Interstate 71 Corridor Study

[iBallasticwolf2]

I was thinking about parts of I-71 in Kentucky that need widening and I found this useful page detailing everything about it. http://transportation.ky.gov/Planning/Planning%20Studies%20and%20Reports/Qk4_Final_ExecutiveSummary_I-71CorridorStudy_3-13-14%20-%20FINAL.pdf

This is a corridor study about improvments to I-71 in Kentucky such as improving safety, adding capacity, and adding truck climbing lanes. There are mutliple spots on the I-71 corridor that have a large amount of wrecks on it. I-71 within the I-265 loop or AT LEAST the I-264 loop should be widened to 3 lanes in each direction. There are a few spots with steep grades that should have truck climbing lanes. The traffic count on I-71 between I-64 and Zorn avenue is 57,171 which ends up causing a LOS F situation during peak travel hours. I-71 inbetween Zorn avenue and I-264 has a traffic count of 68,100 which is higher than the afformentioned segment. I-71 between I-264 and I-265 has a traffic count of 73, 526 which tests the limits of a 4-lane freeway in a bad way. The afformentioned segments are high-priority in the study. Truck climbing lanes and improvements to safety are also high-priorities. I do not think building a new interchange near KY-47 is all that important and instead improving existing interchanges is a higher-priority. Simple improvments to existing interchanges such as adding separate turn lanes would help greatly as well as signalizing certain busy interchanges. Cable barriers are very important to cut down on crossover accidents. If these improvements are made or at least some then I-71 would be a much safer and less congested corridor.