Kentucky

[The Ghostbuster]

Maybe they should have left space for the non-freeway segments of New Circle Rd. to be upgraded to freeway standards, when conditions warranted it.

[seicer]

Perhaps. However, when the city built it in 1950-52 between KY 922 and US 25/421, it was two lanes. Right-of-way access was sold to fund construction. The state dualized it in 1958, and the freeway components were completed between 1959 and 1969 (going west, south, east, and north).

[GCrites]

I'm not impressed with it honestly. It's like when Indy and Dayton had their at-grade outerbelts but could tell they wouldn't suffice so they built the interstate ones. Either keep a regular street grid with no outerbelt or have an Interstate-grade one so maybe one day you can return your urban freeways to regular streets and development. These half-assed ones just beg to be turned into stroad hells with crappy development patterns. And it definitely happened in Lexington. Dayton and Indy too but with less traffic since they have alternatives now.

[seicer]

KY 49 Reconstruction

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) in partnership with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is seeking public input regarding proposed improvements to KY 49 in Casey County. The project proposes reconstructing KY 49 at Brush Creek Hill from Hilltop Drive to Lower Brush Creek Road.

The KYTC Project Team has prepared an interactive presentation that may be accessed from April 1st, 2025 until April 30th, 2025. This presentation may be accessed by visiting https://shorturl.at/GDmEK.

Project background information, its purpose and need, along with an interactive mapping depicting the preferred roadway alignment and affected properties. A comment form will be provided at the end of the presentation and everyone is encouraged to complete this form.

[seicer]

Plans for improving State Route 57 through Fleming County between Flemingsburg and Lewis County have been posted: https://transportation.ky.gov/DistrictNine/Pages/KY-57-Fleming.aspx

- This includes minor improvements to State Route 11 at the Flemingsburg bypass.
- This does not include work on a previously improved segment of State Route 57.
- The improved route will be a typical two-lane route with two 12' travel lanes and 8' paved shoulders.
- Curb/gutter and 5' sidewalks could be installed in Mt. Carmel with Alternative 1.

Generally, I favor Alternative 1 as it takes less away from prime farmland and removes the need for a bypass of Mt. Carmel. Not every town needs a bypass, and investing so much into a route that will never have high traffic demands or a high percentage of truck traffic doesn't make sense. Alternative 2 doesn't change anything in Mt. Carmel and deprives the community of sidewalks.

[seicer]

Singing Bridge Replacement Project

After months of analysis and structural assessments, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), in partnership with the City of Frankfort, has started preliminary design for replacing the U.S. 60X 'Singing Bridge' over the Kentucky River downtown. This step marks a major milestone in the future of the 132-year-old structure, which has been closed to the public since August due to significant structural deterioration.

Over the past eight months, KYTC engineers have coordinated with multiple consultant firms and contractors to evaluate the bridge's condition and explore options. Analysis has confirmed that the safest and only option to maintain downtown Frankfort's river crossing is to remove the existing structure and construct a new bridge in its place.

--

As of April 2025:

• Current Phase: Preliminary design underway
• Fall of  2025: First public meeting to share concepts and gather community input.
• Late 2025 – 2026: Final design phase begins, including a second public meeting to present final plans and collect additional feedback
• Construction Phase: To begin following completion of final design (timeline to be determined)

Public Input:

Public engagement will begin in the Fall of 2025 with a public meeting to present preliminary design concepts. A second public meeting will be held during the final design phase to present completed designs and gather further community input before construction begins.

[hbelkins]

During the February river flooding, the Singing Bridge took a couple of direct hits from debris being washed downstream, including from a dislodged marina. That sure didn't help its condition.

That bridge was notable for, among other things, having the last remaining cutout sign in Kentucky 30 years ago. That US 60 cutout was removed sometime after I photographed it between 1995-2000.

[seicer]

Documenting Two of Frankfort, Kentucky's Vanishing and Enduring Bridges

On a rainy, overcast day in Frankfort, Kentucky, I joined Todd Wilson—an award-winning transportation engineer and Carnegie Mellon University graduate—for a tour of historic bridges and tunnels along the Kentucky River valley. Our route took us through a landscape shaped by over a century of civil engineering, where river crossings once defined the movement of goods, people, and the development of the capital city. Chief among our stops were the Broadway Bridge and the Frankfort Railroad Bridge.

[seicer]

Project information: https://richmondroadimprovements.com/

Improvements to Begin for Richmond Road Corridor in Fayette County

LEXINGTON, Ky. (June 25, 2025) – Work starts this week on a $13 million Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) highway improvement project to build safer, more efficient intersections along Richmond Road (U.S. 25) and Athens-Boonesboro Road (KY 418) south of Man O' War Boulevard in Lexington.

Five intersections will be upgraded to Restricted Crossing U-Turns (RCUTs), which are designed to improve safety and traffic flow. An RCUT is a type of intersection used around the country and across Kentucky that's proven to reduce crashes and is highly effective for reducing delays.

Intersections that will be converted to RCUTs include those at Yorkshire Boulevard and Squires Road, Ellerslie Park Boulevard and a new Jacobson Park entrance, Hays Boulevard and a new U.S. 25 connector at Aphids Way, at Athens Boonesboro Service Road, and at Brenda Cowan Elementary School. These will be similar to an RCUT that opened last year at Competition Drive near the soccer complex.

Construction starts Thursday and Friday, June 26-27, when contractors will survey, install traffic control and restripe Richmond Road and Athens-Boonesboro Road to shift lanes over so crews can work alongside the highway. Motorists should expect traffic impacts:

• Thursday: Inbound lanes of U.S. 25 and KY 418 between Man O' War Boulevard and Ashley Woods Road will be restriped. (This includes milepoints 7.8 to 9.7 on Richmond Road and 0 to 1.9 on Athens-Boonesboro Road.)
• Friday: Outbound lanes of U.S. 25 and KY 418 will be restriped in the same area.
• During construction: Two travel lanes will be maintained, but lanes will be narrowed to 10.5 feet wide and the speed limit will be reduced to 35 mph. Temporary alternating single-lane closures will be possible between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. as needed to safely complete the work.

Construction will continue through 2025 and next spring and includes a shared use path and other improvements Work is expected to be complete during the summer of 2026 at which time all traffic will switch to using the RCUT intersections.

Highway engineers began working on Richmond Road corridor improvements several years ago as traffic volumes grew due to residential growth, retail expansion, and a new school and soccer complex, and the area was experiencing heavy traffic congestion and high crash rates at intersections.

The RCUT design, which eliminates left-hand turns from side streets, reduces the number of times vehicles cross paths – or conflict points – at intersections, thereby reducing the likelihood of those severe types of crashes.

In addition, the layout of an RCUT allows for the traffic signal to be operated with only two signal phases. This means that motorists spend less time stopped and waiting for a green signal, promoting freer traffic flow.

Once complete, the RCUT intersections will provide the same traffic movements by accommodating existing main road traffic patterns and establishing a two-stage process for left turns and straight-through movements from the side street. Motorists from side streets turning left or traveling straight across the intersection will turn right to proceed to the custom left turn lane provided to make a U-turn and choose where they want to go.

RCUTs are being incorporated more often in highway projects today to promote a freer and safer traffic flow at intersections, which account for about 45% of all crashes nationwide.

Recent statistics from RCUTs built near Elizabethtown in Hardin County showed injuries were reduced by more than 80 percent. A review of an RCUT installed by KYTC on U.S. 68 in Trigg County has shown a 64.5% decrease in total crashes since the RCUT was completed and a 71% decrease in injuries – exceeding benefits found in a national study, which showed RCUTs reduced crashes by 54% on average.

To learn more about how RCUT intersections work, please visit KYTC's SAFERoad Solutions website at https://transportation.ky.gov/saferoadsolutions/Pages/RCUT.aspx.

The Richmond Road corridor project is being done by L-M Asphalt Partners LTD D/B/A under a $13,228,293 state contract.