Interstate 69 in Indiana
The original plan (in a DEIS prepared by INDOT in 2004, but later dropped) was for I-69 to leave the now-former I-164 alignment somewhere just east of Green River Road (exit 3) and head south (instead of turning west with I-164) for approximately before crossing the Ohio at a point near the mouth of the Green River. This portion of the route had not then been funded, as construction of the new Ohio River crossing and its approaches in both states was expected to cost approximately $800 million. Indiana and Kentucky officials had said construction on the new Ohio River Bridge would not begin until at least 2020, after two new crossings near Louisville were completed. With Indiana then preparing to break ground on SIU 3, Kentucky officials indicated that collecting tolls might be the only feasible option for completing the I-69 bridge, as traditional federal and state funding for such projects were drying up. , neither Kentucky nor Indiana officials had yet come up with the money to plan and construct this I-69 bridge.
Interstate 69
On August 31, 2011, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear announced an agreement between the state and the FHWA which will allow the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to erect I-69 signage along the new Interstate's overlap with I-24 and the stretch of the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway between I-24 and the Edward T. Breathitt Pennyrile Parkway. Signage was placed in the fall of 2011, with construction on necessary upgrades of the portion of the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway expected to be bid in September. On October 25, 2011, I-69 was officially designated by Governor Steve Beshear along the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway along a stretch between Eddyville and Nortonville. Signage and mile markers were replaced on the stretch of the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway in mid-December 2012. An additional along the Pennyrile Parkway from the Western Kentucky Parkway to KY 425, south of Henderson was designated and resigned on November 16, 2015.