US 119

From the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Department of Highways District 12:

PIKE COUNTY – January 12, 2011 – Friday, January 21, at 12:30 p.m. Governor Steve Beshear will join federal, state, and local officials to break ground for Corridor Q, the name given by the Appalachian Regional Commission for new US 460 in Pike County.

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The state is still cleaning up from recent ice and wind storms.

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H.B. Elkins will be hosting an Eastern Kentucky Road Enthusiast Meeting this Saturday, May 21 in Pikeville.

Date and Time:
Saturday, May 21, noon EDT

Location:
Reno's Roadhouse
4053 North Mayo Trail (US 23)
Pikeville, KY 41701
(606) 218-1163
www.renosroadhouse.com  (for location and menus)

After lunch, the group will go on an informal tour of the US 119 reconstruction project north of Pikeville.

For more information or to RSVP, please contact H.B. Elkins at kyroadgeekreply@yahoo.com .

H.B. Elkins will be hosting the Eastern Kentucky-Central Appalachia Road Enthusiast Meeting this coming Saturday, May 21 at noon EDT at Reno’s Roadhouse in Pikeville, Kentucky. Afterwards there will be an informal tour of the US 119 reconstruction project in Northern Pike County. If you are interesting in attending, please RSVP to H.B. Elkins at kyroadgeekreply@yahoo.com .

More information: H.B. Elkins: Eastern KY-Central Appalachian roadgeek meeting -- one-month notice (April 26, 2005) , H.B. Elkins: Eastern KY roadgeek meeting info (May 16, 2005) 

Local, state, and federal officials will gather in Letcher County on April 22 to celebrate improvements to US 119’s crossing of Pine Mountain. The improvements include the widening of shoulders and the addition of passing lanes on the climb up the mountain.

The day’s events will include exhibits at the Pine Mountain Grill and a 11:00am ceremony at the new overlook on US 119.

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Area leaders believe the recent re-opening of the US 119 Pine Mountain crossing to commercial traffic will spark economic growth in Letcher County: WYMT Mountain News: Community Leaders Say Re-Opening of Road Could Spark Economy (Dec. 30, 2004) 

A ban on truck traffic on US 119 over Pine Mountain in Letcher County has been modified to allow many types of truck traffic; however, some restrictions still remain: KYTC Division of Highways District 12: Truck ban lifted on Pine Mountain (Dec. 21, 2004) , Associated Press: State lifts ban on trucks traveling across Pine Mountain (Dec. 21, 2004) 

The last steel beams for new bridges along the US 119 widening project in northern Pike County were placed in November: Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 12: Steel beams for the last of nine main line bridges on new US 119 will go up starting next week. (Nov. 12, 2004) 

Dave Honan  has contributed photographs of several bridges over the Ohio River:

• Illinois Central (Canadian National) Railroad Bridge at Cairo, Illinois
• Illinois Central (Canadian National) Railroad Bridge at Metropolis, Illinois
• CSX Transportation Railroad Bridge at Henderson, Kentucky
• Carl D. Perkins Bridge over the Ohio River at Portsmouth, Ohio
• CSX Transportation Railroad Bridge at Sileam, Kentucky
• CSX Transportation Railroad Bridge at Siloam, Kentucky

Additionally, he has provided several photographs of a section of the US 119 relocation project in Pike County.

You can find more of his bridge and railroad photography on Dave’s website .

Thanks for the contribution Dave!

Gov. Fletcher recently visited the spot improvement project along US 119 over Pine Mountain: Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 12: Governor tours Pine Mountain road project (May 14, 2004) 

Despite recent spot improvements to US 119 over Pine Mountain in Letcher County, vehicles over 30 feet long are still banned from the highway. The ban went into effect March 12, 2001 after a traffic study conducted at the request of the Pine Mountain Task Force.

More information: Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Division of Highway District 12: Press Release (March 11, 2004) 

Ground breaking for the last section of the US 119 widening project in Pike County was celebrated as .Paul Patton Day. on Nov. 22, 2003 to honor the former governor.s contributions to Eastern Kentucky highway projects.

More information: WKYT: It's "Paul Patton Day" in Pike County (Nov. 22, 2003) , Lexington Herald-Leader: In Pike County, they came to praise Patton (Nov. 23, 2003) 

A 20.7 mile project to build to widen US 119 to four lanes from Pikeville to the West Virginia border could be complete in 2006. The project began in 1975. The project cut through three mountains. Nine out of ten sections of the project have seen some construction, and many are now complete. The transportation cabinet is expected to let contracts for the tenth and final segment this month.

More information: Lexington Herald-Leader: The road to completion is getting shorter (Nov. 5, 2003) 

When a 7.2-mile long project to widen and straighten US 119 on Pine Mountain is complete, the state will not plant non-native plant species along the road. The road is near a state nature preserve, so the state plans to take steps to preserve the mountain ecosystem.

More information: Associated Press: Highway area to be safe from exotic plants (Feb. 7, 2003) 

Local residents are concerned about the impact road work on US 119 is having on Pine Mountain in Letcher County. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is currently in the process of straightening several curves on US 119's crossing of Pine Mountain. This work is causing much more of the mountain to be stripped than local residents had expected.

The state plans to be eventually build a tunnel through Pine Mountain. The current road work is a stopgap measure until the tunnel can be constructed.

US 119 over Pine Mountain has been closed to vehicles over 30 feet for over a year because such vehicles were involved in an inordinate amount of crashes.

More information: Daily Independent: Portions of mountain stripped (Jan. 7, 2003) 

The Appalachian Regional Commission  (an agency of the federal government) plans on rebuilding parts of US 119 and US 460 in Eastern Kentucky. Work on US 119 between Pikeville and Belfry in Pike County is currently under way. This road will cut through 6 mountains.

The reconstruction of US 460 in Pike County is another ARC project.

ARC will also be funding a 1.8 mile tunnel through Pine Mountain in Letcher County. The two-lane tunnel will be the 3rd longest vehicle tunnel in the United States.

More information: Herald-Leader: Feds committed to putting roads in Appalachia's most isolated areas (Sept. 7, 2002) 

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has announced the following upcoming public meetings:

• Sept. 9 - Discussion of Upgrades to US 51 in Hickman County 
• Sept. 10 - Discussion of Upgrades to US 51 in Carlisle County 
• Sept. 10 - Replacement of the High Street Bridge 
• Sept. 19 - Construction of a new interchange and rest area on I-75 
• Sept. 24 - US 421 widening in Fayette County 
• Sept. 26 - US 460 Realignment in Morgan County 
• Oct. 7 - US 119 Reconstruction in Letcher County 

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports in this article  that a project to improve US 119 across Pine Mountain will begin this spring; however, trucks will probably still be banned from the highway due to remaining hairpin curves. A project to construct a tunnel through the mountain is being studied, but it may take 20 years to complete such a project.

This Courier-Journal article  and this Herald-Leader article  report that the KYTC will seek money from Appalachian Regional Commission to build a tunnel for US 119 through Pine Mountain in Letcher County.