Kentucky Route 90
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by KYTC | ||||
| Length: | 134.734 mi[1] (216.833 km) | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end: |
  I-65 / KY 70 in Cave City | |||
 US 31W in Cave City   US 31E / US 68 / KY 80 in Glasgow Cumberland Parkway in Glasgow US 127 in Snow US 27 in Burnside US 27 in Parkers Lake | ||||
| East end: |
 US 25W northwest of Williamsburg | |||
| Location | ||||
| Counties: | Barren, Metcalfe, Cumberland, Clinton, Wayne, Pulaski, McCreary, Whitley | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Kentucky Route 90 originates at a junction with KY 70 near I-65 in Cave City in Barren County. (Signs at the I-65 exit tend to imply that KY 90 ends at the exit itself, while state highway documents indicate that the end is at the intersection with KY 70, about 100 yards (91 m) from the exit proper.)
The route continues through Metcalfe County, Cumberland County, Clinton County, Wayne County, Pulaski County and McCreary County to terminate at a junction with U.S. 25W at Youngs Creek in Whitley County nine miles (14 km) northwest of Williamsburg.
Route description
Kentucky Route 90 begins at Cave City at an intersection with Kentucky Route 70 in the one part of the city where many restaurants, hotels, and gas stations are located. It is a major tourism hot-spot due to the close proximity to Mammoth Cave National Park and a few other attractions along KY 70 west of the city. KY 90 has an intersection with US Route 31W after KY 90's first mile.
KY 90 then heads into a south-southeasterly path to the Barren County seat, Glasgow, where it crosses the Veterans Outer Loop passes the local Walmart and a local Marquee Cinema, and then has junctions with US Highways 31E and 68, which is co-joined with Kentucky Route 80 in this area. It also has an intersection with US 31E's business loop at the Barren County courthouse.
Before leaving the city of Glasgow, KY 90 has an intersection with the Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway at the exit 14 interchange on the southeastern side of the city.
After leaving Glasgow, the highway continues in a southeasterly fashion and passes through the small town of Eighty Eight, and then goes into southern Metcalfe County, and passes through Summer Shade, and then goes into Cumberland County, and passes through Marrowbone and Burkesville.
After going through Burkesville, KY 90 turns due east, crosses the Cumberland River, and has intersections with short roads leading to Dale Hollow Lake State Park, and then goes into Clinton County, where, for about 1.5 miles, it is co-joined with US Route 127, which is the core route of the annual World's Longest Yard Sale (a.k.a. The Highway 127 Corridor Sale) takes place in early August. KY 90 then goes through more rural areas and then into Wayne County where it intersects Kentucky Route 92 at Monticello.
Kentucky Route 90 continues into a northeasterly course towards Mill Springs, the site of a famous Civil War battle site, and a mill built in 1877 (accessible via KY 1275). It enters Pulaski County. The highway's multiplex with US Route 27 begins after KY 90 crosses the Cumberland River for a second time (except the river at that point would still be part of Lake Cumberland) near Burnside, Kentucky.
KY 90 runs concurrently with U.S. 27 for about 14.6 miles (23.5 km) from Burnside to Parkers Lake. This stretch of road is the gateway to General Burnside State Park
After departing US 27 in northern McCreary County, KY 90 is the gateway to Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. At the route's terminus in the Whitley County cummunity of Young's Creek, there is a 0.32 mile-long (0.51 km) spur called KY 90S that serves as a secondary entrance to the highway for northbound traffic on U.S. 25W. The road is signed as KY 90, however.
Points of interest along the route
These are points of interest that can be accessible along this route:
- Mammoth Cave Wildlife Museum at Cave City.
- Roadside Park in Marrowbone, Kentucky once served as a hospital camp for both the Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War.
- Seventy Six Falls (accessible via KY 704), is a waterfall along the shoreline of Lake Cumberland in northern Clinton County.[2]
- Mill Springs Mill (Wayne County) (accessible via KY 1275).[3]
- General Burnside State Park near Burnside.
- Cumberland Falls State Resort Park at the McCreary/Whitley County line. Cumberland Falls is the only large waterfall south of the Niagara frontier that is famous for the "moonbow" in the light of the full moon under the right conditions.
Other points of interest
- Crystal Onyx Cave & Campground, located in Pruitt's Knob just south of Cave City, had two entrances via KY 90 and US Route 31W. The cave was closed down in 2010 following the excessive rainfall the area had that caused flash flooding in Kentucky and Tennessee in May of that year.
Roller Coaster Fair
Kentucky Route 90 from Cave City to just north of Albany, along with Kentucky Route 63 from Glasgow to Tompkinsville, Kentucky, along with US Route 127 in Clinton County, and Tennessee state highways 52, 111, and 51 are designated as the marked route for the annual Roller Coaster Fair, a long route-based yard sale event held the first weekend of October.[4][5]
Road history
The early days (1929-1960)
KY 90 was established in 1929 as one of the charter routes of the Kentucky State Highway System. The highway's original western terminus was located in downtown Glasgow at a junction with KY 80 (which at the time was not co-signed with US 68 in this area until the 1940s). Along the route, it connected to certain areas via two ferries, one at Burkesville, and the other at the Whitley/McCreary County line near Cumberland Falls. KY 90's eastern terminus was at a junction with US 25W, but at the time it was in downtown Corbin at the Whitley/Laurel County line.[6] Sometime between 1940 and 1955, US 25W was rerouted to its current route, and KY 90's eastern end was relocated to an area between Corbin and Cumberland Falls.[7] A bridge near the falls was built sometime during that time frame so KY 90 traffic would not be bombarded with rapids that affected ferry service.
Also during the 1950s, KY 90 was extended northwestward from its previous terminus in downtown Glasgow, to a junction with U.S. Route 31W, which at the time was south of Cave City.[7][8] The road that KY 90 took over, Happy Valley Road, was previously signed as Kentucky Route 351.[6][9]
The modern days (1960-present)
At sometime between 1969 and 1973, KY 90 from the KY 685 junction to US 31W was rerouted to make KY 90 go directly into Cave City. KY 90's western terminus was also relocated to its current west end at a then-new junction with KY 70 near the I-65 exit 53 interchange, thus extending KY 90 by another 0.8 miles (1.3 km), and providing westbound KY 90 traffic direct access to I-65.[10]
In 2013, KY 90 between the Cumberland Parkway junction and the Eighty Eight community was reconstructed to add truck-climbing lanes in two spots. Reconstruction of KY 90 continued from that area to the Metcalfe County line, and was completed by Fall 2015.[11] In September and October 2014, the first 0.4 miles (0.64 km) of KY 90, along with the KY 70 overpass over I-65 (the latter of which began in 2013), were both reconstructed and were widened to four lanes, plus a center lane for left turns.[12]
Major intersections
| County | Location | mi[1] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barren | Cave City | 0.000 | 0.000 | KY 70 (Mammoth Cave Road/Mammoth Cave Street) to I-65 – Nashville, Louisville | I-65 just west of intersection |
| 0.819 | 1.318 |  US 31W to KY 70 | |||
| 3.186 | 5.127 |   KY 685 to KY 2143 | |||
| Glasgow | 8.587 | 13.819 | US 68 / KY 80 (Veterans Outer Loop) | ||
| 9.923 | 15.970 | US 31E north (North L. Rogers Wells Boulevard) | West end of US 31E concurrency | ||
| 10.524 | 16.937 |   US 31E south (South L Rogers Wells Boulevard) / US 68 Bus. west (West Main Street) | East end of US 31E concurrency; west end of US 68 Bus. concurrency | ||
| 11.360 | 18.282 |  US 31E Bus. north (North Race Street) | West end of US 31E Bus. concurrency | ||
| 11.470 | 18.459 |  US 31E Bus. south (South Green Street) to KY 63 | End of two-block concurrency with one-way 31E Bus. south around courthouse; begin concurrency with 31E Bus. north | ||
| 11.525 | 18.548 |  US 31E Bus. north / US 68 Bus. / KY 90 west (East Main Street) | End of concurrency with US31E; North 31E Bus./west 68 Bus./west 90 intersect here and continue west | ||
| 11.598 | 18.665 | US 68 Bus. east (North Broadway Street) | End of concurrency with US 68 Bus. | ||
| 12.154– 12.285 | 19.560– 19.771 |  Cumberland Parkway / US 68 Truck / KY 90 Truck west – Bowling Green, Somerset | Interchange; Truck route follows westbound parkway; exit 14 | ||
| 14.795 | 23.810 |  KY 2198 east (Green Valley Road) | Western terminus of KY 2198 | ||
| 18.120 | 29.161 |  KY 1330 east (Kino Road) | Western terminus of KY 1330 | ||
| 19.058 | 30.671 |  KY 839 south (Nobob Road) | Northern terminus of KY 839 | ||
| Metcalfe | Summer Shade | 25.358 | 40.810 |  KY 640 north (Randolph-Summer Shade Road) | Southern terminus of KY 640 |
| 27.346 | 44.009 |  KY 2387 north (Mount Moriah Road) | Southern terminus of KY 2387 | ||
| 27.815 | 44.764 |  KY 163 (Tompkinsville Road) | |||
| Cumberland | 36.734 | 59.118 |  KY 1312 north | Southern terminus of KY 1312 | |
| Marrowbone | 39.132 | 62.977 |  KY 3115 south | Northern terminus of KY 3115 | |
| 40.054 | 64.461 |  KY 496 north (Old Waterview Road) | Southern terminus of KY 496 | ||
| Waterview | 42.483 | 68.370 |  KY 100 west (Old Waterview Road) | Eastern terminus of KY 100 | |
| 46.212 | 74.371 |  KY 691 west | Eastern terminus of KY 691 | ||
| 46.979 | 75.605 |  KY 2276 east | Western terminus of KY 2276 | ||
| Burkesville | 48.569 | 78.164 |  KY 61 north (North Main Street) – Columbia | Begin concurrency with KY 61 | |
| 48.828 | 78.581 | KY 61 north (South Main Street) | Southern end of traffic circle around the courthouse | ||
| 49.401 | 79.503 | KY 61 south (Celina Road) – Dale Hollow Lake State Resort Park, Sulphur Ck Resort, Hendricks Creek Boat Dock | End of concurrency with KY 61 | ||
| 50.203 | 80.794 |  KY 1880 east | Western terminus of KY 1880 | ||
| Clinton | 59.945 | 96.472 |  KY 1590 – Jamestown | ||
| 62.236 | 100.159 |  KY 639 | |||
| 62.995 | 101.381 |  US 127 north / KY 3156 east – Jamestown, Wolf Creek Dam | West end of concurrency with US 127; western terminus of KY 3156 | ||
| 63.582 | 102.325 |  US 127 south / KY 724 north – Albany, Clinton County Area Tech Center | East end of concurrency with US 127; southern terminus of KY 724 | ||
| 64.392 | 103.629 |  KY 3062 west | Eastern terminus of KY 3062 | ||
| 64.663 | 104.065 |  KY 558 | |||
| 65.840 | 105.959 |  KY 2063 west | Eastern terminus of KY 2063 | ||
| 66.736 | 107.401 |  KY 350 south | Northern terminus of KY 350 | ||
| 68.552 | 110.324 |  KY 829 north | Southern terminus of KY 829 | ||
| 69.328 | 111.573 |  KY 2546 north | Southern terminus of KY 2546 | ||
| Wayne | 71.822 | 115.586 |  KY 1009 | ||
| Susie | 74.281 | 119.544 |  KY 834 south | Western end of KY 834 overlap | |
| 74.455 | 119.824 | KY 834 north | Eastern end of KY 834 overlap | ||
| 76.127 | 122.515 |  KY 858 east | Western terminus of KY 858 | ||
| 77.249 | 124.320 |  KY 1546 west | Eastern terminus of KY 1546 | ||
| Monticello | 80.742 | 129.942 |  KY 90 Bus. east (Albany Road) / KY 3284 north (White Way Inn Road) – Monticello | Western terminus of KY 90 Business route; southern terminus of KY 3284 | |
| 82.175 | 132.248 |  KY 92 (Columbia Avenue) – Monticello | |||
| 83.862 | 134.963 |   KY 90 Bus. west / KY 1275 | Eastern terminus of KY 90 Bus.; 90 Bus. to the south, 1275 both ways; Wayne County Airport just northwest of intersection off 1275 | ||
| Steubenville | 86.758 | 139.623 |  KY 3106 | ||
| Touristville | 90.408 | 145.498 |  KY 1275 south / KY 1619 east | Northern terminus of KY 1275; western terminus of KY 1619 | |
| 90.768 | 146.077 |  KY 3282 north | Southern terminus of KY 3282 | ||
| 93.291 | 150.137 | KY 1619 west | Eastern terminus of KY 1619 | ||
| Frazer | 94.218 | 151.629 |  KY 1568 south | Northern terminus of KY 1568 | |
| Pulaski | Bronston | 99.228 | 159.692 |  KY 790 south | Northern terminus of KY 790 |
| Bronston/Somerset | 99.437– 99.761 | 160.028– 160.550 | Bridge over the Cumberland River | ||
| Somerset | 100.492 | 161.726 |   US 27 north to Cumberland Parkway north / KY 1247 to I-75 – Somerset, Whitley City | US 27 is an interchange; KY 90 follows 27 south; 1247 straight ahead | |
| Somerset/Burnside | 100.586– 100.852 | 161.877– 162.306 | Bridge over the Cumberland River | ||
| Burnside | 101.420 | 163.220 |   KY 2295 Conn. to KY 2295 – General Burnside State Park | ||
| 101.809 | 163.846 |  KY 2294 (French Street) | |||
| 102.169 | 164.425 | KY 2295 south (East Antioch Avenue) | Northern terminus of KY 2295 | ||
| 102.438 | 164.858 | KY 2295 north (West Lakeshore Drive) | Southern terminus of KY 2295 | ||
| 104.297 | 167.850 |  KY 804 south (Garland Road) | Northern terminus of KY 804 | ||
| 105.080 | 169.110 |  KY 751 south (Keno Road) | Northern terminus of KY 751 | ||
| McCreary | Greenwood | 112.402 | 180.893 |  KY 2282 north | Southern terminus of KY 2282 |
| Parkers Lake | 115.090 | 185.219 | US 27 south | Eastern/southern end of US 27 concurrency | |
| 116.936 | 188.190 |  KY 3254 east (Vanover Ridge Road) | Western terminus of KY 3254 | ||
| 119.464 | 192.259 |  KY 3255 south (North Beerock Road) | Northern terminus of KY 3255 | ||
| 120.000 | 193.121 |  KY 3257 east (Mill Creek Road) | Western terminus of KY 3257 | ||
| 122.092 | 196.488 |  KY 896 north (Warman-Bryant Cemetery Road) | Southern terminus of KY 896 | ||
| 124.681 | 200.655 |   KY 700 west to KY 1045 | Eastern terminus of KY 700 | ||
| Whitley | 134.964 | 217.204 |  KY 90 Spur east to US 25W south / I-75 south | Short spur. 90E signed to north US 25W/I-75, spur signed to south US 25W/I-75 | |
| 135.338 | 217.805 | US 25W to I-75 | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Bannered routes of Kentucky Route 90
Kentucky Route 90 Business (Monticello)
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| Location: | Monticello, Wayne County |
| Length: | 3.535 mi[1] (5.689 km) |
Kentucky Route 90 Business is a business route of KY 90 in Monticello, Kentucky. It was the original route of KY 90 until the regular KY 90 was re-routed to the Monticello By-Pass.[13][14][15]
KY 90 Alternate (Glasgow) (former)
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| Location: | Glasgow, Barren County |
| Length: | 0.15 mi[16] (0.24 km) |
| Existed: | 1970s–2000s |
In Glasgow, at one time, Alternate KY 90 ran from the US 31E bypass junction with KY 90, continuing as Happy Valley Road, to the intersection with Business Route 31E (North Race Street), and follows the US 31E business route until it reaches the Barren County Courthouse, where KY 90 runs (while being co-signed with US 68 and KY 80, a.k.a. West Main Street). Sometime in the 2000s, that designation was decommissioned. The regular KY 90 became co-signed with US 31E (L. Roger Wells Blvd) from that intersection to the junction with US 68/KY 80, and KY 90 followed US 68 and KY 80 to the Public Square.[17][18][19]
References
- 1 2 3 "Kentucky Transportation Cabinet - Division of Planning - Highway Information System Official Milepoint Route Log Extract". Retrieved 2016-02-22.
- ↑ Seventy Six Falls, KY
- ↑ Mill Springs Mill - Monticello, Kentucky
- ↑ http://rollercoasterfair.com/about.htm
- ↑ VENDOR LOCATIONS 29 FACILITIES
- 1 2 Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (1939) (PDF) Official Kentucky State Highway Map. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- 1 2 Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (1957) (PDF) Official Kentucky State Highway Map. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ↑ Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (1955) (PDF). BarrenCounty Highway Map (Map). Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ↑ Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (1937) (PDF). Barren County Highway Map (Map). Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ↑ Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (1973) (PDF) Official Kentucky State Highway Map. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
- ↑ Overstreet, Melinda J (August 13, 2015). "Road work on KY 90E advances". Glasgow Daily Times.
- ↑ Kinslow, Gina (September 16, 2014). "Expect lane closures this week on Happy Valley Road."
- ↑ 2013 Various Kentucky Pics April-June - an album on Flickr
- ↑ 2013 Various Kentucky Pics April-June - 032 | Flickr - photo sharing!
- ↑ https://www.flickr.com/photos/hbelkins/9267258007/in/set-72157634603143159
- ↑ Official Barren County Highway Map.
- ↑ https://www.flickr.com/photos/hbelkins/8220879419/in/set-72157632109261886
- ↑ https://www.flickr.com/photos/hbelkins/8221957468/in/set-72157632109261886
- ↑ Old Road Signs in Kentucky
External links
- State Primary Road System in Barren County PDF (33.2 KB)
- State Primary Road System in Metcalfe County PDF (18.5 KB)
- State Primary Road System in Cumberland County PDF (13.6 KB)
- State Primary Road System in Clinton County PDF (20.3 KB)
- State Primary Road System in Wayne County PDF (20.8 KB)
- State Primary Road System in Pulaski County PDF (35.9 KB)
- State Primary Road System in McCreary County PDF (18.9 KB)
- State Primary Road System in Whitley County PDF (62.2 KB)
- KY 90 at Kentucky Roads