The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet held an informational meeting in Hopkinsville Tuesday afternoon to discuss the future project to widen West Seventh Street and construct sidewalks there.
Tuesday’s meeting was for gathering information from the public, according to District Two Chief Engineer Deneatra Henderson, who says they plan to add a third lane from the intersection of North Drive to Princeton Road, and run a sidewalk alongside it.
Henderson says the cabinet is recommending to weave road alignment either further south or further north of the existing centerline in areas to avoid impacting properties and utilities, which would save the project money.
She says funding does exist for the project in design, and it would fall to the General Assembly during the next legislative session to create a new highway plan budget that would get construction underway.
Henderson says the next step is to compile all the information gathered at Tuesday’s meeting and create a design plan for the widening of West Seventh Street. After the final design is created, which could take about a year, the Transportation Cabinet could begin purchase of right-of-way property next summer.
Along with widening West Seventh, the project would also eliminate the ‘Y’ intersection where Princeton Road and West Seventh meet and create a “T” intersection in its place.
It’s her hope that impact to businesses during construction would be limited and that they would reap the benefits of easier access once it is complete. Altogether, depending on what a design team decides, the project could cost the state between $9.8 million to $10.5 million.
