Kentucky Route 181

Kentucky Route 181 marker
Kentucky Route 181
Map
KY 181 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by KYTC
Length42.840 mi[1] (68.944 km)
Existed1929[2][3]–present
Major junctions
North end KY 81 at Bremen
Major intersections
South end US 79 / KY 294 / KY 2128 at Tiny Town
Location
CountryUnited States
StateKentucky
CountiesTodd, Muhlenberg
Highway system
  • Kentucky State Highway System
← KY 180→ KY 182

Kentucky Route 181 (KY 181) is a north–south state highway that traverses two counties in western Kentucky.

Route description

Todd County

KY 181 starts at a crossroads junction with U.S. Route 79 and Kentucky Route 2128 located near the Tennessee state line in the town of Guthrie, in southern Todd County. This is about 0.28 miles (0.45 km) north of the state line separating Todd County from Montgomery County, Tennessee. KY 181 has junctions with KY 294 and then a crossroad intersection with US 41. KY 181 goes north to intersect with KY 848, and then KY 104 before making it into the Todd County seat of Elkton. It intersects US 68 Business at the Todd County Courthouse in downtown Elkton. Further north, it crosses the divided four-lane Jefferson Davis Highway, the mainline US 68, which runs concurrently with KY 80 just north of the city limits. Kentucky Route 106's western terminus is a junction with KY 181 almost immediately after the US 68 junction. Junctions with KY 171 and KY 507 follows after KY 181 leaves the Elkton area.[4]

At Clifty, KY 107 runs concurrent with KY 181 for 2.01 miles (3.23 km) through that community, with a junction with KY 890 located within that concurrency. At Tyewhopperty, it intersects KY 1785 shortly before entering Muhlenberg County.[5][6]

Muhlenberg County

After making its entrance into Muhlenberg County, KY 181 has a junction with Kentucky Route 973, which provides access to the Lake Malone State Park. Another junction with KY 890 follows, and then KY 1163 (Old Russellville Pike) before reaching the city of Greenville. In downtown Greenville, it meets U.S. Route 62 (US 62) and KY 176 at the town square. After the brief concurrency with US 62, KY 181 crosses the four-lane KY 189 by-pass before meeting the Exit 53 interchange of the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway. It then intersects KY 70 at Midland before reaching its northern terminus at the KY 81 junction in the community of Bremen just short of the McLean County line.[5][6]

History

As a charter route in Kentucky's state highway system when it was introduced in 1929, KY 181's original alignment through Todd and Muhlenberg Counties ran the present-day alignments of the following highways:

  • KY 104 from the Tennessee state line north of Clarksville to its junction of KY 1755,
  • The entire alignment of KY 1755,
  • KY 181's present-day alignment to near Clifty,
  • KY 107 west to Kirkmansville,
  • some now-county-maintained roads between Kirkmansville and Weir, including the McKinney Bend of the Pond River, and
  • most of KY 171's present-day alignment from Weir to Greenville, .[7][8][9]

KY 181 was reallocated to its current alignment by the mid-1940s.[10][11] The extension of KY 181 from Greenville to Bremen was authorized no later than 1950.[11]

Major intersections

CountyLocationmi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
ToddGuthrie0.0000.000

 US 79 / KY 2128 south to I-24 – Clarksville		Southern terminus of KY 181; northern terminus of KY 2128; road continues southward as KY 2128
0.1000.161
 KY 294 west (Tiny Town Road)		Eastern terminus of KY 294
0.2140.344

 US 41 to US 79 north
​4.046.50 KY 848 (Penchem Road)
​8.01812.904
 KY 1753 south (Elkton-Trenton Road)		Northern terminus of KY 1753
​10.40316.742
 KY 104 south (Old Trenton Road)		Northern terminus of KY 104
Elkton12.021–
12.098		19.346–
19.470
 US 68 Bus. (West Main Street)		Roundabout around the Todd County Courthouse
13.11921.113 US 68 / KY 80 (Jefferson Davis Highway) – Hopkinsville, Russellville
​13.64821.964
 KY 106 east (Blue and Gray Park Road)		Western (southern) terminus of KY 106
​16.25226.155 KY 171 (Allegre Road)
​19.38831.202 KY 507 (Highland Lick Road)
Clifty25.11840.424
 KY 107 south (Clifty-Kirkmansville Road)		Southern end of KY 107 overlap
25.87241.637
 KY 890 north (Rabbit Ridge Road)		Southern terminus of KY 890
​27.12843.658
 KY 107 north (Todd-Deer Lick Road) – Lewisburg		Northern end of KY 107 overlap
​29.86748.066
 KY 1785 east (Jason Ridge Road)		Western terminus of KY 1785
Muhlenberg​32.44452.214
 KY 973 east – Lake Malone State Park		Western terminus of KY 973
34.08554.854
 KY 890 south		Northern terminus of KY 890
40.19264.683
 KY 1163 south (Old Russellville Pike)		Northern terminus of KY 1163
Greenville41.9767.54
 US 62 west (Hopkinsville Street)		Southern end of US 62 overlap
42.11367.774
 KY 176 east (East Main Cross Street)		Western end of KY 176
42.92769.084
 US 62 east (North Main Street) – Central City		Northern end of US 62 overlap
43.52570.047 KY 189 – Hopkinsville, Central City
43.81370.510
 KY 601 north		Southern end of KY 601
​45.46773.172
 KY 2533 south		Northern end of KY 2533
​46.2874.48

 Western Kentucky Parkway to I-69 / I-169 – Paducah, Elizabethtown		Western KY Parkway Exit 58
Midland50.00180.469 KY 70 – Madisonville, Central City
​50.43381.164
 KY 2544 east		Western end of KY 2544
​54.02086.937
 KY 2551 west		Eastern terminus of KY 2551
​54.94988.432 KY 175
Bremen56.34290.674 KY 81 – Calhoun, Central CityNorthern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

  1. ^ a b Division of Planning (June 13, 2007). "Official Milepoint Route Log Extract". Highway Information System. Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Archived from the original on April 30, 2007.
  2. ^ Kentucky Department of State Highways (September 15, 1939). Road Map of Kentucky (PDF) (Map). c. 1:760,320. Frankfort: Kentucky Department of State Highways. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  3. ^ Kentucky Department of Highways (1937). Todd County Highway Map (PDF) (Map) (1937 ed.). Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Highways. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  4. ^ DeLorme (2010). Kentucky Atlas and Gazetteer. (Map) (4th ed.). p. 79.
  5. ^ a b DeLorme (2010). Kentucky Atlas and Gazetteer. (Map) (4th ed.). p. 62
  6. ^ a b Rand McNally. The 2014 Road Atlas (Map), p. 42.
  7. ^ Kentucky Department of Highways (1937). Todd County Highway Map (PDF) (Map). 1:125000. Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Highways. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
  8. ^ State Farm Insurance Companies Travel Bureau (1935). "Road map of Kentucky and Tennessee" (Map). State Farm Road Atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Central America. 1:1400000. Chicago: Rand McNally & Company.
  9. ^ Kentucky Department of State Highways (September 15, 1939). Road Map of Kentucky (PDF) (Map). c. 1:760,320. Frankfort: Kentucky Department of State Highways.
  10. ^ Kentucky Department of Highways (1958). Todd County Highway Map (PDF) (Map). 1:62500. Frankfort: Kentucky Department of Highways. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
  11. ^ a b Kentucky Department of Highways (1954). Muhlenberg County Highway Map (PDF) (Map). 1:125000. Frankfort: Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
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