Madison, IN Sunny intervals 68°
Listen Live

Gov. Bevin, Transportation Cabinet announce preliminary I-65 to I-71 regional connector routes avoid Bernheim property

Thursday, October 24, 2019 at 6:47 AM

By Kentucky Transportation Cabinet release

Potential routes to connect I-65 in Bullitt County to I-71 in Oldham or Henry counties

 Gov. Matt Bevin and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) announced that the I-65/I-71 Regional Connector Planning Study is moving forward, and no sections of the proposed routes that cross through property owned by the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest remain under consideration, due to initial screening and environmental concerns.

“The planning study for the 1-65 to 1-71 connector is essential to account for all aspects of the project, including route options and feedback from local stakeholders,” said Gov. Bevin. “We have several viable options for this important project that will not impact conservation land owned by Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest. I applaud Secretary Thomas and KYTC for their work to ensure we select the best possible route for the connector without affecting the conservation land.”

The one-year planning study seeks to explore potential routes to connect I-65 in Bullitt County to I-71 in Oldham or Henry counties. Fifteen preliminary routes of wide, potential corridors were proposed this summer – 12 new and three along existing routes. These routes were based on initial data from the KYTC project team and input from the first round of stakeholder focus groups held in early 2019, before the Cabinet was aware of new land purchased by Bernheim in late 2018. Among the proposals were routes that crossed through the conservation land. The KYTC project team conducted level one screening on the fifteen routes to eliminate corridors that didn’t perform well based on initial cost-benefit factors, and then identified the best proposed route from each group of alternatives. 

“Planning studies typically cast a wide net at the beginning to explore all options and then narrow down the list based on considerations like congestion relief, environmental impacts, and costs,” said KYTC Secretary Greg Thomas. “We continue to take a closer look at routes that will meet the project goals of improving connectivity, traffic congestion and supporting economic development in the area without posing significant financial and environmental hurdles in the future.”

Proposed routes will be shared at the next stakeholder focus group meeting expected to take place before the end of the year.

The high-level study will identify wide, potential corridors that need further evaluation to determine if and where a route should be built or upgraded. The planning study is a very early phase of the decision-making process and variations may be explored more in-depth in future studies. Those studies will identify more refined routes.  

More from Local News