Mountain Parkway Expansion Starting Major Construction Work in Morgan County
Latest project in Morgan County will improve roadway and interchanges on 8.2-mile segment in Eastern Kentucky
WEST LIBERTY, Ky. (January 23, 2017) – Contractors are starting work along another major stretch of the Mountain Parkway Expansion.
This interchange for Lee City/West Liberty will be modernized and improved to provide safer and easier access to the Mountain Parkway.
“This project continues the safety and mobility improvements we are making to this important transportation artery for Eastern Kentucky,” said Marshall Carrier, a KYTC engineer who is the project manager for the Mountain Parkway Expansion.
Work will begin this week in the Morgan County Segment, an 8.2-mile section of the parkway in Wolfe, Morgan and Magoffin counties.
The improvements include:
- Widening the parkway to four lanes between mile points 56 and 65
- Improving and modernizing the Lee City/West Liberty interchange (Exit 57)
- Making improvements to the KY 134 interchange (Exit 60)
- Reconstructing and eliminating an “S” curve near the Morgan/Magoffin county line.
A joint venture between Hi-View LLC and Haydon Bridge Company LLC was awarded a construction contract in December by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for the four-year project.
Starting this week, construction crews will place signs that roadway work is underway. Initial work will include clearing areas along the parkway where construction will occur and placing temporary barrier walls to protect workers and the traveling public.
The speed limit in the area will be reduced to 45 mph, and short stoppages could occur during barrier wall placements. However, no other traffic impacts are expected in the coming weeks.
Construction work also is underway along more than 8 miles of roadway to east of the Morgan County Segment, in the Magoffin County Central and Restaurant Row segments of the expansion. Recently, crews completed work around the Gifford Road interchange (Exit 70). The new interchange will serve a planned industrial park in Magoffin County.
Motorists can already see how the parkway is being improved, and the Morgan County project continues the positive momentum we’ve made to expand and transform this vital corridor,” Carrier said.
About the Mountain Parkway Expansion
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. It is a key transportation project designed to close the only gap in a 400-mile, four-lane, high-speed corridor for commerce and mobility across Kentucky from Pikeville to Paducah. The project will widen 30 miles of the existing parkway to four lanes and extend the parkway by about 16 miles between Salyersville and Prestonsburg.
For more information on the Mountain Parkway Expansion, visit www.MtnParkway.com or follow the project on Twitter (@MtnParkway) or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/mtnparkway). A project office is open in Magoffin Plaza in Salyersville; call (606) 349-8160 for hours.
