Hal Rogers Parkway
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| Route information | |
| Length: | 59.088 mi (95.093 km) |
| Major junctions | |
| West end: |
  US 27 / Cumberland Parkway in Somerset
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| East end: |
  KY 15 / KY 80 near Hazard
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| Location | |
| Counties: | Laurel, Clay, Leslie, Perry |
| Highway system | |
The Hal Rogers Parkway, formerly named the Daniel Boone Parkway, connects Somerset and Hazard in southeastern Kentucky. This toll road opened in November 1971, and the tolls were removed June 1, 2003. The original extent of the highway was to be 65.70 miles (105.73 km) instead of today's 75.16, with that mileage to have been used on a limited-access London bypass. This, however, was not completed. The road is designated unsigned Kentucky Route 9006 (HR 9006).
U.S. Representative Hal Rogers was the forerunner in getting the tolls lifted on the Daniel Boone Parkway, securing $13 million in federal funding. Former governor Paul E. Patton, to thank him for removing the tolls on the highway, renamed the Daniel Boone Parkway the Hal Rogers Parkway. This stirred a lot of controversy among Kentucky residents and descendants of Daniel Boone who were offended that the famous pioneer, who helped settle Kentucky, was renamed for a sitting congressman whose main accomplishment was getting the tolls lifted off of the parkway. Soon after, the Associated Press picked up the controversy regarding the renaming of the parkway and outrage over the renaming has been heard across the United States and as far as the United Kingdom.
The toll booths were dismantled soon after the tolls were removed on June 1 of 2003, and new Hal Rogers Parkway signs replaced the Daniel Boone Parkway signs. The two at-grade toll booths at exits 34 and 44 were converted into regular intersections and the mainline toll booth near London was dismantled. It is the only parkway in the state of Kentucky to be almost exclusively two-lanes with the occasional truck lanes on the hills. There is a center paint divider with rumble strips added as a safety feature. The only at-grade intersections are at Exit 34 and 44, from the western terminus at US 25 to KY 192, totaling four-miles (6 km), and from milepost 58 to Exit 59.
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