Virginia, United States, situated at the confluence of the Ohio and Big Sandy Rivers. Located near a tristate border, the city's name is a portmanteau of Kentucky, Ohio, and Virginia (Va). Founded in 1 ...

Route description

US 60 is concurrent with US 51 and US 62 from the Ohio River bridge to the town of Wickliffe. At Wickliffe, US 60 separates from the other routes and heads generally northeast toward the city of

Paducah Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Miss ...

. Between Wickliffe and Paducah, the towns of Barlow, La Center and Kevil are situated along the route. In Paducah, US 60 intersects with I-24, and I-24's business loop enters the city concurrent with US 60. In the midtown area, the route once again meets US 62, and also meets US 45. Once out of the city of Paducah, US 60 again veers to the northeast, generally following the Ohio River until reaching Smithland, where the route again turns to the east, passing through the small town of Burna. From Burna, US 60 passes through Salem. The next city along the route is

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mario ...

. At Marion, US 60 turns once more to the north, where it heads toward Sturgis. From Sturgis, the route continues generally northward to Morganfield. In recent years, a bypass of US 60 around the south and east sides of Morganfield has taken a great deal of traffic congestion out of the city. US 60 passes through Waverly and Corydon before reaching

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * H ...

. At Henderson, the route intersects Kentucky Route 136 (KY 136), KY 425 and US 41A. US 41A is concurrent with US 60 along Green Street in the city of Henderson as it intersects with KY 812 and KY 351. At the US 41 interchange, US 41A ends and US 60 continues alone, bypassing the cities of

Owensboro Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest of Lou ...

, Lewisport, Hawesville, and Hardinsburg. In Fort Knox, US 60 connects with US 31W, and they remain together until downtown

. Originally built as a bypass route around downtown Louisville, US 60 Alt. used several existing roads running through Louisville to get between the east and south sides of town without having to travel through the heavily congested downtown or west ends of town. US 60 Alt. runs northeast to southwest from St. Matthews to Shively; including a stretch on one of Frederick Law Olmsted's last remaining parkways,

Eastern Parkway Eastern Parkway is a major road that runs through a portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, it was the world's first parkway, having been built between 1870 and 1874. At the time o ...

. Before its completion and designation as

I-264 Interstate 264 is the designation for two Interstate Highways in the United States, both of which are related to Interstate 64: *Interstate 264 (Kentucky), a bypass of Louisville, Kentucky *Interstate 264 (Virginia) Interstate 264 (I-264) i ...

in 1984, the Henry Watterson Expressway connecting

Dixie Highway Dixie Highway was a United States auto trail first planned in 1914 to connect the Midwest with the South. It was part of a system and was expanded from an earlier Miami to Montreal highway. The final system is better understood as a network of ...

(US 31W/US 60) and Shelbyville Road (US 60) was signed US 60 Bypass. After passing Shelbyville, it continues through the state capital of Frankfort, becomes four lanes and then heads more south than east toward

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

. In Versailles, US 60's eastbound lanes are very briefly the westbound lanes of US 62, which runs more south than west at that point. After turning east and intersecting the

Bluegrass Parkway The Martha Layne Collins Blue Grass Parkway is a controlled-access highway running from Elizabethtown, Kentucky to Woodford County, Kentucky, for a length of 71.134 miles (114.479 km). It intersects with Interstate 65 at its western ter ...

, US 60 is one of the major routes through Lexington. Shortly after entering Fayette County, the road becomes a 6 lane heavily traveled highway, known as Versailles Road. It passed Bluegrass Airport and Keeneland before intersecting with Lexington's beltway, New Circle Road. It is now a 4 lane road going into downtown Lexington. After downtown, it once again becomes a 6 lane road now known as Winchester Road. It passes several suburbs of Lexington before entering northern Hamburg and then intersects

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...

and from there roughly parallels I-64 and goes to Winchester and passes very near the

Mountain Parkway The Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway, commonly known as the Mountain Parkway, is a freeway in eastern Kentucky. The route runs from Interstate 64 just east of Winchester southeast for 75.627 miles (121.710 km) to a junction with U.S. Route ...

but does not intersect with it. It proceeds to Mount Sterling, Morehead, past

Carter Caves State Resort Park Carter Caves State Resort Park is located in Carter County, Kentucky, United States, along Tygarts Creek. It is formed by Carter Caves, and nearby Cascade Caves, which were added to the park in 1959. On December 16, 1981, of the park were desi ...

, on to Grayson and finally to Ashland. US 23 southbound follows US 60 eastbound into Catlettsburg, where they split at 35th Street. US 23 southbound continues straight as a four-lane highway, while US 60 eastbound turns onto 35th Street, passes Oakland Avenue, and enters

via the Billy C. Clark Bridge.

History

When the first finalized proposal for the U.S. Highway System was presented by the

Bureau of Public Roads The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

in December 1925, the route between

Ozark, Missouri Ozark is a city in and the county seat of Christian County, Missouri. Its population was 21,284 as of the 2020 census. The 2019 population estimate was 20,482. Ozark is also the third largest city in the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Area, ...

and what would become U.S. Route 52 (US 52) in West Virginia near

was originally proposed as US 62. The US 60 designation was proposed along a different highway from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

via

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. On December 8, 1925, a complaint was registered by Kentucky governor William J. Fields over the placement of the US 60 designation, being unhappy no major U.S. Highways ending with the number "0" were planned through his state. Major U.S. Highways ending in "0" were planned to be the main east-west routes of the system. The two closest major east-west routes, US 50 and US 70, were planned to run through states located north and south of Kentucky. Fields therefore proposed the US 60 designation be re-routed through Kentucky. Fields' opposition to the original numbering plan led to an arranged meeting with the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) Executive Committee in Chicago. Attending was Cyrus Avery, an AASHO committee leader representing the state of Oklahoma and a proponent of the Chicago to Los Angeles route. Avery disagreed with Fields' complaint and stated the US 60 designation should remain on the Chicago Los Angeles route. Following the meeting, the Executive Committee decided to retain the US 60 designation for the Chicago to Los Angeles route, taking the side of Avery. The Committee however, did attempt to rectify Kentucky's complaints by extending the eastern terminus of the proposed US 62 from its endpoint in West Virginia near Ashland to Newport News, Virginia. US 62 would also be extended from Ozark to

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

. Fields was not pleased with the US 62 extension and continued to campaign for US 60 to be routed through Kentucky. Fields later returned to AASHO with support from Kentucky's Congressional delegation and presented his argument to AASHO's chairman Thomas H. MacDonald on January 25, 1926. MacDonald agreed with Fields' argument and AASHO subsequently exchanged the number of the Los Angeles to Chicago route with the Newport News to Springfield route. Following the change, Avery opposed removing "US 60" from the Los Angeles to Chicago route, stating the state Oklahoma had already undergone extensive preparation for the "US 60" designation, producing official signage and printing maps in anticipation for the new number. Avery was further upset that the decision to re-designate the Chicago to Los Angeles route had been done without his knowledge or consent. Officials from

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

also heavily protested the change in numbering. AASHO officials rebutted against Avery's complaints citing he had consented to a possible number swap in the earlier Chicago meeting. Nevertheless, AASHO, tried to present a compromise to both Fields and Avery, returning the US 60 designation to the route between Los Angeles and Springfield, but re-designating the Springfield to Chicago route as "US 60N" and the Springfield to Virginia Beach route as "US 60E". Neither side agreed with the compromise and demanded to have their way. Eventually, Avery and his allied proponents agreed to let Kentucky have "US 60" so long as the Chicago to Los Angeles Route became " US 66" instead of "US 62". Fields had no objection to this proposal as it meant his route would now be designated as "US 60". When the finalized U.S. Highway system was approved on November 11, 1926, U.S. Route 60 was officially designated through Kentucky, giving the state a main U.S. Highway ending with the number "0". US 60 was later extended to Los Angeles on June 8, 1931. The route would later be truncated to

Brenda, Arizona Brenda is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in La Paz County, Arizona, United States. It is located approximately east of Quartzsite and northeast of Interstate 10 on U.S. Route 60. Its population was 466 as of the ...

. Until 2010, US 60 passed through the city of Owensboro, while US 60 Bypass ( Wendell H. Ford Expressway) skirted the city to its south. The city of Owensboro and state of Kentucky requested the decommissioning of US 60 within the city, and the

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United ...

approved the request, making the expressway the main line of US 60. As of April 2011, signage has been changed, and US 60 now solely follows the expressway around Owensboro. Especially in the eastern and central part of the state, US 60 has been largely replaced by

I-64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern terminus is at an interchang ...

for long distance travel, since both routes follow each other through much of this area. However, several cities in this area rely on US 60 to connect them to the Interstate. By contrast, in the western part of the state, US 60 is not paired with an Interstate Highway and serves a much more independent purpose, connecting communities located along and near the Ohio River.

Major intersections

References

External links

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

Further reading

External links