Kentucky Route 259

Kentucky Route 259 (KY 259) is a 95.91-mile-long (154.35 km) state highway that traverses five counties in west-central Kentucky.

Kentucky Route 259
KY 259 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by KYTC
Length	95.910 mi (154.352 km)
Existed	1930s–present
Major junctions
North end	KY 144 near Rhodelia
Major intersections	US 60 in Harned KY 79 from Harned to near McDaniels US 62 in Leitchfield Western Kentucky Parkway at Leitchfield KY 70 at Brownsville KY 101 at Rhoda US 31W north of Rocky Hill
South end	US 68 / KY 80 at Hays
Location
Country	United States
State	Kentucky
Counties	Meade, Breckinridge, Grayson, Edmonson, Warren
Highway system
Kentucky State Highway System Interstate US State Parkways
← KY 258 → KY 260

Route description

Warren and Edmonson Counties

KY 259's southern terminus is located at the intersection with the concurrently running U.S. Route 68 (US 68) and KY 80 in Hays, in far eastern Warren County. The first few miles of the highway is a one-lane road throughout its run in Warren County. It crosses Interstate 65 (I-65) via an overpass shortly before crossing the Edmonson County line, where the road widens to two lanes. Shortly after the entry into Edmonson County, it reaches the community of Rocky Hill, where it intersects KY 1339 (Apple Grove Road). It then crosses US 31W just north of Rocky Hill, and then turns northwest to intersect KY 422 and KY 2325 (Silent Grove Church Road) in the Pig community. When it meets KY 101 in Rhoda, KY 259 turns right and continues northward to Brownsville, where it runs concurrently with Kentucky Route 70 throughout much of its course through the city, over the Green River to a point near the Riverhill Shopping Center.

Bridge carrying KY 259 and KY 70 in Brownsville

After leaving Brownsville, KY 259 then traverses the communities of Lindseyville, Sweeden (where it intersects KY 728), and Bee Spring (where it intersects KY 238). KY 259 skirts the Nolin Lake area after passing through the community of Broadway.

Three different sections of KY 259 in Edmonson and Warren counties are marked as portion of the Duncan Hines Scenic Byway, a part of the state's scenic byway system.

Grayson County

KY 259 enters Grayson County just northwest of the Moutardier Marina (accessible from KY 259's junction with KY 2067) and continues on through Anneta and Meredith. It intersects a very short KY 226, and then enters the city of Leitchfield. It widens to four lanes just before it intersects the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway at its exit 107 interchange and meets US 62 in downtown Leitchfield. It also meets the eastern terminus of KY 54 (Owensboro Road) at the public square. The segment between the Western Kentucky Parkway and the US 62 junction south of the square is KY 259's only four-lane segment. After the second intersection of KY 3155 (William Thomason Byway) (the first one was after the Western Kentucky Parkway interchange), KY 259 continues northward to cross a portion of Rough River Lake.

Breckinridge and Meade Counties

After crossing Rough River Lake into Breckinridge County, it has a junction with Kentucky Route 79. KY 259 and KY 79 run concurrently while bridging an embayment of Rough River Lake. They reach the US 60 junction at Harned. KY 259 turns left to run concurrently with US 60 westbound, while KY 79 makes a right turn to join US 60 eastbound. After splitting from US 60 at its junction with KY 261, KY 259 turns north and enters the city of Hardinsburg and then continues north through Union Star, then closely follows the southern banks of the Ohio River, and enters the western portion of Meade County shortly before reaching its northern terminus at KY 144 at Rhodelia.

History

Kentucky Route 65
Location	Hays–Harned, Kentucky
Length	67 mi (108 km)
Existed	1929–1961?

In the beginning, KY 259 only ran from Hardinsburg to Rhodelia, in Breckinridge and western Meade Counties. The highway from Hays to Harned began its history as Kentucky Route 65 at the time of its commission. KY 65 originally had a total length of an estimated 65.1 miles (104.8 km).

The then-KY 65 (during its concurrency with KY 70) in Edmonson County crossed the Green River by ferry until it was re-routed onto a bridge in the 1950s.

At one point around 1960 or 1961, KY 65 was redesignated as the current KY 259, extending that route to its current longevity. This was done in order to avoid confusion between it and the then-planned-and-under-construction Interstate 65 (I-65) in the Edmonson/Warren/Barren County area, and its entire course through west-central Kentucky, which was completed in 1967. To date, there has never been another KY 65 designation. The renumbering to the current KY 259 was done to comply with the state's longtime state route numbering policy, which had forbidden duplication of highway numbers in the state. The former KY 64 in this region was also compliant with that policy after Interstate 64 came under construction in north-central and northeast Kentucky. As of February 2024, the only exceptions to the rule against highway number duplications are US 79 and KY 79, which intersected in Russellville until a bypass was partly signed as US 79; I-69 and KY 69 in separate regions of western Kentucky, I-169 and KY 169, and most recently, I-165 and KY 165; the latter two of which are in completely different regions of the state.

In early 2001, the KYTC began construction of a two-lane bypass corridor from Brownsville's southern outskirts to just north of Chalybeate, including the rerouting of KY 259 from Rhoda to Brownsville, along with the final stretch of KY 101 in the Rhoda area. Once it was completed in November 2001, the two routes were reconstructed to include intersections with the new alignment. Once those were done in 2002, the KYTC assigned the old alignments then-new state route designations of KY 3019 and KY 3021.

Points of interest along the route

• Edmonson County Lion's Club Fairgrounds, near Rhoda. Home to the annual Edmonson County Fair (held in early September)
• Bee Spring Park.
• Moutardier Marina (via KY 2067), south of Anneta.
• Grayson County Airport, near Meredith
• Grayson County Fairgrounds, north of Leitchfield.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Warren	Hays	0.000	0.000	US 68 / KY 80 (Glasgow Road) to I-65 – Bowling Green, Glasgow	Southern terminus
Edmonson	Rocky Hill	3.302	5.314	KY 1339 east (Apple Grove Road)	Western terminus of KY-1339
	​	5.17	8.32	US 31W (Louisville Road) to I-65 – Bowling Green, Park City, Cave City
	​	8.489	13.662	KY 422 south (Pig Road)	Northern terminus of KY 422
	​	9.462	15.228	KY 2325 north (Silent Grove Church Road)	Southern terminus of KY 2325
	Rhoda	11.926	19.193	KY 101 south (Veterans Memorial Highway) / KY 259 north (Brownsville Road)	Northern terminus of KY-101; KY 259 right turns onto VMH; road continues solely as Brownsville Road
		12.71	20.45	KY 3019 south (Brownsville Road) – Edmonson County Fairgrounds	Northern terminus of KY-3019
	​	13.357	21.496	KY 3021 north	Southern terminus of KY 3021
	Brownsville	14.497	23.331	KY 3021 south	Northern terminus of KY-3021
		14.763	23.759	KY 70 east (Mammoth Cave Road) – Mammoth Cave National Park, Cave City	Southern end of KY 70 concurrency
		14.993	24.129	Wildcat Way – to Edmonson County High School
		15.055	24.229	Houchin's Ferry Road	Alternate route to Edmonson County High School
		15.403	24.789	KY 2184 north (Washington Street) – Camp Joy, Brownsville City Park	Southern terminus of KY-2184
		16.142– 16.384	25.978– 26.367	Bridge over CR-1203, the Green River, and Lock Road (KY 183)
		16.532	26.606	KY 183 east (Lock Road)	Western terminus of KY-183
		17.212	27.700	KY 70 west (Morgantown Road) – Roundhill, Morgantown	Northern end of KY 70 concurrency
	Sweeden	22.652	36.455	KY 728 east (Nolin Dam Road) – Nolin Lake State Park	Western terminus of KY-728
	Bee Spring	24.082	38.756	KY 238 west (Sunfish-Bee Spring Road) – Sunfish	Eastern terminus of KY-238
	Broadway	26.236	42.223	KY 2336 east (Jock Road)	Western terminus of KY-2336
Grayson	​	28.258	45.477	KY 2067 south (Moutardier Road)	Northern terminus of KY 2067
	Meredith	33.849	54.475	KY 226 east (St. Anthony Road) to KY 88 – Munfordville	Western terminus of KY 226; KY-259 left turns to the west
	Leitchfield	39.913	64.234	Western Kentucky Parkway east – Elizabethtown	Exit 107 from WK Parkway east, and ramps to WK Parkway east
		39.935	64.269	Western Kentucky Parkway west – Beaver Dam, Paducah	Exit 107 from WK Parkway west; and ramps to WK Parkway west
		40.308	64.869	KY 3155 north (William Thomason Byway)	Southern terminus of KY-3155
		40.712	65.520	US 62 west (West White Oak Street) – Beaver Dam, Caneyville	Southern end of US 62 concurrency
		40.898	65.819	KY 54 west (West Main Street) – Fordsville, Owensboro	Eastern terminus of KY-54; traffic circle around the Grayson County Courthouse
		41.221	66.339	US 62 east (Mill Street) – Clarkson, Elizabethtown	Northern end of US 62 concurrency
		41.626	66.991	KY 737 north (Lilac Road)	Southern terminus of KY-737
		42.732	68.770	KY 3155 south (William Thomason Byway)	Northern terminus of KY-3155
Breckinridge	Madrid	51.215	82.423	KY 401 north	Southern terminus of KY-401
	​	53.767	86.530	KY 737 south – Leitchfield	Northern terminus of KY-737
	McDaniels	57.627	92.742	KY 79 south – Rough River Dam State Resort Park, Caneyville	Southern end of KY 79 concurrency
	​	57.627– 67.323	92.742– 108.346	see KY 79
	Harned	67.323	108.346	US 60 east / KY 79 north – Irvington, Brandenburg, Fort Knox, Louisville	Northern end of KY 79 concurrency; eastern end of US 60 concurrency
	​	68.858	110.816	KY 1616 west (Fairgrounds Road) – Hardinsburg	Eastern terminus of KY-1616
	Hardinsburg	70.028	112.699	Old U.S. 60  – Hardinsburg Business District
		70.781	113.911	US 60 west / KY 261 south – Hawesville, Owensboro, McQuady, Fordsville, Rough River Dam State Resort Park	Western end of US 60 concurrency; southern end of KY 261 concurrency
		72.152	116.117	KY 992 west (Second Street)	Eastern terminus of KY-992; also part of Old U.S. 60 west of town
		72.244	116.265	KY 261 east (First Street)	Northern end of KY 261 concurrency
	​	75.956	122.239	KY 2279 north	Southern terminus of KY-2279
	Union Star	84.820	136.505	KY 144 – Stephensport, Cloverport, Brandenburg
Meade	Rhodelia	95.91	154.35	KY 144 – Brandenburg, Union Star	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

Related routes

• Kentucky Route 3019
• Kentucky Route 3021

External links

• KY 259 at Kentucky Roads
• Edmonson County Tourism Commission Archived 2014-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
• Graysom County Tourism

Template:Attached KML/Kentucky Route 259

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