US 60 is concurrent with
US 51 and
US 62 from the Ohio River bridge to the town of
Wickliffe. At Wickliffe, US 60 separates from the other routes and heads generally northeast toward the city of
Paducah. Between Wickliffe and Paducah, the towns of
Barlow,
La Center and
Kevil are situated along the route. In Paducah, US 60 intersects with
I-24, and
I-24's business loop enters the city concurrent with US 60. In the midtown area, the route once again meets US 62, and also meets
US 45. Once out of the city of Paducah, US 60 again veers to the northeast, roughly following the Ohio River until reaching
Smithland, where the route again turns to the east, passing through the small town of
Burna. From Burna, US 60 passes through
Salem. The next city along the route is
Marion. At Marion, US 60 turns once more to the north, where it heads toward
Sturgis. From Sturgis, the route continues generally northward to
Morganfield. In recent years, a bypass of US 60 around the south and east sides of Morganfield has taken a great deal of traffic congestion out of the city. US 60 passes through
Waverly and
Corydon before reaching
Henderson. At Henderson, the route intersects
Kentucky Route 136 (KY 136),
KY 425 and
US 41A. US 41A is concurrent with US 60 along Green Street in the city of Henderson as it intersects with
KY 812 and
KY 351. At the US 41 interchange, US 41A ends and US 60 continues alone, bypassing the cities of
Owensboro,
Lewisport,
Hawesville, and
Hardinsburg. In
Fort Knox, US 60 connects with
US 31W, and they remain together until downtown
Louisville. Originally built as a bypass route around downtown Louisville,
US 60 Alt. used several existing roads running through Louisville to get between the east and south sides of town without having to travel through the heavily congested downtown or west ends of town. US 60 Alt. runs northeast to southwest from
St. Matthews to
Shively; including a stretch on one of Frederick Law Olmsted's last remaining parkways,
Eastern Parkway. Before its completion and designation as
I-264 in 1984, the Henry Watterson Expressway connecting
Dixie Highway (US 31W/US 60) and Shelbyville Road (US 60) was signed US 60 Bypass. After passing
Shelbyville, it continues through the state capital of
Frankfort, becomes four lanes and then heads more south than east toward
Versailles. In Versailles, US 60's eastbound lanes are very briefly the westbound lanes of US 62, which runs more south than west at that point. After turning east and intersecting the
Bluegrass Parkway, US 60 is one of the major routes through Lexington. At the intersection for Keeneland Race Course, the road becomes heavily traveled six-lane highway, Versailles Road. It passes Blue Grass Airport before intersecting with Lexington's beltway, New Circle Road (Ky 4) and becomes a four-road going into downtown Lexington. it once followed the one-way pair of Maxwell and High streets (and still so appears on Google Maps) but is now signed along Oliver Lewis Way to Main Street, which after a one-way pair with Vine Street becomes Richmond Road (US 25). US 60 follows Midland Avenue (named after the old
Midland Trail, which US 60 generally follows in Kentucky, West Virginia and Virginia). At the intersection with East Third Street US 60 bears right and becomes Winchester Road. It intersects
I-75 and from there roughly parallels I-64 and goes to
Winchester and passes just north of the terminus of the
Mountain Parkway but does not intersect with the former toll road. It proceeds to
Mount Sterling,
Morehead, past
Carter Caves State Resort Park, on to
Grayson and finally to
Ashland.
US 23 southbound follows US 60 eastbound into
Catlettsburg, where they split at 35th Street. US 23 southbound continues straight as a four-lane highway, while US 60 eastbound turns onto 35th Street, passes Oakland Avenue, and enters
Kenova, West Virginia via the Billy C. Clark Bridge. ==History==