A stretch of Interstate 65 from the Cemetery Road interchange in Warren County through Simpson County to the Tennessee line will be widened by one lane each way. Although state money is short for highway projects, the I-65 expansion will receive federal funding which almost assures the project.

Thursday, February 26, 2004

Kentucky’s six-year road plan includes some $1.5 billion in scheduled projects over the next two years. However, the General Assembly will only have $100 million each year to fund improvements.
Projects in the six-year plan are listed in phases, and the total costs – including land acquisition, environmental studies and actual construction – are spread over a number of years. Thus, some projects can be started with a minimal amount of funding, while others can be finished.
However, Rep. Rob Wilkey (D-Franklin) asked state Transportation Secretary Clay Bailey if “it is safe to say” that several hundred million dollars’ worth of projects will be delayed. “Yes,” Bailey responded.
Still, plans for the widening of I-65 from the new Cemetery Road interchange in Warren County through Simpson County to the Tennessee state line should continue because it is being funded by federal dollars. The $200 million project is one of three that Gov. Fletcher said he would issue bonds to complete. The Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles bonds allow the state to borrow money for ongoing road projects and pay it back with future federal transportation funds. The legislature must pass a bill to permit the issuance of the $4.5 billion in bonds. The bill is pending.
In addition, two other Simpson County projects are listed in the state’s six-year road plan for 2005 – widening of U.S. 31-W south from 1,260 feet south of the Tennessee line to south of the I-65 interchange and adding a turning lane on Ky. 100 east at the Sanders Industrial Park near I-65. Project costs are $9.826 million for the 31-W expansion and $328,000 for the turning lane.
Improvements to I-65 and U.S. 31-W, where 58 percent of the traffic accidents occur in Simpson County, are getting more attention lately because of several tragic accidents over the past year. At last count, some 35,000 vehicles pass through Simpson County each day on I-65.
The six-year road plan includes $958 million in state projects for 2005 and $585 million in 2006. However, only $200 million is available at this time.
Numerous projects were added to the plan in 2000 by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet in an anticipation of a seven-cent per gallon hike in the fuel tax. But, the hike was never passed by the General Assembly.