A contractor is planning a traffic shift with a 14-foot load width restriction for main line traffic at the Julian Carroll-Purchase Parkway/KY 348 Exit 43 Interchange at Benton starting today. The contractor plans to establish two-way traffic with a 14-foot load width restriction running on the on the southbound lanes of the Purchase Parkway to allow crews to work along the north bound lanes. Once the traffic shift is completed, the contractor plans to remove the concrete bases of the old toll booths along the median area and increasing clearance under the KY 348 Overpass within the interchange to comply with Federal Standards for Interstate 69. Motorists traveling the main line of the Purchase Parkway should be prepared to encounter slowing and merging traffic as they approach the Exit 43 Interchange at Benton. The shift to two-way traffic on the southbound lanes is expected to be in place for about two weeks. The contractor will then shift two-way to the northbound lanes to allow similar work along the southbound lanes. The Purchase Parkway/KY 348 Exit 43 Interchange is at Purchase Parkway mile point 42.555 and KY 348 mile point 7.439 at the west edge of Benton in Marshall County. Approximately 23,500 vehicles pass through the interchange in an average day. This work to bring the Purchase Parkway/KY 348 Benton Exit 43 Interchange up to current FHWA Interstate standards is among several projects aimed at allowing Interstate 69 to eventually be extended southward along the Purchase Parkway to Mayfield. The old cloverleaf at Benton Exit 43 was designed for slow-speed traffic exiting after a stop at the interchange toll both. The new design is a modern diamond interchange that provides additional space for acceleration and deceleration of traffic entering and leaving the main line of the 4-lane parkway. Traffic has been running on base courses of asphalt during the winter months. Once this work along the main line of the Parkway is completed, the contractor will finish out the new ramps. Jim Smith Contracting of Grand Rivers is the prime contractor on this $8.1 million project. As a reminder, work zones along the Purchase Parkway at the I-24 Exit 25 Interchange at Calvert City and at the US 45-Bypass Exit 21 Interchange in Mayfield continue to be active. Both of those projects, also aimed at allowing I-69 to be extended southward along the parkway in the future, have a July 1, 2018, target completion date.