Kentucky Roads - US 127/421

US 127 and 127/421


Compare this SB shield, courtesy H.B. Elkins, with the one on the US 31 page. This one is inverted.


Old shield with narrow font, peculiar milemarker. This is NB around Frankfort, where US 127 does follow a new alignment (KY 420 is the old road), and it is about 5 miles back south to the point where 127 and 420 diverge. So maybe there's a reason for Mile 5, but not a good one.


NB around the side of Frankfort and dropping into the northern business district with US 421 (one sign on each side of the road, not a double shot of the same one). Kentucky is the only state using the ugly teardrop US shield. There are published standards that anyone can copy. If I can do it, you can do it, KYTC.


As US 127/421 cross the Kentucky River, there's another bridge next to them, Broadway St. This might have originally been US 421, or it just might have been a connection to the southern shore of the river (Benson Valley Rd.). Either way, it's closed now, and definitely worth a closer look.


Zounds! Foiled by a sturdy gate, but I feel better seeing there was one on the western shore as well. I'm not about to trespass on railroad tracks in broad daylight and risk my life for a few photos. The blinkers on the western side are decidedly old and no longer functional (because there's no reason to function without a four-way intersection - there's probably just a stop sign up for the side road).


Back off the bridge, where this arrow onto Wilkinson Blvd. SB tickles my imagination. I don't think US 421, had it gone this way, would turn here because Broadway St. is straight ahead. It could be pointing the way to Bridge St., which may have once been a state highway or even originally US 60. There's another cool truss there I wish I knew about, because it's actually open. Maybe somewhere along the way is another clue?

US 42 and US 127/25/42
US 62 and 62/Business US 127

Into Ohio on US 127
Onto US 60
Onto US 421
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