6-year road plan released

Guardrails, bridge work, resurfacing slated for county

By Greg Bird
birdman@tmcvoice.com

Approximately $10 million has been allocated to McCreary County road projects in the State Transportation Cabinet’s Six-Year road plan released last week. Though the figure seems impressive, only about $1 million has been set aside for four projects entirely in the county.
The largest allotment in the plan is about $9.5 million for four-miles of resurfacing on KY 92 slated for 2022. The work will be done between mile-points 20 to 25 on the new roadway connecting Pine Knot with Williamsburg.
Included in the plan is $620,000 for work on the bridge over Rock Creek on Old Fidelity Farm Road. $160,000 is dedicated to the design phase, with the remainder slated for construction, which is all allotted for 2020.
Additionally, $341,000 has been allocated to replace three guardrails on sections of Ky-700 (Sandhill Road) in 2026.
Representative Ken Upchurch’s plans to widen U.S. 27 from the park entrance to Whitley City Elementary did not make the cut in this plan, but his other proposed project did receive funding for preliminary staging.
$1.5 million was allocated for the preliminary engineering and environmental study in 2023 for the development of KY-92 from Stearns to Monticello as a scenic route. The plan would call for making the roadway safer by “softening” some of the curves, and installing scenic overlook spots along the route to encourage tourism traffic along the road.
There was also no mention of a proposed bridge over the railroad line in Strunk to help alleviate road blockages from stopped trains.
Upchurch, who represents McCreary, Wayne and a part of Pulaski County, currently sits as the Chair of the House Transportation Committee.