Global InformationAA Highway information
John Y. Brown Jr. AA Highway | |
|---|---|
| Alexandria to Augusta Highway | |
 AA Highway highlighted in red, including spurs | |
| Route information | |
| Maintained by KYTC | |
| Length | 116.285 mi[1] (187.143 km) |
| Mainline (KY 9) | |
| Length | 84.727 mi (136.355 km) |
| South end |   AA Hwy (KY 9) / AA Hwy (KY 10) near Vanceburg |
| Major intersections |
|
| North end |   KY 9 / I-275 in Wilder |
| Southern Spur (KY 9) | |
| Length | 26.310 mi (42.342 km) |
| South end |   KY 1 / KY 7 in Grayson |
| North end | AA Hwy (KY 9) / AA Hwy (KY 10) near Vanceburg |
| Eastern Spur (KY 10) | |
| Length | 24.628 mi (39.635 km) |
| West end | AA Hwy (KY 9) / AA Hwy (KY 10) near Vanceburg |
| East end |  US 23 near Greenup |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Kentucky |
| Counties | Greenup, Carter, Lewis, Mason, Bracken, Pendleton, Campbell |
| Highway system | |
| |
The AA Highway is a 135.665-mile-long (218.332 km) state highway maintained by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The mainline route parallels the Ohio River from Interstate 275 (I-275) in Wilder to Vanceburg; it is cosigned as Kentucky Route (KY 9). From Vanceburg, the highway splits into two routes, with the southern spur using the KY 9 designation and continuing to Grayson and I-64, and the eastern spur using the designation of KY 10 and continuing to Greenup. The AA is mostly a two-lane rural highway that provides the only direct connection between Ashland and Northern Kentucky, which includes Cincinnati.
The route name is a contraction of its earlier name of the Alexandria to Ashland Highway, which referenced two cities connected by the highway: Alexandria in Northern Kentucky and (via I-64) Ashland in Eastern Kentucky. The route is officially known as the John Y. Brown Jr. AA Highway, named for politician and entrepreneur.[2]
While the highway passes through terrain that is rolling to hilly, the highway is generally level with moderate grades and no steep grades. Except for Carter County, all counties that the AA Highway passes through border the Ohio River. While the AA Highway is not an expressway, it nonetheless serves as the shortest highway link between Cincinnati and Ashland, Kentucky. As such, it provides a link between Cincinnati and other Midwestern cities such as Chicago, Indianapolis, and Dayton and cities south and east of Ashland such as Huntington and Charleston in West Virginia, Charlottesville and Richmond in Virginia, and Charlotte and Winston-Salem in North Carolina.[citation needed]
The only municipalities on the highway are Vanceburg and Maysville and suburban areas of Cincinnati at its western terminus. Those areas are also the only areas with any services used by motorists such as motels, gas stations, restaurants, convenience stores, etc. The only traffic signals on the AA Highway are near Maysville (along a commercial strip with many retail establishments and restaurants), suburban Cincinnati, and at its eastern terminus just north of Interstate 64 near Grayson. There are no rest areas on the AA Highway. Other than the portions that traverse the edge of Maysville and enter suburban Cincinnati, there are no shopping centers or major retail stores along the AA Highway.[citation needed]
The AA Highway is a rural two-lane highway for most of its length and traverses through some desolate terrain.[3] Driver inattention and speeding, in combination with the numerous side road entrances and at-grade intersections have made it a dangerous and deadly road. To address these issues, guide signs comparable to interstate-styled signs have been installed along the highway at major intersections, along with additional overhead lighting. Other measures to improve safety and increase capacity are under consideration.[citation needed]
- ^ Division of Planning. "Official Milepoint Route Log Extract". Highway Information System. Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
- ^ Flynn, Terry (November 27, 1993). "AA Highway filling a gap". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 13. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
- ^ Division of Planning (2004). "Possible KY 9 Improvements". Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Archived from the original on August 4, 2004.