My 4-year-old daughter and I got to be two of the first few people to drive
across the new William H. Natcher Bridge this afternoon -- it opened
officially at noon.

Thus begins the linkage of the Owensboro, KY area with Interstate 64 in
Spencer County, IN.  All that remains is for Indiana to complete the 22-mile
stretch of US 231 between the Natcher Bridge and 64.  Work on that should
begin in the spring of '03 and be completed by 2006 or 2007.  We hope.

Anyway, it's a marvel of modern engineering and design and is truly a sight
to behold after all these years of waiting and wondering "will they build
it?".

As a part of all of this, the old US 231 has been renumbered in both
Kentucky and Indiana.  Inside the US 60 Bypass around Owensboro, 231 is now
Kentucky 2155; and in Indiana it is Indiana 161 from the Glover Cary (known
as the "Blue") Bridge to Indiana 66.  Local TV stations here informed the
general public of the changes last week, but I knew about Indiana's plans in
2000, and of Kentucky's about 2 months ago.

If you're in the area, come and take a drive; it's really cool!

JN <><

On Mon, 21 Oct 2002 20:25:55 GMT, "Jacob Newkirk"
<newki...@adelphia.net> said:

That's dumb. US 231 should have stayed US 231 through the city.

Dropping U.S. routes through cities is an Indiana practice - not usually
a Kentucky one.

--

I think. Therefore, I am not a conservative!
------ http://www.todayslastword.org -------

"Pooing Is Cool" <ban...@todayslastword.org> wrote in message
news:3db491d1.35813712@localhost...

They should call old route 231 route 431.

There is already a route 431 -- US 431 -- which is anywhere from 3 to 20
blocks west of the old 231.  And 231 probably SHOULD have stayed where it
was, but the objective, IMHO, was to take trucks out of town, thus the
routing of 231 along the bypass and around the city.

Other observations of the bridge project:
* Indiana was the first to get all of their new signs up marking the old US
231's new numbers.  In Rockport, where 231 formerly was multiplexed with
Indiana 66, the signs for eastbound traffic now read "To 231".  Indiana
doesn't usually use "To" trailblazers, so this is interesting to me.
* Kentucky has a bad habit of not numbering many of the 4-digit state
routes.  2155 (the old 231) is different.  2155 reassurance signs are placed
about every 3 or 4 blocks northbound on Breckinridge Street, not much fewer
southbound on Triplett Street.  Interesting.  At the major downtown
intersections, however, all they did was replace the 231 shields with 2155
shields.
* The new Indiana 66 interchange northeast of Rockport is signed on the BGSs
as "Indiana 66/Tell City/Evansville."  Rockport and Grandview (the two
closest municipalities) are not mentioned except on directional signs on the
off-ramps.  Odd also are the "JCT Indiana 66" markers on the ramps.  I don't
recall seeing similar signs elsewhere in Indiana.
* Traffic moves a lot more smoothly on the new road than I thought.  I
figured on at least ONE accident or slowdown while people got adjusted; no,
just smooth sailin'!

JN <><

news:ap2ale$qceu0$1@ID-138129.news.dfncis.de...

news:m23t9.33491$Lg2.8518827@news2.news.adelphia.net...

I was referring to old 231 north of US 60.  The short stretch of old 231
between US 60 to the new 231 could have been BUS US 231 which could follow
US 60 to the bypass.