transportation

Two Kentucky Transportation Cabinet highway safety improvement projects on US 60 and KY 32 in Rowan County will require temporary road closures next week.

US 60 closed Tuesday, June 18 @ Lakeside Christian

Beginning at 6 a.m. Tuesday, June 18, contractors will close US 60 near Lakeside Christian Academy (milepoint 5.4) to trench across the roadway and install a new drainage system underneath it. The road will remain closed to all traffic for at least 12 hours, or until work is complete.

Due to excessive rain, the closure and paving Saturday of two I-64 access ramps at the US 60 interchange (Exit 181) at Coalton in Boyd County has been rescheduled for Monday, June 10.

Beginning about 7 a.m. Monday, contractors will pave the circular ramps – the I-64 westbound off ramp to US 60, and the I-64 eastbound on ramp from US 60. Each access ramp will be closed for several hours for the work, up until about 7 p.m. Electronic message boards will be used to notify traffic of closures. Motorists may use the following detours:

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is seeking public input on proposed Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) goals to ensure certified businesses can compete fairly for federally-funded transportation projects.

The Cabinet’s Office for Civil Rights and Small Business Development (OCRSBD) is developing an annual DBE participation goal, in collaboration with the Federal Highway Administration. Once approved, the goal will be in effect for three years beginning Oct. 1, 2020.

Contractors expect to start a $1.8 million Transportation Cabinet highway safety improvement project on KY 158 in Rowan County next week.

The project includes several types of safety enhancements such as tree removal and roadside slope reductions for better crash recovery, culvert extensions to widen roadway shoulders, new highway signage, and curve revisions that will add banking in several areas, as well as ditch work and other maintenance.

The work will take place on KY 158 between the Fleming-Rowan county line and the KY 32 intersection, from the 0 to 3 mile markers.

Work to rebuild the KY 111 bridge over a branch of Hillsboro Creek in Fleming County has been delayed, and the highway will remain closed longer than anticipated.

Contractors began the KY 111 bridge project in early April at mile marker 7.6 just north of the KY 1515 (Orchard Road) intersection between Poplar Plains and Hillsboro, closing the road to remove the old superstructure and place new steel beams and construct a new concrete driving surface.

Contractors expect to begin joint repairs today, Monday, April 22, on I-64 over the Tygarts Creek bridges near Olive Hill just west of Exit 161.

Motorists should expect one-lane traffic across the bridges – the right lane will close first, followed by the left lane – during work hours, approximately 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day for the next couple of weeks.

In May, painting contractors will mobilize to paint bridge beams underneath each of the bridges.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has awarded improvement projects totaling almost $3.4 million for eight bridges Bath, Fleming, Carter, Boyd and Greenup counties.

Work on the projects will start soon, and will require temporary closures of the structures to expedite the projects and move Kentucky forward in its goal to rehab, repair or replace 1,000 bridges in six years.

The following Bridging Kentucky projects were awarded in February and March:

BATH COUNTY

A Kentucky Transportation Cabinet bridge painting and repair project totaling nearly $2 million will start next week along I-64 in Carter and Rowan counties.

Contractors will begin joint repairs Tuesday, April 9, or Wednesday, depending upon weather, on the I-64 bridges over the Little Sandy River east of Grayson.

Motorists should expect one-lane traffic across the bridges – the right lane will close first, followed by the left lane – during work hours, approximately 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day.

Contractors will improve five northeast Kentucky highway bridges through a $700,000 state Transportation Cabinet project now under way.

Improvements include a new concrete driving surface and waterproofing on the following bridges:

Fleming County: the KY 3304 bridge over Rock Lick Creek (milepoint 2.7)

Lewis County: the KY 59 bridge over Dry Run Creek (milepoint 23)

Lewis County: the KY 377 bridge over Kinniconick Creek (milepoint 8.5)

Greenup County: the KY 7 bridge over Little White Oak Creek (milepoint 3.6)

The Nada Tunnel in Powell County, located on KY 77 at milepoint 2.2, will be closed overnight on Tuesday, March 19, for an inspection.

The road will be closed to all traffic starting at 7 p.m., and should reopen to traffic by 7 a.m. the following morning. The tunnel will be inspected as part of the National Tunnel Inspection Program.

State snow plow and salt truck crews are prepared for another weekend of winter weather duty across northeast Kentucky.

Kentucky Department of Highways District 9 crew members in Bath, Boyd, Carter, Elliott, Fleming, Greenup, Lewis, Mason, Nicholas and Rowan counties prepped equipment today, and are on call to start work as needed Saturday night – depending on the timing of an expected winter storm.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has announced the anticipated rollout of the state’s new identity credentials, slated to become available gradually in counties beginning in March 2019 through spring.

The Cabinet is spearheading the Confident Kentucky initiative to offer two new license, permit and personal ID card versions applicants can choose from the next time they are due to renew existing credentials at their local Circuit Court Clerk office.

The credential Kentuckians rely on most to verify their identities will undergo major upgrades in 2019 to enhance security and to keep travelers on the move.

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) officials have announced the launch of the Confident Kentucky initiative to improve the security of state driver’s licenses and introduce a new Voluntary Travel ID credential that meets federal standards to board U.S. flights and enter select federal facilities.

Residents of Menifee County are invited to attend a public informational meeting to discuss a proposed rockfall mitigation project on KY 1274 near Cave Run Lake.

The meeting will be held Thursday, Aug. 16, from 5-7 p.m. at the Menifee County High School cafeteria. It will be an “open house” format meeting with no formal presentation.

Motorists should watch for temporary lane closures on I-64 for bridge inspections this week in Bath, Rowan and Carter counties.

Beginning Tuesday, July 17, contractors will inspect bridges on I-64 between Mt. Sterling and the Rowan County line in Bath County around mile markers 118, 120, 122 and 129.

On Wednesday, July 18, contractors will inspect bridges in Carter County near Olive Hill at mile marker 161.

This summer’s not only bringing high heat, but also nearly $8 million in new blacktop and other state highway repairs to northeast Kentucky.

In May and June, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet awarded 18 contracts for road and bridge work in Bath, Boyd, Carter, Elliott, Fleming, Greenup, Lewis, Mason, Nicholas and Rowan counties totaling $7,628,196.55.

Within a few weeks, three new sections of access road will open in the Restaurant Row Segment of the Mountain Parkway Expansion project.

The opening of these roads, along with bridge construction nearby, paves the way for the next phase of the project: expanding a busy 2.4-mile section of the Mountain Parkway to four lanes.

By early July, three new roads will open to traffic:

Survey crews will be working along US 60 in eastern Rowan County next week collecting data for an upcoming highway safety improvement project.

Beginning Monday, June 25, and continuing through Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day, employees of Gresham, Smith and Partners (GS&P) will survey drainage pipes under US 60 as well as under driveways and side roads along the highway between Hays Crossing and the Carter County line.

With a renewed focus on safety and protecting critical transportation assets, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is launching Bridging Kentucky – a statewide bridge program that will rehabilitate or replace more than 1,000 bridges.

Motorists should watch for lane closures and increased traffic restrictions along KY 32 in Rowan County in the coming days as work ramps up at two Morehead intersections that are among the region’s highest crash rate locations.

Improvements include right turn lanes on KY 32 at the Fraley Drive-Pinecrest intersection just east of the I-64 interchange as well as lane separator curbs there and at KY 32 at West Main Street in downtown Morehead.

Interstate motorists should watch for lane closures along 10 miles of I-64 in Bath County during the next several months for a $1.2 million bridge painting project.

Beginning Saturday, March 3, contractors will close one lane of I-64 westbound across the I-64 bridge that spans Slate Creek at mile marker 118 while crews paint the steel beams underneath.

Parents, teachers and buses leaving Magoffin County High School will have another connection to the Mountain Parkway when road work near the school is completed.

After continued conversations with local leaders and school officials during construction of the Mountain Parkway Expansion, roadway designers are adding a new access point that will improve traffic flow in the area. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has updated its design for the Restaurant Row Segment of the project to include a right-turn-only option for traffic departing the school and heading east.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet announced that highway repair projects in Mason, Lewis and Carter counties have received $360,690 in Rural Secondary Emergency Funds.

In Mason County, $19,500 will be used for flood damage and storm debris removal costs on Germantown Road (KY 3056) along Lawrence Creek. This is a 25 percent match on a federal Natural Resources Conservation Service grant.

In Lewis County, $158,950 will be used for slide repair costs on KY 989 (Salt Lick Road) about 2.5 miles east of the KY 3310 intersection.

Putting “safety first,” the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) today presented the 2018 Recommended Highway Plan for the next six years that includes a record $1 billion in funding to repair bridges and pavements in the FY 2018-FY 2020 biennium.

Below zero temperatures didn’t keep District 9 snow plow crews from their appointed rounds overnight.

Crews in Bath, Boyd, Carter, Elliott, Fleming, Greenup, Lewis, Mason, Nicholas and Rowan counties pushed as much snow as they could off back roads, cleaned up Priority A route medians and shoulders, replaced plow blades and did other maintenance work.

State snow-fighters are preparing for more snow tonight even as they finish plow operations after a round of light snow blanketed northeast Kentucky early this morning.

Preliminary figures indicate highway fatalities in Kentucky declined in 2017 to 770, down from 834 in 2016.

According to the Kentucky Office of Highway Safety (KOHS) and the Kentucky State Police (KSP), this is Kentucky’s first roadway fatality decrease since 2013, when 638 fatalities were recorded.

KOHS Executive Director Dr. Noelle Hunter commends Kentuckians for taking responsibility behind the wheel.

Kentucky Emergency Management (KYEM) activated the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) in response to the winter weather storm crossing the Commonwealth. 

The SEOC activated at a Level 4, which consists of KYEM personnel monitoring the weather system.  Additional state and private sector partners will be present during the continuing activation on Friday and thereafter as needed.