A new connector road, a road safety study and a bridge project in Boyle County are on the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s (KYTC) 2020 Recommended Highway Plan that has been sent to state legislators. The plan prioritizes safety and fast-tracks major regional access projects to improve the quality of life for Kentucky families and boost economic development, according to a news release from the KYTC.

Lawmakers are reviewing the plan, which “delivers on our commitment to invest in long-awaited regional access projects that can open up economic opportunities in rural regions while providing a responsible approach to improving our highway infrastructure statewide,” said Gov. Andy Beshear. “The plan also focuses on highway safety programs and projects designed to make our rural roads and school access safer for our children and families who use these roads every day.”

The highway plan includes a replacement plan for the Chaplin River bridge in Perryville that carries U.S. 68 and U.S. 150. The project was also on the previous highway plan; it has $910,000 in funding from the Bridge Asset Management Fund and $487,797 in federal earmarked dollars, according to the new highway plan.

According to Transportation Cabinet Public Information Officer Natasha Lacy, “Engineers are seeking to replace the bridge deck one side at a time in order for traffic to be maintained throughout construction.”

More information about the bridge replacement will be released soon, she said.

The plan also includes potential funding of $2.08 million in 2024 to design a new road that would connect Ky. 34 on the northeast side of Danville to Ky. 52/U.S. 150 on the southeast side of the city.

This project is “a legislative add-in” Lacy said. “The goal is to relieve some traffic going through downtown via Ky. 34 and U.S. 150,” Lacy explained. “This project is very new and the exact location still needs to be determined through project development and the design process.”

Other Boyle County projects in the highway plan, listed by the year they could be funded or implemented, are:

• 2021 — A planning study to evaluate options for improving safety on Ky. 52 between Danville and Lancaster; $500,000.
• 2022 — Address pavement condition on U.S. 127 from milepoint 0 to milepoint 5.25; a total of $2.301 million.
• 2023 — Install a guard rail along .07 miles of Ky. 37; $15,000.

“Upon a successful vote, we will have an enacted plan,” sometime in April, Lacy said. However, “Updates and changes have been known to occur between the recommended and the enacted highway plan.”

Looking regionally, there are quite a few projects listed in the plan. Casey County projects include:

• 2023 and 2025 — Reconstruct Bell Hill from milepoint 10.4 to 11.9; a total of $4.98 million.
• 2023 — Improve Brush Creek Hill from milepoint 1.8 to 2.8; a total of $1.25 million.

Garrard County project includes:

• 2021-2025 — improve U.S. 127 from west Lancaster bypass to Ky. 34; a total of $38.55 million.

Lincoln County projects include: 

• 2024 — Improve safety and reduce congestion on U.S. 27 from Ky. 1247 to Education Way; a total of $19.3 million.
• 2021 — Improve U.S. 27 from Ky. 590 to Bell Street in Stanford, and includes New Goshen Cut Off Road and major widening; a total of $6.5 million.
• 2025 — Install 0.2 miles of guard rail on Ky. 1781; $43,000.
• 2026 — Install 0.05 miles of guard rail on Ky. 1194; $11,000.
• 2026 — Install 0.17 miles of guard rail on Ky. 1194; $36,000.
• 2026 — Install 0.11 miles of guard rail on Ky. 1194; $24,000.
• 2026 — Install 0.13 miles of guard rail on Ky. 39; $28,000.
• 2023-2025 — Add a new turning lane at Arcadia View Drive; a total of $1.07 million.
• 2023-2025 — New turning lane on U.S. 150 near Hubble Road and Crawford Lane; a total of $500,000.
• 2023-2025 — Add a turning lane on U.S. 150 at Wilderness Road; a total of $540,000.
• 2023 and 2024-2026 — Expand U.S. 27 to four lanes from Stanford Walmart to the Dix River; a total of $40.4 million.

The plan includes an investment of $100 million over two years to improve safety conditions on rural roads through the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). It also would provide $8 million to install more than 100 miles of guard rails across the state, and $367.5 million to accelerate progress on the Mountain Parkway and I-69 Ohio River Crossing projects, according to the news release.