Kansas trip report, Day 1

Kansas trip Day 1, Frankfort, KY to Mt. Vernon, IL.

Route: I-64 west, I-265/KY 841 west, US 60 west, Audubon Parkway west, US 41
north, I-64 west.

I left from Frankfort after a training class and probably could have gotten
farther had I stayed on I-64 all the way, but I wanted to drive US 60 through
western Kentucky and check out the progression of the Owensboro bypass
construction and the rerouting of US 60 out of downtown and on to the bypass.

US 60 is a quick and easy drive with quite a bit of truck traffic. The route
seemingly has been reconstructed over the years and the passing lanes on some of
the steeper grades help traffic move along. It would be easy to do a sustained
60 mph speed or more on this route if slower traffic was absent. There are only
a handful of traffic signals along the route to hold things up.

The extension of the Owensboro bypass begins just to the northeast of KY 144 and
continues mostly in sight of the existing US 60/231 routing. Grade and bridge
construction is well underway but it will probably be next year before the road
opens.

Last year, the city of Owensboro asked to take over US 60 inside the bypass, so
Kentucky petitioned AASHTO to reroute the main US 60 highway across the bypass
and eliminate the "bypass" designation. This also resulted in the truncation of
US 431 to the bypass interchange south of downtown. Signage at the ends of the
bypass indicate US 60 turns onto it, and there is no longer any mention of
"Bypass" on the US 60 signage. There is some residual US 60 and US 431 signage
inside the bypass, and no indication that US 431 ends at the bypass, but those
changes are reflected on the 2011 official Kentucky map.

While the Ohio River is still running high, the level has dropped considerably.
It's easy to see how high the water got -- well into the median where US 41
splits into its two carriageways for the Ohio River bridge crossing, as well as
lots of mud in the Ellis Park racetrack.

Saw gas for $4.199 in Evansville, which equalled the most expensive gas I saw on
the trip.

Most of the signage along I-64 in Illinois has been replaced with Clearview. It
appears that new paneling and lettering have been overlaid on the existing
extruded panels, rather than completely new signs being installed.

Overnight stay was at Comfort Suites in Mt. Vernon (free Choice Privileges
night) and evening meal at Ryan's Steakhouse.


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