Local and state officials on Tuesday indicated which three road projects they want to prioritize for Daviess County. At the top is the construction of an interchange at HWY 231/U.S. 60 in Maceo near the William H. Natcher Bridge, with officials saying it would alleviate traffic and increase safety.
Members of the Owensboro-Daviess County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and the Kentucky Transportation Cabint (KYTC) met Tuesday to discuss potential road projects, which are ranked based on a point system. The MPO and KYTC can both “boost” three projects by 15 points each to move them up the ranking list.
Both organizations boosted the interchange project, moving it from 7th to 1st on the priority list.
KYTC District 2 Chief District Officer Deneatra Henderson said they picked some projects they “absolutely want to sponsor,” with the first being the interchange.
“There are crashes at that intersection, and when they happen they’re severe and have fatalities. So we submitted that to the safety program in Frankfort to see what we can do,” Henderson said.
Henderson said project team members looked into a potential J-turn and a roundabout, both of which were deemed unfeasible for that intersection. She said engineers determined the best solution would be a grade-separated interchange, such as can be found on a parkway or interstate.
“With the amount of traffic that goes through that intersection, that’s what we need to be working towards,” Henderson said.
Daviess County County Engineer Mark Brasher similarly said that intersection is a concern due to the crashes that have occurred there.
It was also briefly discussed that the interchange might see some increased traffic due to the potential Ellis Park expansion, though officials noted there has only been speculation about a specific site and that Churchill Downs Incorporated has only generally announced a future site in eastern Daviess County.
In addition to the interchange, the MPO joined KYTC both used their remaining boosts for the improvement of Fairview Drive from Settles Lane to KY 54 along with the reconstruction of the intersection at Old Hartford Road and Fairview Drive. Those projects are now 2nd- and 4th-highest priority, respectively.
The project now ranked 3rd (previously 1st) is the improvement of KY 54 from U.S. 60 to Bold Forbes Way.
