 Interstate 169 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 I-169 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Auxiliary route ofI-69 | ||||
| Maintained byKYTC | ||||
| Length | 34.271 mi[1] (55.154 km) | |||
| Existed | December 2024[2]–present | |||
| History | Opened in 1976 as thePennyrile Parkway Redesignated as I-169 in December 2024[2] | |||
| NHS | Entire route | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  I-24 nearHopkinsville | |||
| Major intersections | ||||
| North end |    I-69 /Future I-569 /Western Kentucky Parkway nearNortonville | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Kentucky | |||
| Counties | Christian,Hopkins | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Interstate 169 (I-169) is a 34.271-mile-long (55.154 km)auxiliary Interstate Highway that travels along the former southern section of thePennyrile Parkway inKentucky.U.S. PresidentDonald Trump signed the I-169 designation into law on May 7, 2017,[3][4] and the highway was officially re-signed and redesignated as I-169 in December 2024, following its upgrade toInterstate Highway standards.[2] It travels north from atrumpet interchange withI-24 south ofHopkinsville to acloverleaf interchange with its parent,I-69, and theWestern Kentucky Parkway nearNortonville.
The route begins at atrumpet interchange withI-24 nearHopkinsville. It runs northward into the city of Hopkinsville. After passing through, I-169 runs through farmland and theWestern Coal Field, running roughly parallel toU.S. Route 41 (US 41) and bypassing numerous small towns before ending at a converted cloverleaf interchange withI-69 and theWestern Kentucky Parkway and merging with I-69 through traffic.[5]
The freeway was originally known solely as, and part of, thePennyrile Parkway, one of the original nine parkways in the Kentucky parkway system, from its 1969 opening until May 7, 2017, whenCongress officially designated the section from theI-24 junction in southernChristian County to the I-69/Western Kentucky Parkway junction near Nortonville.[4] In addition to I-169's current alignment, the Pennyrile Parkway also traveled further northward to its original terminus inHenderson until most of that stretch of the parkway was signed as I-69 in November 2015. US 41 followed the remaining routing of the Pennyrile Parkway from the Henderson Bypass exit to the US 41/US 60 junction in Henderson.
The first seven miles (11 km) was not built and completed until March 2011. The Pennyrile Parkway's original southern terminus was at the exit 7 interchange in Hopkinsville. Construction of that section was built in phases from 2009 to 2011.[6]
TheKentucky Transportation Cabinet awarded a $13.9-million project to Scotty's Contracting to upgrade the highway toInterstate standards. These improvements include raising the vertical bridge clearance heights at three overpasses, reconstruction of bridge railings over Drakes Creek, interchange improvements at exits 30, 33, and 34, and the development of a future project to improve exit 11. The project was completed in December 2024, with I-169 signage being installed and the roadway being officially redesignated.[2]
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian | | 0.000 | 0.000 | 1 | I-24 –Nashville,Paducah | I-24 exit 81; southern terminus; signed as exits 1A (west) and 1B (east) southbound;trumpet interchange |
| Hopkinsville | 5.175 | 8.328 | 5 | Lover's Lane –Hopkinsville | ServesJames E. Bruce Convention Center, northbound exit 5A | |
| 6.000 | 9.656 | 6 |   US 68 Byp. (Eagle Way) –Hopkinsville | Northbound exit 5B | ||
| 7.000 | 11.265 | 7 |   US 41 Alt. –Hopkinsville,Fort Campbell | |||
| 7.935 | 12.770 | 8 |  US 41 /KY 109 –Hopkinsville,Pembroke | Southern end of US 41 Truck concurrency | ||
| 9.359 | 15.062 | 9 |  US 68 /KY 80 –Hopkinsville,Elkton | ServesJefferson Davis Monument State Historic Site and theHopkinsville-Christian County Airport | ||
| 11.697 | 18.824 | 11 |    KY 1682 /US 41 Truck north –Hopkinsville | Northern end of US 41 Truck concurrency; servesHopkinsville Community College and provides access toKY 107 | ||
| Crofton | 22.653 | 36.456 | 23 |  KY 800 –Crofton | ServesPennyrile Forest State Resort Park | |
| Hopkins | Nortonville | 29.568 | 47.585 | 30 |  US 41 south | Southbound exit and northbound entrance |
| 32.861 | 52.885 | 33 |  US 62 –Nortonville,Greenville | |||
| 34.271 | 55.154 | 34 |  I-69 /Western Kentucky Parkway east –Elizabethtown,Fulton,Henderson | I-69 exit 106; northern terminus; signed as exit 34A (east), 34B (south) and 34C (north) | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Media related toInterstate 169 (Kentucky) at Wikimedia Commons
