The north side of the circumferential highway was conceived in the 1980s to relieve traffic in downtown Russellville and as part of greater improvements along the US 68 corridor.

The state decided to complete the orbital road in the 2000s to resolve continuing traffic bottlenecks along US 431 and US 79 on the south side.

Construction of the Russellville Bypass led to a series of route changes over 20 years involving the city's U.S.

[3] Russellville lies just north of the boundary of the Mammoth Cave Uplands, a rugged plateau that includes much of the namesake national park, and the Western Pennyroyal Karst Plain, a valley that features innumerable ponds and sinkholes.

[4] The main obstacles around Russellville are the many hills and knobs along the south and east sides of town.

[5][6] The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) classifies the entire Russellville Bypass in the state primary system.

[7] In 2019, KYTC designated the US 79 portion of the bypass as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Highway.

[8] This route description is ordered clockwise starting from the western US 79 intersection between the bypass and Clarksville Road.

Highways intersect KY 96 (Orndorff Mill Road) and curve northwest.

The study found heavy congestion in the downtown area and noted the large number of turns vehicles, including heavy trucks, needed to negotiate there, including multiple turns at the city square.

Based on the study, KYTC began to develop plans for a northern two-lane bypass of the city.

By 1986, this bypass was considered an integral part of the cabinet's contemporaneous upgrading of US 68 from Hopkinsville to Bowling Green.

[2][12][14] After the northern portion of the Russellville Bypass opened, KYTC concluded the city needed a southern bypass to remove additional traffic from downtown and alleviate bottlenecks, especially for trucks, at the intersection of Nashville Road and Ninth Street on the south side of the city.

[16] The southern part of the Russellville Bypass would include a section with a truck climbing lane, and the state acquired enough right of way to later expand the two-lane road to a four-lane divided highway.

The agency replaced KY 2843 with US 431 on the northwest quadrant of the bypass through a July 19, 1999, official order.

[21] Following the AASHTO ruling, KYTC followed through on the national resolution through a July 6, 2007, official order, that implemented the two U.S. Highway changes.

Seven months later, in an April 24, 2012, official order, KYTC transferred maintenance for Franklin Road between US 68 Bus.

The final round of route changes came after the fourth segment of the Russellville Bypass had opened.