Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday joined local and state officials to ceremoniously break ground on the $30 million Owensboro Riverport KY 331 Improvement Project. He also spoke at the ribbon cutting for the Yellow Banks Recovery Care that opened last month in Owensboro.
The Owensboro Riverport is Kentucky’s largest publicly owned inland port and a domestic and international shipping hub between the Midwest and Southern regions of the United States. It opened for business in 1976, and little improvement has been made to KY 331 since then, despite increased traffic.
The improvement project includes widening two miles of KY 331/Industrial Road and adding a center turn lane in the congested southern industry strip. Rinaldo Road, which is owned by Owensboro Riverport and is the northernmost entry into the riverport, will also be widened to three lanes from KY 331 to the rail loadout.
“(This project) brings the opportunity for more economic growth in this region and increases safety and traffic flow for people living around and traveling by the Owensboro Riverport,” Beshear said. “Across the commonwealth, we are securing infrastructure updates that have only been talked about for decades, and I want to thank folks at the Owensboro Riverport for their partnership in getting this massive project off the ground.”
The $30 million project uses $11,520,000 in Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation; $15,380,885 in state matching funds; and $3,247,793 in local matching funds.
“The Owensboro Riverport Authority Board is excited to see this ‘last mile’ connector of Interstate to river/rail come to fruition for our community and the riverport,” said Owensboro Riverport Authority President Brian Wright. “We are thankful for the continuous support throughout this project from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the USDOT Maritime Administration as we have navigated through a pandemic and encountered many obstacles along the way. To be going into construction is a true testament to the accomplishments that can be achieved through the collaboration and partnerships of federal, state, and local entities.”
Prior to the ceremonious groundbreaking at the Riverport, Beshear local and state officials at the ribbon cutting for Yellow Banks, the newest location run by Addiction Recovery Care (ARC), a faith-based drug rehabilitation organization.
The facility Yellow Banks facility held a partial grand opening last month. Located at 3136 West 2nd Street, it will be able to house up to 300 women once fully operational.
According to a release from Yellow Banks, the facility is “operated and managed by its own staff and has its own peers and culture, brining about camaraderie, safety, and trust, further instilling the peer-to-peer recovery model.”
Beshear said, “There are so many people in this room doing God’s work that get up every day to fight for the lives of people that maybe they’ve just recently met. We have peer support specialists that are here that go back into their own trauma that they might have otherwise left behind just to help that next person who needs it. So many people in this room are the living embodiment that there is hope beyond addiction, that recovery is real, and that there is a better world in front of you.”
Tim Robinson, ARC founder & CEO, spoke generally about how Kentucky is putting a major focus on fighting addiction.
“Kentucky historically may have been ground zero in the opioid epidemic, but make no mistake we’re also ground zero in the national solution. There’s no other state making a bigger effort than Kentucky,” he said. “One of the reasons is whether you’re Republican or Democrat in our state, our leaders have put politics aside when it comes to this issue because it’s too important for our neighbors to get the help they need.”
Robinson cited a report published earlier this summer by Mental Health America. He said Kentucky now ranks No. 1 nationwide in access to adult mental health and substance abuse treatment. He said just 3.5 years ago, Kentucky was ranked No. 32.
“As we think about our beginning 15 years ago, access to treatment in Kentucky was nowhere near what it is today,” he said. “There was so much stigma around substance abuse treatment recovery. It was hard to find bands, and when you did you could end up on a waitlist.”
To ARC completed extensive renovations to the property, initially built as a motel, to provide the best accommodations for its clients. Updates include extensive landscaping, a new outdoor recreation, and a new medical office suite.
The Yellow Banks building was most recently home to OYO Townhouse. ARC completed extensive renovations to the property including extensive landscaping, a new outdoor recreation area, and a new medical office suite.
The recovery center will serve residents across Western Kentucky, tailoring services to each client’s preferences.
Established in 2010, ARC provides, at minimum, a year-long recovery program and has helped almost 27,000 people throughout its program. They boast an 80% success rate in their nationally recognized program, with their participants being sober and employed within two years of completion.
The recovery process also allows clients to get involved in different facets within ARC or the community — from working in food management, office management, maintenance, or the creative team for ARC.
