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6/1/2015
Future road projects list finalized ­ Owensboro Messenger­Inquirer: Local News
Future road projects list finalized
By Steve Vied Messenger­Inquirer | Posted: Monday, June 1, 2015 12:00 am
A local transportation advisory committee has finished prioritizing a long list of future road and street
projects to be built in the next 25 years. Next month, the public will get a chance to weigh in on the
list.
The Technical Advisory Committee of the Owensboro­Daviess County Metropolitan Planning
Organization met Tuesday at City Hall to approve this area's "unscheduled needs" list of projects.
Upgrading the William H. Natcher Parkway to interstate standards emerged as one of the top projects
on the list of nearly 50 projects carrying a total cost of more than $1 billion, when inflation is figured
in the total.
Keith Harpole, associate director for transportation planning for the Green River Area Development
District and the person in charge of drafting the long­range plan on behalf of the committee, said a
hearing will be scheduled during the first half of June at GRADD to allow the public to view the
long­range plan and make comments. Ultimately, the projects will be incorporated into future state
six­year road construction plans, approved by the Kentucky General Assembly.
Designing the upgrades to the Natcher carries an estimated price tag of $11.1 million. The project
could go in a different direction, with specific improvements done based on previous studies of the
four­lane highway regarding what needs to be done to make it an interstate spur linking Interstate 65
at Bowling Green to Owensboro and points north.
The first thing the TAC group did Tuesday was put three projects already on the state's six­year road
plan at the top of the list, at the state's request, Harpole said. Those projects, in order, are the $60
million widening of Kentucky 54 from U.S. 60 toward Whitesville for about three miles. The second
is a $500,000 project to widen and add shoulders to Thruston ­Dermont Road, while the third is a $10
million project to widen Fairview Drive to three lanes from Kentucky 3335 to Kentucky 54.
With that done, the committee approved the placement of its top pick, the Natcher Parkway project,
at No. 4, followed by widening and adding shoulders to Industrial Drive from West Second Street to
a point beyond the Owensboro Riverport Authority, at an estimated cost of $15.5 million. Next at No.
6 is the widening of Grimes Avenue for $1.4 million, followed at No. 7 by another Fairview Drive
project — improving traffic flow and safety from Old Hartford Road to Settles Road — at a cost of
$19.3 million. At No. 8 is extending Fairview Drive to Pleasant Valley Road and the U.S. 60
extension, at a cost of $6.5 million.
The rest of the top 27 projects to be built between 2021 and 2030 and their estimated present costs
are:
9. Extend East Byers Avenue from New Hartford Road to Old Hartford Road, $7.8 million.
10. Reconstruct West 18th Street with center turn lanes from Frederica Street to J.R. Miller
Boulevard, $2.4 million.
11. Reconstruct East 18th Street with center turn lanes from J.R. Miller Boulevard to Breckenridge
Street, $3.25 million.
12. Reconstruct East 18th Street with center turn lanes from Breckenridge Street to Leitchfield Road,
$6.75 million.
13. Minor widening of Southeastern Parkway from Old Hartford Road to U.S. 231, $4.4 million.
14. Major widening of Old Hartford Road from Burlew Boulevard to Breckenridge Street, $7.56
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6/1/2015
Future road projects list finalized ­ Owensboro Messenger­Inquirer: Local News
million.
15. Improvements to Frederica Street for access management and intersection improvements, $5
million.
16. Reconstruct Old Hartford Road with wider lanes and turn lanes where needed, from Harriet Lane
to Burlew Boulevard, $15.95 million.
17. Straighten curves and make minor improvements to East 26th Street, $7.4 million.
18. Minor widening with turn lanes and shoulders on Settles Road, from Kentucky 3143 to Kentucky
1456, $7.35 million.
19. Reconstruct U.S. 231 from South Burton Road to Owensboro Community & Technical College,
$16.6 million.
20. Build an all­new outer loop from Carter Road to the U.S. 60 extension near Maceo, $63 million.
21. Move a portion of East Ninth Street away from the CSX tracks, $3.8 million.
22. Widen Ewing Road lanes to 12 feet, $6.85 million.
23. Improve Pleasant Valley Road from Kentucky 144 (old U.S. 60 East) to near the entrance to
Owensboro Health Regional Hospital, $6.5 million.
24. Widen Southtown Boulevard with continuous center turn lane from J.R. Miller Boulevard to
Frederica Street, $9.8 million.
25. Improve traffic flow on U.S. 60 from Kentucky 279 to Kentucky 331, $18.4 million.
26. Reconstruct Kentucky 56 to add six­foot shoulders from the Kentucky 81 roundabout to
Kentucky 279, $9.4 million.
27. Reconstruct U.S. 60 from the Henderson County line to near Kentucky 1554 at Stanley, $17.3
million.
The remaining projects on the long­range wish list are scheduled for construction during the 2031­40
time period.
Steve Vied, 270­691­7297, svied@messenger­inquirer.com
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