Construction ramps up at I-165 interchange

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.- A project to upgrade Interstate 165 interchange with U.S. 231/Morgantown Road at Exit 7 in Bowling green has begun. 

The improvements to the interchange are part of the I-65 Spur requirements that upgraded the William H. Natcher Parkway to I-165 William H. Natcher Expressway in 2019. The current ramps were in a cloverleaf formation that serviced the old toll booth plaza that no longer exists. 

New ramps are being constructed as a standard diamond interchange with updated LED lighting. 

The project is expected to cost $7.6 million.

“It’s very exciting because that intersection will function much more efficiently and much more safer when it’s complete. Anybody that’s driven through there knows that the ramps were old cloverleaf style ramps and it was designed for people to stop at a toll booth. So everybody was going at much slower speeds and people were stopping. Now it’s completely wide open since the toll booths have been removed and it just functions a lot different,” said Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 3 Public Information Officer Wes Watt. 

The current bridge will remain and no new bridge is being built.

Motorists should expect lane closures and lane shifts during different times throughout the construction process.