Ky. Rev. Stat. » Chapter 177
Kentucky Revised Statutes

Ky. Rev. Stat. § 177.020 (2026)

State primary roads to be designated and controlled by the Department of

✓ current as of May 2026
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Highways -- Notice to fiscal court and affected citizens -- Rural secondary road system -- Maintenance -- Administrative regulations.

(1) The state primary road system shall consist of such public roads and city streets within the state as the Department of Highways determines shall be established, constructed, or maintained by the Department of Highways.

(2) The department shall, in its discretion, determine which public roads, or city streets, shall be established, constructed, or maintained by it, and shall determine the type of construction or maintenance for that road or city street.

(3) In the establishment of the state primary road system, the Department of Highways is authorized to select new routes, deviate from an existing route whenever it deems such deviation proper, eliminate from the state primary system roads or city streets which have been replaced as proper part of the system by the construction of a new facility or the selection of a new route. No permanent ingress or egress ramp of the state primary road system on fully controlled access facilities shall be closed, except for repairs, unless a public hearing is first held in the area to be affected by the closing. The Department of Highways shall, at least twenty (20) days before the hearing, advertise in a newspaper of general circulation in the area to be affected by the closing, the date, time, and place of the hearing.

(4) Prior to the advertisement for bids on any highway construction project, the Department of Highways shall meet with the fiscal court in the jurisdiction of the construction project for the purpose of advising the fiscal court of any state road or road segment which the department may seek to eliminate from the state primary road system upon completion of that highway construction project. The requirement of this subsection shall be in addition to the requirements of subsection (5) of this section.

(5) The department shall notify the fiscal court of the county at least four (4) months before it eliminates a road, road segment, bridge, or street in that county from the state primary road system. Upon receiving notice, the fiscal court may reject title and notify the department that the road shall not become part of the county road system. If the fiscal court declines, the department shall give notice to all private persons entitled to a necessary access over this road of their rights under this chapter; and, by petition of any private party entitled to such access, the road shall be deemed a discontinued state road and shall be closed to public use but remain open in accordance with its condition and use for the access of the private parties involved. In the absence of such petition, title shall be transferred to the owner or owners of the tract or tracts of land to which the road originally belonged.

(6) As used in this section, the term "rural secondary roads" shall mean the system of roads in this state which are usually considered farm-to-market roads and that are classified as part of the rural secondary road system by the Department of Highways. The roads in the rural secondary system shall be maintained with the proceeds of the provisions of KRS 177.320(1) and in no case shall the rural secondary system, as defined in this subsection, be less than eleven thousand eight hundred (11,800) miles.

(7) The establishment, construction, or maintenance of the state primary road system shall be under the direction and control of the Department of Highways. The commissioner of highways is authorized to adopt regulations necessary to the administration of this authority. Effective: June 25, 2009 History: Amended 2009 Ky. Acts ch. 13, sec. 9, effective June 25, 2009. -- Amended 2005 Ky. Acts ch. 98, sec. 6, effective June 20, 2005. -- Amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 80, sec. 1, effective July 14, 1992. -- Amended 1986 Ky. Acts ch. 174, sec. 18, effective July 15, 1986. -- Amended 1980 Ky. Acts ch. 243, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1980. -- Amended 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 74, Art. IV, sec. 20(1). -- Amended 1972 Ky. Acts ch. 242, sec. 1. -- Created 1964 Ky. Acts ch. 23, secs. 2 and 3. History for former KRS 177.020: Repealed 1964 Ky. Acts ch. 23, sec. 3. -- Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. secs. 4356t- 5, 4356t-17-2a, 4356t-17-2b, 4356t-17-2c, 4356t-17-2d.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1945–2026 · leading case: Ex Parte Commonwealth, 291 S.W.2d 814 (Ky. Ct. App. 1956).
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Ex Parte Commonwealth, 291 S.W.2d 814 (Ky. Ct. App. 1956). “strengthened by the fact that under KRS 177.020 the Department of Highways has the power to take over any *816 county road and make it a part of the state primary road system, and having done so, may by its own order discontinue such road.”
Cottrell v. Martin A. Ceder, Inc., 376 S.W.2d 536 (Ky. Ct. App. 1964). “KRS 177.020) as part of U. S. Highway 68, the highway itself was within the corporate boundaries of the city, whereas the territory on each side, including the houses fronting thereon, had not been annexed and was outside the city.”
Geupel Constr. Co. v. Commonwealth Transp. Cabinet, 136 S.W.3d 43 (Ky. Ct. App. 2003). “KRS 177.020(7) provides that the “establishment, construction, or maintenance of the state primary road system shall be under the direction and control of the Department of Highways.”
Zanella v. City of Grand Rivers, 687 F. Supp. 1105 (W.D. Ky. 1988). “” KRS 177.020(1). With regard to rights of way, they may be acquired by the State as follows: The bureau of highways is authorized to acquire and bear the cost of new or additional rights of way needed for establishment, improvement, construction, reconstruction, maintenance or…”
Jefferson Cnty. v. Dep't of Highways, 185 S.W.2d 546 (Ky. Ct. App. 1945). · cites it 2× “4356t-17-2c, now KRS 177.020 (3), they did not and do not now provide that portions left where there is a deviation cease to be a part of the State system and become county roads.”
Field & Main Bank, Inc. F/K/A Ohio Valley Fin. Grp., Inc., Successor by Merger & F/K/A Ohio Valley Bank, Inc., Successor by Conversion to Ohio Valley Nat'l Bank of Henderson v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, Transp. Cabinet, Dep't of Highways (Ky. Ct. App. 2026). “See also KRS 177.020(2) and KRS 177.240. As a result of the IOJ, KYTC had the right to take a fee simple interest in this half-parking-space-sized area.”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 177.020(1) — 1 case
Zanella v. City of Grand Rivers, 687 F. Supp. 1105 (W.D. Ky. 1988). “” KRS 177.020(1). With regard to rights of way, they may be acquired by the State as follows: The bureau of highways is authorized to acquire and bear the cost of new or additional rights of way needed for establishment, improvement, construction, reconstruction, maintenance or…”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 177.020(2) — 1 case
Field & Main Bank, Inc. F/K/A Ohio Valley Fin. Grp., Inc., Successor by Merger & F/K/A Ohio Valley Bank, Inc., Successor by Conversion to Ohio Valley Nat'l Bank of Henderson v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, Transp. Cabinet, Dep't of Highways (Ky. Ct. App. 2026). “See also KRS 177.020(2) and KRS 177.240. As a result of the IOJ, KYTC had the right to take a fee simple interest in this half-parking-space-sized area.”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 177.020(7) — 1 case
Geupel Constr. Co. v. Commonwealth Transp. Cabinet, 136 S.W.3d 43 (Ky. Ct. App. 2003). “KRS 177.020(7) provides that the “establishment, construction, or maintenance of the state primary road system shall be under the direction and control of the Department of Highways.”
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