History and Designation
Federal legislation designated the entire length of the Purchase Parkway as Interstate 69 in 2002. On June 6, 2008, President George W. Bush signed HR-1195 (SAFETEA-LU Technical Corrections Act of 2008), reaffirming the I-69 designation for the Purchase Parkway and further authorizing Kentucky to sign the route as such with Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) approval. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet had planned I-69 signs on the parkway during the summer of 2008, but the FHWA is requiring the KYTC to either upgrade substandard portions of the route or obtain a design waiver before can be signed as I-69. at present, the KYTC plans to wait until Tennessee completes its portion of I-69 before seeking approval to sign the Purchase Parkway as I-69.
Originally named Purchase Parkway for the Jackson Purchase area it diagonally traverses, the road was renamed for Julian M. Carroll, a former Kentucky governor from McCracken County, in 2001. The Purchase Parkway carries the unsigned designation of Kentucky Route 9003 (JC 9003). The Mayfield Bypass, which was incoporated into the parkway following its construction, is also signed as US-45 Bypass. It will eventually carry the signed designation of Interstate 69 from I-24 to the Tennessee state line.
Completed in 1966, the parkway incorporates a pre-existing four-lane divided bypass around Mayfield. This section of the parkway is also designated as US 45 Bypass.
Except for the Mayfield bypass which remained free, the parkway was originally a toll road, as were all Kentucky parkways. State law requires that toll collection ceases when enough tolls are collected to pay off the parkway's construction bonds; that occurred in 1992. It is constructed similarly to the Interstate Highway system.
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