Lexington—Kentucky’s Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway—a 75-mile long state highway that stretches throughout the eastern part of the state—is among the most-feared roads in the nation, according to a survey of 3,000 drivers.
The survey ranks Kentucky’s Mountain Parkway as the sixth most feared in the country, just behind Nevada’s U.S. Route 50, a desert highway known as the loneliest road in America.
Commissioned by Gunther Mitsubishi and conducted by QuestionPro, the survey asked regular road-trippers which routes in each state they fear breaking down on the most.
The top four most-feared roads listed were U.S. Route 285 in New Mexico, Death Valley Road (S.R. 190) in California, U.S. Route 90 in Texas, and Route 200 (Saddle Road) in Hawaii, according to the survey.
As for Kentucky’s top pick, Mountain Parkway, there’s been a massive project underway since 2015 to modernize the winding road and widen it from two to four lanes.
About 70 percent of the project is either complete or still under construction. Once it’s done, however, you’ll be able to drive from Pikeville to Paducah and back on what the project’s official website calls a “four-lane, high speed route across the length of the state.”
Here’s what to know about the project to expand and modernize Kentucky’s Mountain Parkway, including how the highway stacks up against others across the country.
How Does the Mountain Parkway Compare to Other Roads?
The survey ranks these roads as the 10 “Most Feared Routes” in the U.S. The first five generally pass through vast, desolate swaths of land with few services and possibly dangerous weather hazards, including lava flows or 120-degree heat.
