LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration isn’t pushing for more research on a proposed Louisville bypass farther east of the Gene Snyder Freeway.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s two- and six-year spending plans don’t include money for the “regional connector” linking I-71 in Oldham County with I-65 in Bullitt County, crossing large swaths of Shelby and Spencer counties.
An initial $2 million study of potential routes is wrapping up, with a final report expected in March. That work was proposed by former Gov. Matt Bevin’s cabinet in 2018 and approved by lawmakers.
Last summer, state officials ranked an additional $5 million “scoping” study among the top Kentucky priorities for the 2020 highway plan.
The initial study is focused on four routes, according to documents and maps obtained by WDRB News, with total estimated costs to reach as high as $1.24 billion. The least expensive route would cost $625 million.
Backers of a new bypass have said a new connection would aid fast-growing counties outside Louisville and ease congestion on Bullitt County roads like Ky. 44 between Shepherdsville and Mount Washington. They say state officials need to plan now to handle development heading east.
But opponents question the need for an additional bypass, especially since the Snyder Freeway is being widened, and worry about the loss of farmland and other environmental impacts. Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest opposes a new road near conservation land it owns.
While the plan doesn’t include more work on the bypass, it “does include projects that would help improve regional connectivity,” cabinet spokeswoman Naitore Djigbenou said in an email.
Among them, she said, is a $1.825 million reconstruction of Ky. 44 near Bullitt East High School.
The Transportation Cabinet’s spending proposal is the first for the Beshear administration, which took office in December. The General Assembly will craft its own plan in the months to come.
The cabinet described its nearly $2 billion plan through the 2022 fiscal year as a “responsible approach” to making roads safer and more reliable.
The proposal would spend $100 million over the next two years on safety improvements to Kentucky’s rural roads. It includes more than $49.64 million for the expansion of the Mountain Parkway in eastern Kentucky through 2022.
The plan anticipates spending nearly $146.8 million in the next six years to create a plan for an estimated $1.1 billion new Interstate 69 bridge across the Ohio River between Henderson, Ky., and Evansville, Ind. Kentucky and Indiana are splitting costs on the project, which is likely to include tolls.
Reach reporter Marcus Green at 502-585-0825, mgreen@wdrb.com, on Twitter or on Facebook. Copyright 2020 WDRB Media. All rights reserved.
