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[hbelkins]

Widening is dictated generally by traffic counts, not occasional snowfalls and an accident that is exaggerated by vehicles driving on the shoulder and going off the edge of the highway. The roadway, from what I've read, froze very quickly because of wet roadways, quick snow bursts, and rapidly dropping temperatures, and no amount of widening would have resolved the fundamentals.

Related, why did so many receive the government notice? I had all of my alerts turned off on my phone yet I received one - at around 10:30 PM - despite living 2.5 hours east. My friend in Pikeville also received one at a different time. What a good way to get people to ignore these alerts than by sending them out to everyone?

The alerts went off in my area as well (I have them disabled on my phone so I didn't get them). Kentucky Emergency Management tried to explain why they sent the alerts statewide today via social media posts.

[seicer]

I saw that - it wasn't even an apology, and people are seemingly fine with getting woken up at 3 AM (some were receiving them in the middle of the night) with alerts that don't even pertain to them.

[triplemultiplex]

I'm not sure what upgrades are needed between the Natcher and E-town. The biggest upgrade on the segment between the Pennyrile and the Natcher (this future I-569) is the toll booth cloverleaf at US 431/KY 70. The old toll booth cloverleaf at Leitchfield has already been converted to a diamond.

Though they didn't bother upgrading all of the old tollbooth clovers before signing I-165.  Still a couple of those lingering even though 165 has been posted for years.

[bandit957]

I know we're running out of 2-digit numbers, but I still think I-58 might be suitable for the Western Kentucky and Bluegrass parkways. It could have included the Purchase and I-155 into Missouri too. This makes more sense than the I-69 stuff does.

[jnewkirk77]

I know we're running out of 2-digit numbers, but I still think I-58 might be suitable for the Western Kentucky and Bluegrass parkways. It could have included the Purchase and I-155 into Missouri too. This makes more sense than the I-69 stuff does.

I'm still rooting for extending I-71 down 65 and the WKP to 69, then south to Hopkinsville. If you look at a map of 71, all the way from Louisville to Cleveland, such an extension fits the diagonal path.

[The Ghostbuster]

If Kentucky wanted the WKP to be an extension of Interstate 71, they would have proposed that number instead of 569. As for making it Interstate 58, I could support that on one condition: that both the Western Kentucky Parkway and the Bluegrass Parkway be made part of 58.

[seicer]

I had the opportunity to speak with NPR member station WBUR Here & Now about the Brent Spence Bridge, with the audio available at https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2023/01/04/brent-spence-bridge-kentucky. Some of my interview was snipped for time, including the bipartisan nature of this project (which is similar to the Ohio River Bridges Project) and the factions that opposed it in part or whole. I updated http://bridgestunnels.com/location/brent-spence-bridge/ with new project information and added http://bridgestunnels.com/2023/01/04/compansion-crossing-of-the-brent-spence-bridge-gets-major-funding-boost/ as a companion article for today.

(Crossposting to the Ohio forum.)

[jrStudios]

GOOD NEWS: Kentucky has a whole archive of highway plans. They can be located here:
https://transportation.ky.gov/Program-Management/Pages/Historic-SYP-Highway-Plans.aspx

Also, they are going to potentially widen the Gene Snyder down to Bardstown Road around in 2024 to 2026.

[milbfan]

Curiosity/not complaint:

What are the projections on how long it will take to reconstruct KY 805 near Fleming-Neon?  Traveled on it last week and looks like a big job ahead of them.

[hbelkins]

Curiosity/not complaint:

What are the projections on how long it will take to reconstruct KY 805 near Fleming-Neon?  Traveled on it last week and looks like a big job ahead of them.

Flood damage?

[milbfan]

Curiosity/not complaint:

What are the projections on how long it will take to reconstruct KY 805 near Fleming-Neon?  Traveled on it last week and looks like a big job ahead of them.

Flood damage?

Aye, sir.  Traveled on it before, with part of a lane washed away.  This time they were redirecting traffic onto a skinny road to get around it.

[hbelkins]

Curiosity/not complaint:

What are the projections on how long it will take to reconstruct KY 805 near Fleming-Neon?  Traveled on it last week and looks like a big job ahead of them.

Flood damage?

Aye, sir.  Traveled on it before, with part of a lane washed away.  This time they were redirecting traffic onto a skinny road to get around it.

They'll be fixing damage from the July 2022 flooding this time next year.

[hbelkins]

It is my sad duty to inform the readers of this forum that the two remaining first-generation Mountain Parkway route markers (circular signs with the arched Bert T. Combs notation installed separately) have been removed from downtown Salyersville.

To my knowledge, this leaves only one of those old-style markers remaining, at the intersection of Main Street and KY 11/KY 52 in Beattyville, and one second-generation (old logo in a white square sign) on KY 627 US 60 at the intersection of Maple Street and West Lexington Avenue in Winchester.

[Rothman]

It is my sad duty to inform the readers of this forum that the two remaining first-generation Mountain Parkway route markers (circular signs with the arched Bert T. Combs notation installed separately) have been removed from downtown Salyersville.

To my knowledge, this leaves only one of those old-style markers remaining, at the intersection of Main Street and KY 11/KY 52 in Beattyville, and one second-generation (old logo in a white square sign) on KY 627 at the intersection of Maple Street and West Lexington Avenue in Winchester.

On my way...

[seicer]

Detailed plans for the Mountain Parkway expansion to Prestonsburg are now available at https://mtnparkway.com/magoffin-floyd-section/

[plain]

Good stuff.

I had a feeling they were going to go for a new alignment. It's definitely going to be costly. Will it be tolled?

[Life in Paradise]

Good stuff.

I had a feeling they were going to go for a new alignment. It's definitely going to be costly. Will it be tolled?

Since KY doesn't have any toll roads currently (outside of the bridges around Louisville), I would think there would be no toll here.

[seicer]

No tolls. There will be ramps at US 460 in Salyersville but not an interchange - so the at-grade will still persist. To the east, there will be an intersection for old KY 114, and the new alignment will split to the north and remain fully controlled access with no intersections to KY 114 closer to Prestonsburg. It will be (if I recall correctly) 13 miles between the west and east terminus.

[bandit957]

Here's a Kentucky signage memory that I don't think has been mentioned before.

I could swear that the BGS for the exit off I-75 near the Kentucky Horse Park used to have what looked like a state route shield with a horse in it. I think it was the exit for KY 1973. In addition to the elliptical KY 1973 shield, the BGS also had an elliptical shield with a horse instead of a number.

I think this was in the 1980s and may have lasted into the 1990s.

[wriddle082]

Here's a Kentucky signage memory that I don't think has been mentioned before.

I could swear that the BGS for the exit off I-75 near the Kentucky Horse Park used to have what looked like a state route shield with a horse in it. I think it was the exit for KY 1973. In addition to the elliptical KY 1973 shield, the BGS also had an elliptical shield with a horse instead of a number.

I think this was in the 1980s and may have lasted into the 1990s.

I remember this too, but it was at the northern 64/75 split on all of the 75 north BGSs.  I thought of it as the Kentucky Horse Park’s logo at that time, and thought it was quite strange to see it on a BGS whose primary function was to direct traffic to I-75 north.  But in general, KTC’s signage was horrible throughout the 1980’s and never really got better until the 2010’s.

[hbelkins]

There's a bill proposed in the Kentucky House of Representatives to legalize automated (camera) speed enforcement in work zones. It was introduced by a legislator from my area, who's a retired state trooper. Kentuckians for Better Transportation, an organization that constantly lobbies for gas tax increases, is in support of this bill.

I generally am not a fan of traffic enforcement, and definitely do not support automated enforcement. Many construction contracts have specific subcontracts to pay for in-person enforcement. My position has always been that if speed enforcement is such a vital issue, let law enforcement agencies prioritize it and use resources there instead of in other areas. Personally, I'd rather have cops parking near the homes of known drug dealers or doing high-saturation patrols in violent high-crime areas than doing speed enforcement.

[Rothman]

There's a bill proposed in the Kentucky House of Representatives to legalize automated (camera) speed enforcement in work zones. It was introduced by a legislator from my area, who's a retired state trooper. Kentuckians for Better Transportation, an organization that constantly lobbies for gas tax increases, is in support of this bill.

I generally am not a fan of traffic enforcement, and definitely do not support automated enforcement. Many construction contracts have specific subcontracts to pay for in-person enforcement. My position has always been that if speed enforcement is such a vital issue, let law enforcement agencies prioritize it and use resources there instead of in other areas. Personally, I'd rather have cops parking near the homes of known drug dealers or doing high-saturation patrols in violent high-crime areas than doing speed enforcement.

This kind of law is moving its way state-to-state.  Sort of inevitable that it will be implemented.

[seicer]

While I do not favor broad, automated traffic enforcement, I found work zone cameras to be great equalizers in enforcing speed limits through active work zones. There has been a good number of high-profile accidents in the work zones between Charleston and Huntington, WV, which include long "cattle chutes," shifting lanes, rough driving surfaces, and water on the roadway. I try to keep it at 55 MPH through the work zones but have been nearly rear-ended by people wanting to zip through active work zones. There are no areas for police to sit and patrol - and nowhere for them to pull people over.

[Dirt Roads]

There's a bill proposed in the Kentucky House of Representatives to legalize automated (camera) speed enforcement in work zones. It was introduced by a legislator from my area, who's a retired state trooper. Kentuckians for Better Transportation, an organization that constantly lobbies for gas tax increases, is in support of this bill.

I generally am not a fan of traffic enforcement, and definitely do not support automated enforcement. Many construction contracts have specific subcontracts to pay for in-person enforcement. My position has always been that if speed enforcement is such a vital issue, let law enforcement agencies prioritize it and use resources there instead of in other areas. Personally, I'd rather have cops parking near the homes of known drug dealers or doing high-saturation patrols in violent high-crime areas than doing speed enforcement.

This kind of law is moving its way state-to-state.  Sort of inevitable that it will be implemented.

While I do not favor broad, automated traffic enforcement, I found work zone cameras to be great equalizers in enforcing speed limits through active work zones. There has been a good number of high-profile accidents in the work zones between Charleston and Huntington, WV, which include long "cattle chutes," shifting lanes, rough driving surfaces, and water on the roadway. I try to keep it at 55 MPH through the work zones but have been nearly rear-ended by people wanting to zip through active work zones. There are no areas for police to sit and patrol - and nowhere for them to pull people over.

That's my understanding.  But some DOTs do have frequent "Emergency Pull-Off" zones located in construction zones, which also allowed for police enforcement activities (NCDOT has been doing this along I-40 in recent years, but I don't recall seeing those along the I-85 North widening not-so-long-ago).  The other issue is that placement of troopers inside the construction barricades with their lights flashing has led to traffic slowing down at the beginning of the work zone, but zooming through the rest.  That strategy now requires a trooper located along with each individual contractor crew along the way.  But if camera-based toll collection doesn't provide the necessary outcome, I wonder how effective that camera-based speed enforcement in construction zones will be.

[D-Dey65]

Any plans to get rid of this sign obstruction on I-75?
https://www.aaroads.com/guides/i-075-north-walton-ky/#gallery-38