Kentucky Route 180 is a connector route between US 60 and Kentucky Route 3. It is four lanes divided from US 60 to just shy of Interstate 64, and two lanes to KY 3. The alignment from Interstate 64 to US 60 was constructed in the 1970s as part of an upgrade that included US 60 that would act as an urban penetrator from Interstate 64 to Ashland, Kentucky. 180's former two-lane highway is now known as KY 3291 which ends at its intersection with Kentucky Route 3294 (formerly U.S. Route 60 Alternate and before that The Midland Trail) in the Ashland suburb of Cannonsburg.

The Interstate 64 interchange featured higher-than-average accident levels. The four-lane divided highway narrowed from four lanes to two just shy of the interchange. Coupled with a sub-standard ramp system for Interstate 64 that featured short and steep ramps, and a loop that was not controlled by a traffic signal, it produced terrible consequences. Due to the increased volume, the interchange was reconstructed as a conventional diamond, and KY 180 was widened to four lanes divided from its present four-lane terminus to just shy of KY 3, its southern terminus. This project was completed in October 2008.