May 15, 2008

Thursday May 15, 2008

Possible I-75 connector routes released 

by Tyler Young
Jessamine Journal

Six months after a public meeting was held at West Jessamine Middle School, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 7 office has released the possible corridors for a connector between U.S. 27 and I-75.

The study is a three-phase process, with the first phase being the public meeting to get input from residents of Fayette, Jessamine and Madison counties on where they would like to see a connector.

"(The Department of Transportation) had a public meeting where they asked folks what connecting points might be appropriate between those two highways," Peter Beaty, Jessamine County-City of Wilmore Joint Planning Commission chairman, said. "They took that, put it together, and they subsequently have discussed whether those particular points were viable or not. They have come down to just a few that seem viable."

Attendees came up with more than 60 possible corridors.

The second phase saw the study group take those ideas and weed out the ones with design flaws that would hinder the construction or maintanance of the road, including those that were drawn outside the three counties, crossed the Kentucky River more than once or were too long.

The group whittled the options down to 18 corridors, which went into phase three of the study. Those possibilities had seven access points on U.S. 27 and five on I-75 and can be seen on the map on their Web site.

Phase three looked at the access points and eliminated some of the less-practical spots. According to the report, points 1 and 3 on I-75 did not provide an opportunity for expansion past the interstate and were removed from consideration. Point 7 on U.S. 27 was considered too far south for sufficient traffic to get use out of the connector.

After phase three, there were three possible access points left on U.S. 27 and two possible on I-75 that would be the most feasible for a connector, which makes for six corridors. All three of the points on U.S. 27 are on the eastern side of Nicholasville's Main Street and overlap the proposed eastern bypass.

The connecting points on I-75 are both in northern Madison County and would eliminate any need to go into Fayette County. According to Beaty, there are several different types of roads that the study group is considering.

"They are looking at a four-lane that would have a multi-use path like a bike path or a walking trail," Beaty said. "They are looking at the possibility of a two-lane and buying the right-of-way for a four-lane if it's needed later on. It also has a multi-use path. Or a single lane with nothing else, or a double-lane without a multi-use path."

Beaty said the current proposal is for a limited-access road with "very few access points."

"They are even talking about a toll road," he said. "They are toying with the idea of creating a toll road - pay a dollar, and how viable would that be.

The study came about in 2005 when the project received $500,000 in federal funds to conduct the study.

The next public meeting will be held June 16 at Eastern Kentucky University.

Anyone interested in reading the report and seeing maps can go to the Kentucky Department of Transportation District 7 Web site at http://www.kytc.state.ky.us/D7/.

http://www.winchestersun.com/public_html/?story_id=13078&module=displaystory