KY Transportation Cabinet updates chamber on current road work

Madison Nantz, The Sentinel Echo, London, Ky.
·3 min read

Jun. 28—During the London-Laurel Chamber of Commerce's June membership luncheon last Thursday, Sherri Chappell, Project Development Branch Manager for Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's District 11 Office, spoke about the current construction projects throughout the London-Laurel County community.

Chappell discussed both current and new projects, beginning with 11-185 US 25E (Exit 29). The main goal of this project was to reduce the congestion in the area in an effort to prevent further vehicular accidents. The project has been underway for around a year now and is set to complete in October 2025.

Similar to Exit 29, the 11-187 KY 192 (Exit 38) project is scheduled for completion around June 2025.

"I know it seems like there's a lot of congestion everywhere you go in London and Corbin right now, but the goal of [the projects] was to improve safety. Both [areas] had just very high crash data, specifically at the intersections, and then just left turns out across the multilane highway that was not signalized," Chappell stated.

When these two projects are complete, both will have roads that are adjacent to KY 192 or US 25E, while some other areas will have backage roads that are located behind businesses.

Chappell additionally shared that the Transportation Cabinet is encouraging U-turns at signalized intersections. This is due to their goal of avoiding conflict points, of which the cabinet has identified 25.

"These one-lane intervals that have kind of been working through that area, I'll just tell you now, that's going to continue until about Thanksgiving, but after Thanksgiving, when it opens up, that entire section from I-75 to the bridge just past Walmart, should be a completely repaved, resurfaced roadway with all the turn lanes there and all of that work done," Chappell stated.

Additionally, the project called 11-365 HRP (Hal Rogers Parkway) is scheduled to resolve in June 2026. The projects at 11-147 US 25 and 11-169 Rudy Bear Road do not have set ending dates at this time.

The 2025-2026 highway plan projects in London-Laurel County include reconstructing and widening US-25's existing route on alignment, widening KY 192 from Mallard Drive to Esquire Lane and addressing horizontal/vertical alignment as needed, and improving the geometrics of a curve, widening a drainage structure, and providing turn lanes to Johnson Elementary School on KY 636.

During the meeting, new members from Locally Branded, Fuse Medical, and Air Evac LifeTeam were additionally welcomed and awarded membership plaques.

From Locally Branded, there were new members Jon Cloud, Jason Boulanger, and Emily Bentley.

Those from Fuse Medical included Nancy Hibbitts and Tammy Whitehead.

Air Evac LifeTeam was represented by Letch Day.

Additional new members include A+ Loans & Taxes, E and N Auto Sales LLC, Cumberland Valley Veterinary Services, El Dorado, JTS Financial, Kentucky Family Practice, KY Truck Worx, RoofBaths.com, Southern States London Cooperative Inc., The Calico at Creekside Gardens, The Kitchen by Brandon, Unbridled Healthcare, and The Palace Family Entertainment Center.

Chamber officials extended their appreciation and gratitude toward Bowling Funeral Home, the sponsor of the event; Hibbard's Concessions, the caterer; and to London Community Center, the host.

For further information pertaining to the work of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, reach Chappell at (606) 599-7072 or sherri.chappell@ky.gov. To visit their website, search transportation.ky.gov.