Some highly-sought local projects are included in the proposed six-year road plan released Thursday by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, but there is little funding for them in the upcoming two-year budget.
Projects outside of the first two years are not guaranteed, but it’s also important to remember the proposed road plan will undergo changes by the Kentucky General Assembly in the coming weeks.
The proposed plan does include $500,000 in the upcoming budget for design phases of a new connector road from the Industrial Park on Pembroke Road to KY 115 near the I-24 interchange. Another $1.2 million is projected in 2022 for utility work and right of way acquisition and construction would come in 2023 at a cost of about $5.8 million.
Another project is reconstruction of the interchange with the MLK Bypass and the Pennyrile Parkway to bring the Parkway up to interstate standards. State Representative Walker Thomas notes design phases are projected for 2022 and construction in 2025.
The plan proposes $5.9 million in 2022 for right of way acquisition and utility work to widen West Seventh Street from North Drive to the US 68-Princeton Road split.
There is just over $1 million in the upcoming budget for design phases of further widening of KY 115 from Anderson Road to just south of Pembroke.
There are plans to reconstruct a section of North Drive from Seventh Street to Sanderson Drive at a cost of about $11 million, though none of that work would begin until 2024 of the project remains in the road plan.
Design phases of minor widening of Lafayette Road from Gateway Lane to Country Club Lane could begin in 2022 and construction would be set for 2024. It’s in the area of the new Greenway bridge that’s under construction and would help to alleviate traffic congestion.
Motorists in the Oak Grove area will be glad to know the road plan projects spending about $5.9 million in 2022 for major widening of KY 911 from KY 115 to the railroad.
One of Todd County’s top priorities, reconstruction of the so-called Guthrie knot, has about $1 million in the upcoming budget for right of way acquisition and utility work in 2021. The final product would include a new intersection with KY 181 and KY 294.
There are no immediate plans to make US 79 four lanes in Todd County, but there is projected spending in 2023 and 2024 for minor widening of the road where Novelis is located.
There is $650,000 in the plan this year to address a bridge on County Route 1380 over Dyers Creek in Trigg County and $200,000 next year for design phases of realigning the approach on KY 124 with KY 139.
Again, it’s important to note the road plan likely to change in many ways before the end of the 2020 session of the Kentucky General Assembly and that any spending outside of the current biennium would not be guaranteed.