US 41 enters the state as a two-lane highway in Guthrie where it intersects US 79 and continues through Todd County through Trenton. After crossing into Christian County, US 41 goes through Pembroke before reaching Hopkinsville. In Hopkinsville, US 41 intersects the US 68 bypass and the Pennryrile Parkway which leads into downtown Hopkinsville. In downtown, US 41 has a short concurrency with US 68/KY 80 and has an intersection with the northern end of US 41A. Finally, after an intersection with the northern Hopkinsville bypass, US 41 turns to Crofton and northern Christian County.
After crossing into Hopkins County, US 41 has an incomplete intersection with the Pennyrile Parkway and goes through the small towns of Nortonville (and an intersection with US 62), Mortons Gap, Earlington. In Madisonville, US 41 is known as Main Street and has an intersection with the southern end of US 41 Alternate. After an incomplete interchange with I-69, US 41 continues onto Hanson. In eastern Webster, US 41 goes through the towns of Slaughters and Sebree. In Henderson County, US 41 enters Robards and remains a rural two-lane highway before reaching KY 425, just to the south of the Henderson city limits. At KY 425, US 41 turns to the east and intersects the current northern end of I-69 in Kentucky.
At this point, US 41 becomes a limited access four-lane highway with intersections with the Audubon Parkway, KY 2084, KY 351, and US 60. At US 60, US 41 becomes a four-lane surface road with stoplights as it crosses through the northern parts of Henderson and John James Audubon State Park. US 41 crosses the Ohio River on the Bi-State Vietnam Gold Star Bridges, known locally as the "Twin Bridges." Due to natural fluctuations of the Ohio River's path, US 41 remains in Kentucky for about one mile north of the Twin Bridges. In this section, US 41 passes by Ellis Park Race Course before crossing into Evansville, IN.[2]
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Between 1926 and 1930, US 41 followed a more westerly route between Hopkinsville and Nashville, following the current US 41 Alt., while the current US 41 alignment was US 241.[3] From 1930 into the early 1940s, the current alignment of US 41 was signed as US 41E, and the US 41W designation was on the current alignment of US 41 Alt. south of Hopkinsville.[4] In 1943, the western route became US 41 Alt., while US 41E became the current alignment of US 41.[5]
Freeway segment in Hopkins County
In Hopkins County, US 41 previously followed the Pennyrile Parkway (much of which is now part of I-169 and I-69) between exits 30 and 45 until the early 1990s, when it was rerouted onto the former US 41 Alt. alignment from Madisonville to just south of Nortonville. This was the only area of the Pennyrile Parkway where tolls were never charged when the parkway was originally a toll road.[citation needed]
Recent reroutings
Near Henderson, US 41 was rerouted onto the few remaining miles of the Pennyrile Parkway up to its northern terminus in the 2010s before I-69 was designated onto most of the parkway to Nortonville.[citation needed]
US 41 / SR 11 at the Tennessee state line in Guthrie
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