Rotary Program: 5/28/03
Speaker(s): John Michael Johnson, Pike County Project Manager - Kentucky
Department of Highways

John Michael Johnson from the Ky. Dept of Transportation returned as he promised the last time he was here to update us on the six-lane project on US 23 North of Pikeville from the Buckley's Creek interchange to the mouth of Cowpen Creek near Mossy Bottom. John Michael brought with him Dan L. Hall, Chief District Engineer, Kevin Damron, Branch Manager of Pre-Construction and Doug Wright, Branch Manager of Construction. He also introduced Gabi Istre and Paul Jones of Jordan, Jones and Goulding, the engineering consultants for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. The aerial photographs and maps for the project were placed on the wall for all of us to observe at our leisure. Paul Slone and Gabi Istre also showed a computer graphic presentation of the traffic patterns that will be anticipated through 2020 on that stretch of US 23.

The six-lane project started as a pavement rehabilitation project to relieve congestion and control the flow of traffic through one of the area's most traveled parts of the highway. With the growth of businesses in the area and access to and from the highway becoming a problem, everyone knew something would have to be done. From the public hearings and committee meetings, it was decided that the six-lane project was the most advantageous of the many alternatives considered. The time of construction, cost of purchasing right-of-way and other logistical concerns made this decision the most desirable of all. Some of the features of the plan include construction of a frontage road from AEP all the way to K-Mart plaza on both sides of the highway, putting traffic signals at strategic locations that would allow left turns and even U-Turns at those locations and re-aligning the entrance to Cowpen Road. All this, of course, is going to present construction delays, snarled traffic, and chaos for awhile, but if we can be patient we should see most of the work finished by Thanksgiving in time for the peak shopping season. Mr. Hall pointed out that most of the day-time construction would involve relocation of storm drains, concrete work on the median and relocation of traffic signs and signals. The actual paving would be done mostly at night when traffic is at its lowest levels. Final completion of all phases of the project will be sometime in the early spring of next year. When finished it will be a modernized highway with three 12-foot lanes on either side of the 12-foot median with turning lanes and traffic signals to channel traffic in and out of the shopping centers more quickly and easily.

From this point the floor was opened to questions from the audience and many responded with questions and concerns, especially those who own or operate businesses in the area. All in all, the discussion was productive and very positive. Thanks to Ky. Dept. of Highways and their consulting teams for the informative program today. We would also like to welcome to the club our newest inductee, Paul Chaney. Paul works as a CPA with Interstate Natural Gas and comes in under the classification of Accounting - Natural Gas Production. Submitted by J. Morgan Chapman