U.S. Route 79 in Kentucky

U.S. Route 79 (US 79) enters Kentucky from Tennessee in Todd County west of Guthrie and runs northeast into Logan County, terminating at a junction with US 68, US 68 Business, and Kentucky Route 80 (KY 80) in Russellville. US 79 remains a two-lane road throughout Kentucky.

This article is about the section of U.S. Route 79 in Kentucky. For the entire route, see U.S. Route 79.

U.S. Route 79
US 79 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by KYTC
Length	26.80 mi[1][2] (43.13 km)
Major junctions
South end	US 79 / SR 13 at Tennessee state line
	US 41 near Guthrie US 431 in Russellville
North end	US 68 / US 68 Bus. / KY 80 in Russellville
Location
Counties	Todd, Logan
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Special Divided Highways in Kentucky Interstate US State Parkways ← KY 78 KY 79 →

Route description

US 79 in Kentucky begins at the Tennessee state line west of Guthrie and travels northeast, forming a junction with US 41 0.497 miles (0.800 km) from the state line. The route continues to the northeast, passing north of Guthrie and Allensville in rural areas of Todd County. 10.606 miles (17.069 km) from the Kentucky-Tennessee border, US 79 crosses into Logan County where it becomes known as Clarksville Road. The route continues northeast through rural areas of Logan County until it comes to an intersection with US 431, the Russellville Bypass, on the south side of Russellville 10.713 miles (17.241 km) from the Todd County line. US 79 and US 431 run concurrently along the Bypass south of town where it intersects KY 96 and the concurrency ending at Nashville Road (US 431 continues south while KY 2146 begins and heads north). US 79 and the Bypass begin to curve back north where it intersects KY 100 at its western terminus (KY 100 formerly continued along the Bypass to US 79's current terminus). US 79 ends at an intersection with Bowling Green Road which carries US 68 and KY 80 to the east and US 68 Bus. to the west towards downtown Russellville.[3][4]

History

Former terminus of US 79 at Russellville (201?-2017).

The current route in Kentucky was paved by 1939 but was not signed as US 79. The highway was originally designated as Kentucky Route 105. KY 105 originally ran the current designations of US Route 79 and Kentucky Route 79, from the state line to Russellville to the Rough River Lake State Resort Park area, and ending with KY 105's current alignment.[5] By 1958, the current route was signed as US 79, although, it extended a bit further northeast into Russellville.[6] Its long-time northern terminus at US 431 was created by 1999 with the construction of the Russellville Bypass.[7]

In November 2017, US 79's northern terminus returned to the east side of Russellville when it was routed onto the southern section of the Russellville Bypass loop when it was completed.[8]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[2]	km	Destinations	Notes
Todd	​	0.00	0.00	US 79 south (SR 13) to I-24 – Clarksville	Tennessee state line
	Guthrie	0.28	0.45	KY 181 north / KY 2128 east to KY 294 / US 41 north – Elkton, Trenton, Hopkinsville
		0.50	0.80	US 41 to KY 181 north – Trenton, Hopkinsville, Downtown Guthrie, Robert Penn Warren Birthplace Museum
		1.86	2.99	KY 346 (North Ewing Street)
	​	3.97	6.39	KY 848
	​	8.79	14.15	KY 102 – Elkton, Allensville
Logan	​	12.57	20.23	KY 775
	Old Volney	14.08	22.66	KY 1309 (Old Volney Road)
	​	15.79	25.41	KY 1151	South end of KY 1151 overlap
	​	15.83	25.48	KY 1151 (Union Church Road)	North end of KY 1151 overlap
	Cave Springs	17.96	28.90	KY 1041 (Watermelon Road)
	Russellville	21.32	34.31	US 431 north (Russellville Bypass) / KY 3240 east (West 9th Street) – Adairville, Lewisburg, Lake Malone State Park	Western terminus of KY 3240 (former US 79); western end of US 431 concurrency
	​	23.29	37.48	KY 96 (Orndoff Mill Road)
	​	23.94	38.53	US 431 south / KY 2146 north (Nashville Road)	eastern end of US 431 concurrency; southern terminus of KY-2146
	​	26.13	42.05	KY 100 east – Franklin, Airport	Western terminus of KY 100 since 2017
	Russellville	26.80	43.13	US 68 / KY 80 (Russellville Bypass) / US 68 Bus. west (Bowling Green Road) to KY 79 – Bowling Green, Russellville Business District	Northern terminus of US 79; Russellville Bypass continues straight ahead
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

References

1. "Kentucky Transportation Cabinet - Division of Planning". Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC). Retrieved July 22, 2014.
2. "Active Highway Plan". KYTC. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
3. Google (November 19, 2017). "US 79 (from Tennessee to US 431)" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
4. Google (November 19, 2017). "US 79 (from US 431 to US 68)" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved November 19, 2017.
5. Kentucky (PDF) (Map) (1939 ed.). 1 inch:12 miles. Cartography by State-wide Highway Planning Survey. Kentucky State Highway Department. 1939. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
6. Logan County (PDF) (Map) (1958 ed.). 1 inch:125000 feet. Cartography by State-wide Highway Planning Survey. Kentucky State Highway Department. 1958. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
7. Kentucky (PDF) (Map) (1999 ed.). 1 inch:12 miles. Cartography by State-wide Highway Planning Survey. Kentucky State Highway Department. 1999. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
8. French, Jackson (November 8, 2017. “Section of Russellville bypass opens, completes loop around city”. Bowling Green Daily News. Retrieved November 18, 2017.

External links

Template:Attached KML/U.S. Route 79 in Kentucky

KML is not from Wikidata

U.S. Route 79
Previous state: Tennessee	Kentucky	Next state: Terminus