BULLITT COUNTY, Ky . (WDRB) -- I-65 is starting to look a bit different around Shepherdsville as construction is underway on a new interchange.
Hundreds of trees are in the process of being cleared out and ready to make way for the new roads.
“That's a home run out of the park when you get a new interchange with four ramps,” Shepherdsville Mayor Curtis Hockenbury said.
Initial construction includes excavation of approximately 1 million cubic yards of rock and soil for building the new connector road. The 1.4-mile connector road will extend to Preston Highway to the west and Cedar Grove Business Park to the east.
The exit under construction will be near mile marker 114.
“I don't know if it's daily, but it feels like it’s daily that businesses are calling Shepherdsville to locate right along 65," Hockenbury said. "It’s really a booming corridor."
Cedar Grove is already home to businesses like Amazon and Walmart. The park has over 11,000 full-time employees and an additional 5,000 people work there around the holidays.
Hockenbury said the new interchange is expected to help with congestion.
“It's a known fact to have traffic issues in Bullitt County,” he said. “So with that amount of people moving on these roads, you definitely need to think about moving safely in and out to their places of employment.”
He said that’s increasingly true when new car washes, hotels, banks, restaurants and apartments are all looking to make the area their new home.
“I just envision a place to shop, to stop and shop, and we're going to try to put money in the budget to work with the council for it for economic development for that area,” Hockenbury said.
Until then, Hockenbury is asking for patience, especially when Preston Highway will be partially closed for construction during the summer.
All construction is expected to be complete by November 2020.
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