December 2001

According to this article  in the Cincinnati Enquirer, work on I-471 on both the Kentucky and Ohio sides is complete. All lanes of the road were reopened on Friday.

This Ashland Daily Independent article  discusses the possibility of constructing a new bridge to connect Irontown, Ohio and Russell, Kentucky. Thanks for the pointer from Sherman .

The conference version of the Transportation spending bill  has passed both houses of Congress and is now waiting to be signed by the President.

Kentucky is mentioned several places in the bill:

• $2,000,000 for an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) providing Eastern Kentucky rural highway information,
• $750,000 for an ITS for Lexington,
• $2,000,000 for a statewide transportation operations center,
• the corridors for I-66 and I-69 have been redefined: I-66 is now defined to use the Nunn Cumberland Parkway and I-69 is now defined to use the Carrol Purchase Parkway,
• Kentucky may now post signs saying "Future I-69" on the Purchase Parkway and "Future I-66" in the Cumberland Parkway,
• $4,000,000 for to help access to an industrial park in Clay and Leslie counties,
• $50,000 for work on Kentucky 55,
• $1,600,000 for work on Kentucky 192 in McCreary county,
• $1,000,000 for improvements to the intersection at the end of Grover Carey Bridge in Owensboro,
• $250,000 for work on Kentucky 61 in Green county,
• $300,000 for work on Kentucky 92 in Whitley county,
• $20,000,000 for I-66 (I believe this is the Somerset-London segment.),
• $2,500,000 for I-66 in Pike County,
• $320,000 for work on KY 1848 between I-64 and US 60,
• $1,000,000 for the Monticello Street underpass in Somerset,
• $1,000,000 for work on the Pennyrile Parkway (I believe this is for the southern extension to I-24),
• $1,500,000 for work on Stone Coal Road in Johnson county,
• $2,000,000 for work on US 25 near Renfro Valley,
• $5,000,000 for work on US 27 between Somerset and KY 70,
• $80,000 for work on US 27 near Burnside,
• $850,000 for work on US 431 near Lewisburg,
• $500,000 for right-of-way for US 60 in Henderson County,
• $100,000 for work on US 41A,
• $50,00 for Estill County bypass lighting around Irvine,
• $300,000 for Estill County industrial park access road,
• $400,000 for Fegenbush Lane Bridge at Fern Creek,
• $1,000,000 for Henderson riverfront project,
• $1,000,000 for engineering work on Kentucky 61 from Kentucky 487 to Columbia,
• $800,000 for Johnstown Road,
• $2,350,000 for Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for Regional Trail Improvements,
• $1,000,000 for improved access to Louisville's water front park,
• $600,000 for median on US 42 from Harrods Creek to River Road,
• $1,800,000 for Owensboro Riverfront redevelopment project,
• $42,600 for Park City sidewalks,
• $2,000,000 for Somerset downtown revitalization,
• $6,600,000 for Southern bypass around the southwestern portion of Somerset,
• $125,000 for Vine Grove sidewalks,
• $2,000,000 for Clarks River National Wildlife Refuge,
• $1,400,000 for Cold Hill Road,
• $995,000 for Craigs Creek Road,
• $1,500,000 for Daniel Boone Parkway between mileposts 37 and 44,
• $2,000,000 for Brent Spence Bridge replacement I-75 and I-71 near Cincinnati,
• $375,000 for work at I-75 Exit 11,
• $2,500,000 for Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges project,
• $885,000 for Kentucky Scenic byways (Country Music Highway, Wilderness Road Heritage Highway, Cumberland Cultural Heritage Highway),
• $30,000,000 for work Appalachian Development Highway System,
• $4,534,000 for the Kentucky Transportation Department to provide buses, vans, cutaways, and bus facilities in the Commonwealth of Kentucky,
• $1,500,000 for Big South Fork Scenic Railroad enhancement project, and
• $5,000,000 for Southern Kentucky Intermodal Transportation Park.

Quite an impressive haul; however, there is no funding for I-175.

According to this KYTC press release , work has begun to the last section of the new four lane Paris Pike connecting Lexington and Paris. This road is US 27 and US 68 and should be completed by November 2003.

The KYTC has released this information  regarding a planning study for improvements to US 25 in Boone County.

Nine possible routes have been picked in the Evansville area according to this Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer article  (no longer online). The routes include routes using I-164 east of Evansville and new terrain routes west of Evansville. Some would like to see I-69 be built west of Evansville to relieve truck traffic from industrial areas along the Ohio River in Posey County.

Maps of the study areas can be found on www.i69in-ky.com .

The Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer reports in this article  that work on the Natcher Bridge is progressing well. Only three sections of the deck remain to placed, and they should be in place by the first of the year. The bridge and approaches are expected to be complete around the end of July.

MyInKy.com reports in this article  (no longer online) that recent legislation passed by both the U.S. House and Senate allocates $500,000 for right of way purchases for a widening project on US 60 just west of Henderson. Updated plans for the project will be shown to the public at a Kentucky Department of Highways open house from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 20, at the South Middle School gymnasium in Henderson.

This Daily New article  reports that community response to an open house concerning improvements US 31W south of Bowling Green was overwhelming positive. Keirsten Jaggers, public information officer for the KYTC’s Bowling Green office said, "the biggest complaint we’ve been getting is that it’s not getting done tomorrow."

This Daily News article  reports that Bowling Green area residents mostly support I-66; however, there remains some concern about damage to the environment and farmland. Among the environmental concerns was the impact this road might have on the area's cave system. State officials expect that I-66 will make use of existing parkways in the region, and a new portion will be part of an outer loop around Bowling Green.

The Courier-Journal reports in this article  that the effectiveness of a program meant to help minority business owners has come into question. The program is designed to help minority owned businesses by requiring that a certain percentage of road project subcontracts to be awarded to such businesses.

Update 12/7/01: Here is a Cincinnati Enquirer  article about the program.

According to this Courier-Journal article  a federal grand jury in Louisville indicted Kevin Lee Earles, 41, on three counts of extortion for allegedly demanding bribes that totaled $18,000. Earles was a KYTC inspector for painting work being done on the Kennedy Bridge in Louisville. He reportedly told a painting-company executive that there was a ''history'' of making payments to inspectors.