Kentucky

[dvferyance]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/xjZqT53xASffX3kVA
I see I-69 shields ( not Purchase Parkway ) are up on KY 339 at Wingo now the new ramps are completed there.

Nice to see the shields with the larger numbers pop up again. I am not a fan of the new shields lately with the smaller numbers.

[hbelkins]

Has anybody been through Pikeville lately, since the floods?

On Monday I have to go back to Ohio for work, but have to meet up with my boss in Olive Hill en route to pick up work materials.  Was thinking about taking I-26 and US 23 up into the area instead of I-77 like I have been doing, but I think the Coal Run Village area of Pikeville may have had serious flooding, and I don't want to get in the way of recovery or be in an area where getting fuel will be a challenge.

Don't think it actually ever got over the road.

[Rothman]

Looks like the Pikeville Comic Con is still on.

[wriddle082]

Yeah it looked like business as usual in Pikeville and Coal Run, as if nothing had happened.  I would have stopped to eat at the last Dairy Cheer south of the Cut Through, but I had already eaten at Pal's Sudden Service in Johnson City earlier.

[hbelkins]

Yeah it looked like business as usual in Pikeville and Coal Run, as if nothing had happened.  I would have stopped to eat at the last Dairy Cheer south of the Cut Through, but I had already eaten at Pal's Sudden Service in Johnson City earlier.

I'm not sure what route you took to get to Olive Hill, but there is another Dairy Cheer on KY 321 (old US 23) in Prestonsburg. Not that you'd have been any less full than you were at Pikeville, but it's something to consider next time you're in the area.

[wriddle082]

Yeah it looked like business as usual in Pikeville and Coal Run, as if nothing had happened.  I would have stopped to eat at the last Dairy Cheer south of the Cut Through, but I had already eaten at Pal's Sudden Service in Johnson City earlier.

I'm not sure what route you took to get to Olive Hill, but there is another Dairy Cheer on KY 321 (old US 23) in Prestonsburg. Not that you'd have been any less full than you were at Pikeville, but it's something to consider next time you're in the area.

I ended up just taking US 23 to I-64 west.  I didn't have enough time or patience to see if KY 201 above Paintsville to KY 1 would have been an easier route.  Looks shorter on paper, and I've been on KY 1 and know it's an improved 2-lane north of Webbville, but I have never been on KY 201.

And thanks for the heads up on the Prestonsburg Dairy Cheer location!  I grew up within walking distance of the Ashland "original location" on US 60 and walked there a lot as a kid in the 80's to get something to eat while causing chaos throughout the neighborhood and staying away from home.  After it closed, the building became a veterinary office, and apparently it still is.

[Rothman]

I can't believe the Prestonsburg Dairy Cheer is still open.  Of course, last time I was there was probably when US 23 still went through the heart of Prestonsburg.

[hbelkins]

Yeah it looked like business as usual in Pikeville and Coal Run, as if nothing had happened.  I would have stopped to eat at the last Dairy Cheer south of the Cut Through, but I had already eaten at Pal's Sudden Service in Johnson City earlier.

I'm not sure what route you took to get to Olive Hill, but there is another Dairy Cheer on KY 321 (old US 23) in Prestonsburg. Not that you'd have been any less full than you were at Pikeville, but it's something to consider next time you're in the area.

I ended up just taking US 23 to I-64 west.  I didn't have enough time or patience to see if KY 201 above Paintsville to KY 1 would have been an easier route.  Looks shorter on paper, and I've been on KY 1 and know it's an improved 2-lane north of Webbville, but I have never been on KY 201.

I drove KY 201 from Paintsville to KY 1 either last year or year before last. It's not great, but it's not all that bad, either. Just for fun, I ran Pikeville to Olive Hill on Google Maps and that routing, I-64 to US 23, and some back roads involving taking KY 172 out of Paintsville came in at similar times (2 hours+) so you wouldn't have lost any time taking KY 201.

[Dirt Roads]

I can't believe the Prestonsburg Dairy Cheer is still open.  Of course, last time I was there was probably when US 23 still went through the heart of Prestonsburg.

Same here.  But it was always my favorite in the entire Dairy Cheer chain.  There was something special that they did with blackberry milkshakes that nobody else could duplicate.  My dad thought that I was crazy, so I convinced him to try a blackberry shake there.  He got just as hooked as I was, and sometimes would drive out of his way to stop in Prestonburg.

[jnewkirk77]

From KYTC District 4's Facebook page - construction on the westward extension of the Leitchfield bypass (KY 3155, not 2154 as noted on the map) from KY 259 to US 62 and KY 54 on the city's west side, is about to begin.  Construction of the new $22.77 million roadway, intersections and one roundabout (at 62) is expected to take until the end of 2026.

[seicer]

Another project will also convert a traffic-light-controlled intersection with US 62 east of town on the bypass with a roundabout.

[jnewkirk77]

Another project will also convert a traffic-light-controlled intersection with US 62 east of town on the bypass with a roundabout.

That will be a nice change. I haven't been over that way in quite a while; I need to go and see if they've finished widening/straightening 62 from the bypass into Clarkson yet.  Quite a few improvements there in Grayson County in recent years.

[madbengalsfan85]

Construction signs up on south I-75, from just before Clays Ferry to what looks like south of exit 87. Guessing a resurfacing project?

[seicer]

I-75 Programming Study
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) initiated the I-75 Programming Study, KYTC Item No. 11-1.00, to determine the need for and impacts of widening I-75 in a portion of Whitley County to six lanes, including impacts to mainline I-75 and adjoining interchange operations. The study corridor is shown in Figure ES-1.

[seicer]

KY 169 from North of Clear Creek Rd to North of KY 1967
This is in Woodford and Jessamine counties. It involves potentially rebuilding the 18' roadway to one that includes two 11' lanes with 2' paved shoulders and 6' earth shoulders. The rebuilt roadway would look similar to this section: https://maps.app.goo.gl/ieVPyPJz7kozg8sp6

-


Transportation Cabinet to hold public meeting concerning the widening of New Circle Road/KY 4 in Fayette County
From Trade Center Drive to Woodhill Drive

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 12, 2025) – The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) will hold a public information meeting concerning the widening of New Circle Road/KY 4 in Lexington, Fayette County. The project location is from Trade Center Drive to Woodhill Drive. The purpose of this meeting is to provide an opportunity to review alternates currently being considered for design and to obtain public input.

Transportation Cabinet representatives will be available to receive comments and respond to questions. Handouts containing information about the project, comment sheets and displays will be available at the meeting. The public can attend between 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, March 13, 2025.

The meeting will be conducted in an open format. Interested parties may attend at any point in the meeting's duration, no formal presentation will be provided.

The public meeting will take place 5–7 p.m. on Thursday, March 13, 2025.

The meeting location will be in the Lexington Senior Center, 195 Life Lane, in Lexington, Fayette County.

[plain]

Transportation Cabinet to hold public meeting concerning the widening of New Circle Road/KY 4 in Fayette County

From Trade Center Drive to Woodhill Drive

Is the rail line there still active? That overpass would obviously need to be replaced.

[seicer]

Yes - it's part of R.J. Corman's Lexington lines that serves the William T. Young warehouses (the line itself is the former Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Lexington Subdivision and was essentially abandoned east of Lexington after 1981).

[Georgia Guardrail]

Transportation Cabinet to hold public meeting concerning the widening of New Circle Road/KY 4 in Fayette County

From Trade Center Drive to Woodhill Drive

Is the rail line there still active? That overpass would obviously need to be replaced.

I'd imagine they'd have to.  I don't think there is enough space for a third lane in each direction.  I hope they don't do what they did with the I64/I75 "widening" project and attempt to squish the widened main road under the existing old bridge. 

If only those rail lines weren't active, it would be cool to convert it into a pedestrian bridge.  Turn the warehouses into food halls!  It could be quite the mixed use development area.

[seicer]

US62 Mulberry Improvement Project
General location
Plot board

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet would like to thank those that took the time to attend the Public Information Meeting held at the Elizabethtown Tourism Building on August 13, 2024, or visited our website to complete a questionnaire.  Options were presented for the intersections at Main Street, Ring Road, and I-65.  With feedback from stakeholders and the public, the project team analyzed the costs, benefits, and impacts of each option. The following selections were chosen for final design:

• Main Street – Right-in / Right-out. Restricts left turns from Main Street to US 62.
• Ring Road – Dual Lane Roundabout.
• I-65 – Dog Bone Roundabout Interchange which features a roundabout at each ramp.

The project also includes plans for constructing roundabouts at French Street, Commerce Drive and Howell Drive. It will create a new route for Buffalo Creek Drive to connect to US 62 at Commerce Drive. With the proposed improvements, certain turning movements will be restricted at Pawnee Drive, existing Buffalo Creek Drive, and Executive Drive.

[seicer]

Plantside Drive Extension Study
Orphaned bridge to be used

"The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, in collaboration with Louisville Metro Government and Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency (KIPDA), performed the Plantside Drive Extension Study to identify and evaluate potential concepts to improve connectivity between Rehl Road (CR 1006H) and Taylorsville Road (KY 155) in Louisville."

Regarding the bridge:

"A bridge over Norfolk Southern railroad was constructed between I-265 and Riggs Lake in 2018 at a cost of $1.5 million in preparation for a future extension of Plantside Drive.6 This bridge was constructed to carry four 12-foot lanes of vehicular traffic with bicycle lanes and sidewalks. No approaches have been constructed."

Both concepts will reconfigure the bridge for three lanes with a multi-use path on one side and a sidewalk on the other in accordance with a Complete Streets policy. Projected 2050 traffic counts do not dictate anything more than that.

[seicer]

Greensburg Connector, which will be the KY 61 bypass of Greensburg (Google Map). Roundabouts are proposed for an intersection at KY 61 and at Carlisle Avenue.

• Meeting Handout
• Right-of-way plans: North, South

[roadman65]

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HWXPmBywJ/

Flooding in parts of the state submerge some highways.

[seicer]

This is a moderate flood along the Ohio River, but a near record-breaking flood along the Kentucky River. The spillway gates along the Dix River, which hold back water for Herrington Lake, had to be opened yesterday to lower water levels, which is only adding to the flooding along the Kentucky. Water levels at Frankfort are peaking at 48.27' at Lock No. 4, just shy of the 48.47' levels reached in 1978. The floodwalls at Frankfort are 51' high.

At Gest, it's 59.06' near the record crest of 60.5' set in 1937.

[hbelkins]

It's funny how flooding works. Where I live, at the place where the upper tributary forks of the Kentucky River come together to form the main stem, 1984's flood was much worse than 1978's. And the 2021 and February 2025 floods were much worse than 1984.

[seicer]

KY 4 (New Circle Road) – Fayette County
Woodhill Drive to Trade Center Drive

This project involves the reconstruction of an uncontrolled access portion of KY 4 (New Circle Road) from Woodhill Drive to Trade Center Drive in Lexington.

• Google Maps showing the project length
• Public meeting handout

This project is divided into two sections: from Woodhill Drive to the railroad underpass and from the railroad underpass to Trade Center Drive. It will involve widening the road from four lanes to six 11-foot lanes with a median, curb, and gutter, adding a 10-foot multi-use path on the east side of the road, and an 8-foot sidewalk on the west side of the road. Left turns from entrances and intersecting roadways would be prohibited except at signalized intersections.

At the Woodhill Drive intersection, three alternatives are presented: 

• A grade-separated overpass (with no access from Woodhill Drive to New Circle Road).
• An at-grade right-in/right-out access at Woodhill Drive.

At the Liberty Road intersection, two alternatives are presented:

• A grade-separated Liberty Road overpass with Quadrant Road.
• An at-grade bowtie with two roundabouts.

I am generally in favor of an at-grade right-in/right-out at Woodhill Drive as this preserves access and would reduce conflicting traffic into the side businesses that would be attempting to access that road, and an overpass at Liberty Road with an upgraded Quadrant Road to access Liberty Road.

My only fear is that traffic on New Circle Road south of Palumbo Drive will be speeding along at 55 MPH, causing conflict and accidents with U-turning traffic at the car dealership and strip mall between Palumbo and Woodhill.