After years of waiting and wondering if it would ever happen, it appears work will begin this spring on a route that will allow drivers to travel north of Danville between Ky. 33 and Ky. 34.
The proposed Ky. 2168 connector, which would effectively be a northeast bypass route, has been in the state's plans for more than a decade, but work should finally start in May.
In an email, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokeswoman Natasha Lacy said the state likely will begin the bidding process for the project in April.
Lacy said the state is wrapping up right-of-way acquisitions and the securing of necessary easements, which has cost about $805,000 so far. The state has purchased 58 acres of land and is awaiting the signing of one deed, while another parcel is in condemnation proceedings.
Although there will be some relocation of utilities, Lacy said that is not expected to delay the project to the extent it did with the U.S. 27 project under way in Garrard County. According to Lacy, construction on the Boyle connector, expected to cost about $11 million, should take about a year and a quarter to complete.
Once the road is finished, traffic headed toward Danville on Ky. 34 will split near the intersection with Waterworks Road. Drivers will be able to continue northwest all the way to Ky. 33 just north of Danville Christian Academy. The road will hook up there with the portion of Ky. 2168 that already connects to U.S. 127.
The plans show another access point for traffic at the intersection of the current Ky. 34 and Goggin Lane. Lacy said there is no traffic signal planned for the intersections of the current Ky. 34 and the realigned Ky. 34.
The new road will be two lanes but will include rights of way on both sides for a four-lane road like the current portion of Ky. 2168.
Planning for the connector at the state level began in 1996, and some form of the project has been included in the state's six-year highway plan ever since. Funding for items in the extended planning documents isn't always allocated, but it appears the project has made the cut this time.
Local officials have been among those closely monitoring the situation in Frankfort.
Last month, Boyle County Judge-Executive Harold McKinney visited the state capital with other local leaders to inquire about funding and heard the project is a go.
McKinney said he is confident the construction can move quickly once a contractor is chosen because of the relative lack of obstacles involved in building on open pasture land. McKinney hopes part of the road will be ready by the time the vice-presidential debate is held at Centre College in October.
“This does a lot of things, but one of the biggest ones is it opens up a new route to Lexington for the whole western part of our county, as well as Washington and Marion County,” McKinney said.
Jody Lassiter, president and chief executive officer of Danville-Boyle County Economic Development Partnership, worked with Transportation Cabinet Secretary Michael Hancock during the Gov. Paul Patton administration and arranged and attended the meeting in Frankfort. Word that the project is expected to be a part of the highway plan that will be presented to the General Assembly for the upcoming year was welcome news for Lassiter and others who recruit business and industry.
Lassiter believes he can promote the connector as a convenient west-to-east route to Lexington for freight trucks departing industries on the Danville bypass. He said a new route from Ky. 34 to the soon-to-be-finished four-lane U.S. 27 in Garrard County will improve access to Bluegrass Airport in Lexington.
Both McKinney and Lassiter said one of the major benefits of the new road is diversion of truck traffic that currently tries to navigate narrow streets like Wilderness Trail and negotiate difficult turns like the one at Third Street and Lexington Avenue.
"The biggest thing is the safety concerns you have when you see these big trucks rolling through town and you have pedestrians and kids on bikes along the same roads,” McKinney said.
Lassiter said he will support Danville City Commission passing an ordinance, once the road is complete, to prohibit non-delivery truck traffic from using downtown streets.¿Heavy freight traffic would be directed to the bypass or connector road instead.
The proposed Ky. 2168 connector, which would effectively be a northeast bypass route, has been in the state's plans for more than a decade, but work should finally start in May.
In an email, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokeswoman Natasha Lacy said the state likely will begin the bidding process for the project in April.
Lacy said the state is wrapping up right-of-way acquisitions and the securing of necessary easements, which has cost about $805,000 so far. The state has purchased 58 acres of land and is awaiting the signing of one deed, while another parcel is in condemnation proceedings.
Although there will be some relocation of utilities, Lacy said that is not expected to delay the project to the extent it did with the U.S. 27 project under way in Garrard County. According to Lacy, construction on the Boyle connector, expected to cost about $11 million, should take about a year and a quarter to complete.
Once the road is finished, traffic headed toward Danville on Ky. 34 will split near the intersection with Waterworks Road. Drivers will be able to continue northwest all the way to Ky. 33 just north of Danville Christian Academy. The road will hook up there with the portion of Ky. 2168 that already connects to U.S. 127.
The plans show another access point for traffic at the intersection of the current Ky. 34 and Goggin Lane. Lacy said there is no traffic signal planned for the intersections of the current Ky. 34 and the realigned Ky. 34.
The new road will be two lanes but will include rights of way on both sides for a four-lane road like the current portion of Ky. 2168.
Planning for the connector at the state level began in 1996, and some form of the project has been included in the state's six-year highway plan ever since. Funding for items in the extended planning documents isn't always allocated, but it appears the project has made the cut this time.
Local officials have been among those closely monitoring the situation in Frankfort.
Last month, Boyle County Judge-Executive Harold McKinney visited the state capital with other local leaders to inquire about funding and heard the project is a go.
McKinney said he is confident the construction can move quickly once a contractor is chosen because of the relative lack of obstacles involved in building on open pasture land. McKinney hopes part of the road will be ready by the time the vice-presidential debate is held at Centre College in October.
“This does a lot of things, but one of the biggest ones is it opens up a new route to Lexington for the whole western part of our county, as well as Washington and Marion County,” McKinney said.
Jody Lassiter, president and chief executive officer of Danville-Boyle County Economic Development Partnership, worked with Transportation Cabinet Secretary Michael Hancock during the Gov. Paul Patton administration and arranged and attended the meeting in Frankfort. Word that the project is expected to be a part of the highway plan that will be presented to the General Assembly for the upcoming year was welcome news for Lassiter and others who recruit business and industry.
Lassiter believes he can promote the connector as a convenient west-to-east route to Lexington for freight trucks departing industries on the Danville bypass. He said a new route from Ky. 34 to the soon-to-be-finished four-lane U.S. 27 in Garrard County will improve access to Bluegrass Airport in Lexington.
Both McKinney and Lassiter said one of the major benefits of the new road is diversion of truck traffic that currently tries to navigate narrow streets like Wilderness Trail and negotiate difficult turns like the one at Third Street and Lexington Avenue.
"The biggest thing is the safety concerns you have when you see these big trucks rolling through town and you have pedestrians and kids on bikes along the same roads,” McKinney said.
Lassiter said he will support Danville City Commission passing an ordinance, once the road is complete, to prohibit non-delivery truck traffic from using downtown streets.¿Heavy freight traffic would be directed to the bypass or connector road instead.
