There are a lot of transportation projects–some small, others larger–in the works for both Owensboro and Daviess County. Per the Federal Highway Act of 1962, urbanized areas of 50,000 people or more are required to form a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) that outlines a regional urban transportation planning process.
The Owensboro-Daviess County MPO is led by its designated staff agency–the Green River Area Development District (GRADD). Part of the MPO’s urban transportation process planning includes a Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) — a shorter range program providing a prioritized list of transportation projects over the next six years.
Along with Owensboro’s growth comes a good amount of improvement and construction needed to make the roads in and around the area better and safer for travel. Of the several roads, intersections and bridges included in the MPO’s TIP, MPO Coordinator at GRADD, Tom Lovett, says a handful of them are considered big projects for the local area.
All projects outlined in the TIP are handled through federal funding.
The US-60 West route, between Oakford Loop Road, is being addressed for reconstruction in 2019. Lovett said the reason behind reconstructing that portion of the highway is due to a history of flooding that has occurred in the vicinity of the Kimberly Clark plant, which employees many Daviess County residents. Federal funding in the amount of $2.9 million has been scheduled to go toward the US-60 project.
Another project that’s turned some heads is the widening of KY 54, or Highway 54 as it’s known to most. Lovett said $15 million in federal funds has been scheduled to go toward the widening project, which isn’t scheduled to begin the construction phase until 2024. However, $15 million is scheduled to go toward the right-of-way acquisition between 2019 and 2021. After that phase, utility realignment will begin on the project, with a scheduled $19.17 million going toward it in 2022 and another $13.4 million scheduled toward the project in 2023. $33.75 million in federal funds is scheduled to go toward the project’s construction phase, which is expected to begin in 2024.
Lovett said the KY 54 widening project is a necessity for that area of Owensboro. After driving down Highway 54 at 11:30 a.m. in recent weeks, Lovett said he realized firsthand how bad the traffic situation had gotten along that corridor.
“It is insane,” Lovett said. “That’s where all the business is going.”
In addition to widening KY 54 to include three lanes going both ways, Lovett said the addition of a center median–similar to what’s been implemented on Frederica Street–will allow for traffic to be more streamlined, which will be a significant improvement for that strip.
Another project that’s taken priority is the I-165 spur corridor project, which will modernize the existing Natcher Parkway all the way from the Ohio-Butler County line to the US 60 interchange in Owensboro. The right-of-way acquisition phase for the project is slated for 2019 and is scheduled to receive $200,000 in federal funding. Afterward, the construction phase for the I-165 spur will begin in 2020, and is scheduled to receive nearly $31 million in federal funding.
“Sometime by July we’re supposed to get those signs up [for I-165],” Lovett said. “People will still call it the Natcher, but we’ll have those I-165 signs along the Natcher Parkway. In 2020, we’re supposed to get almost $31 million dollars to re-do the lanes, to do the interchanges.”
Lovett said another big project that’s slated for the city’s center is the reconstruction of the Frederica Street and Parrish Avenue intersection. Federal funds in the amount of $243,000 have been scheduled to improve that area, which Lovett describes as an awkward intersection that could benefit from some realignment.
Offsetting the left turning lanes along KY 2831, installing supplemental signal heads and rebuilding the traffic signal at the intersection are also included in the improvement plan. The construction funds for that intersection were scheduled in 2018, and construction should begin sometime in 2019.
Another intersection slated to see improvements sooner than later is the intersection at US 431 (Frederica Street) and Goetz/Salem Drives, which is where Chick-fil-A is located. In 2018, federal funding for the construction of that area was scheduled at $462,000, and will include turn lane improvements, rebuilding the traffic signal and updating the striping at the intersection.
Lovett added that when it’s possible with roadwork, the Owensboro-Daviess County MPO will incorporate trails along with road work improvements.
“We did a project last year to see where trails were needed,” Lovett said. “We’ll look at the feasibility of this — it’s just a recommendation at this point, not a binding report.”
The MPO is currently accepting public comments regarding their scheduled projects. For those who would like to leave their opinion for officials working with the MPO, or want more information on current and future projects, Lovett encourages the community to view the MPO’s Participation Plan.
