This periodic report includes highlights about work underway on the Mountain Parkway Expansion. Inclement weather or unforeseen circumstances could affect planned activities.
Throughout this approximately 8-mile section through Wolfe, Morgan and Magoffin Counties, workers are continuing clearing, excavation and construction with minimal impacts to traffic on the Mountain Parkway.
At the Lee City/West Liberty interchange (Exit 57), crews are putting the finishing touches on four of the six bridges being constructed. Eastbound traffic will soon begin using a new ramp to access KY 205. This temporary traffic shift allows crews to finish reconfiguring the intersection and widening the parkway.
Further to the east, at the future site of a KY 134 interchange (Exit 60), workers are continuing to prepare for ramp and bridge construction. Additional bridges under construction in two places where the parkway crosses over KY 134 and over Wheelrim Road at the Morgan/Magoffin county line.
Periodic drilling and blasting continues in the Morgan County segment. Traffic may be stopped for short periods during blasts for the safety of workers and the traveling public. Stoppages are typically limited to one per day and last less than 15 minutes.
Improvements in the Morgan County Segment will include widening the parkway to four lanes between mile points 56 and 65, improving and modernizing interchanges and eliminating an “S” curve near the Morgan/Magoffin county line.
Further to the east, crews in the Magoffin County Central Segment of the project have completed the KY 30 interchange (Exit 72). Completion of the KY 7 interchange (Exit 75) late this summer will mark the next major milestone for the Mountain Parkway Expansion: the first segment to have all major projects completed entirely.
The Magoffin County Central Segment of the Mountain Parkway Expansion runs from just west of mile point 70 of the parkway to just east of mile point 75.
Significant progress continues in the Restaurant Row Segment, a roughly two-and-a-half-mile project in Salyersville.
In recent weeks, three new sections of access road were completed, including the frontage road running parallel to the Mountain Parkway in front of Magoffin County High School. The access roads will improve safety and mobility by consolidating the number of places where drivers can enter the main roadway and by funneling this traffic out at stop lights. As the roads continue to open, direct access to the parkway will be closed off gradually in preparation for widening the main roadway. Traffic signal timing will continue to be evaluated as construction continues and traffic patterns evolve.
At the west end of the project area, crews are completing reconstruction of a bridge over Burning Fork. Once the bridge is complete later this year, westbound Mountain Parkway traffic will start shifting to new pavement all the way from Restaurant Row to the KY 7 interchange. Signage will be in place to alert drivers to the change.
The Mountain Parkway Expansion is a 46-mile transportation improvement project that will create a wider, safer connection between Eastern Kentucky and the rest of the Commonwealth. The project will widen 30 miles of the existing parkway from two lanes to four lanes, and will extend the parkway another 16 miles between Salyersville and Prestonsburg.
The 2.4-mile Restaurant Row Segment runs from just east of the current Mountain Parkway through a business district in Salyersville. It was funded in part by a $24 million federal TIGER grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. The expansion project will widen the primary roadway to four lanes, limit entry points and expand a system of local access roads.
Email: info@mtnparkway.com
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