Kentucky, FHWA Officials Reach Agreement on I-165 Designation
State and federal transportation officials amended on Sept. 4 the William H. Natcher Parkway-I-165 conversion agreement to designate the highway stretching from Bowling Green to Owensboro an interstate before several interchange projects along it are completed.
The Messenger-Inquirer reported late the week of Aug. 27 that negotiations were underway to allow for interstate status before the project was fully complete. Without it, said Kentucky Transportation Cabinet official Deneatra Henderson, the interstate designation could have been delayed. Henderson is chief engineer of District 2.
But speaking at an impromptu press conference at the Owensboro Convention Center on Sept. 5, KYTC Secretary Greg Thomas and the Federal Highway Administration’s Thomas Nelson announced the amendment, saying the original agreement signed last year stipulated that all interstate-grade work on the Natcher had to be under construction or completed for I-165 shields — or signs — to go up.
Kentucky transportation officials announce that the I-165 signs will go up sooner than originally planned. #EWNLocal pic.twitter.com/2DjeSz8KGI
— Mike Pickett (@mikepickett257) September 5, 2018
“But in just listening to the discussion over the last few weeks, we understood the importance of expediting the interstate shielding for I-165,” said Nelson, administrator for the Kentucky division. “So, Secretary Thomas and myself have revised the agreement to move the shielding up a little bit quicker. What we’ve done is modified the agreement to say that the [project] has to be under construction or included in the statewide transportation improvement plan [STIP]. With that, it will make it a little bit quicker for us to get these I-165 interstate signs along the corridor.”
KYTC officials said the $2 million-plus signage project will be let to bid after the state highway improvement plan is approved in Washington, meaning Owensboro officially could be connected to the federal interstate highway system by the end of next year. Shortly afterward, changes will be made with GPS software engineers and mapmakers, officials said.
All 50 U.S. states and commonwealths are required by the federal government to develop four-year STIPs that outline a staged, multiyear, statewide intermodal program of transportation projects, consistent with highway funding and planning processes.
While the majority of I-165 (formerly known as the I-65 Spur) conversion work began earlier this year, plans to rebuild interchanges at Kentucky 69 (Exit 50) in Ohio County, U.S. 231 (Exit 36) in Butler County and U.S. 231 (Exit 9) in Warren County were left off the two-year highway spending plan. Those outdated “cloverleaf” interchanges don’t meet interstate standards, and, with no funding, and thereby construction, on the key interchanges in sight, it seemed the original Interstate Conversion Agreement would delay final interstate designation — at least until the next General Assembly budgetary biennium.
This week’s modification expedites the process but should have no major impact on driver safety along the 72-mile future interstate corridor, Thomas said. While the cloverleaf exits are outdated, he said, they pose no risk to drivers, as they currently meet minimum Kentucky parkway standards.
Exit 43 at the Western Kentucky Parkway would have been included among the three delayed interchange projects, but KYTC submitted a change order to an ongoing pavement improvement project to speed up the process there. Similar change orders for the remaining three interchanges likely will not be an option for the $41.1 million parkway improvement contract designed to bring overpasses, pavement and highway lighting up to par with federal standards, since state funding for those interchanges still isn’t available.
Regardless, officials at the Sept. 5 announcement touted it as the last major hurdle between Owensboro and its first official interstate highway connectivity.
“This is a huge day for this community,” state Sen. Joe Bowen (R-Owensboro) said, “not just for Owensboro, but for our whole area around here. We ought to be proud as a community that, finally, this project is going to come to fruition. So, congratulations to everybody."
