I-66 project moves ahead in Pike

Staff Writer

Design of some Pike County segments of Interstate 66 could begin this year, if the state legislature follows the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s recommendation.

On Wednesday, the transportation cabinet unveiled its 2008 Recommended Highway Plan to members of the General Assembly. In it, three sections of the proposed interstate 66 in Pike County are scheduled to be designed. The cost for completing the design of the three sections total $3,984,000, and would establish the design of the interstate from U.S. 23 in Pikeville to Kimper.

According to Department of Highways District 12 Information Officer Sara George, the distance of the interstate from Pikeville to Kimper is a little less than half the distance the interstate would run in Pike County. George stressed that, even if the legislature approves the phases and the sections are designed, I-66 in Pike County would still be preliminary. Transportation officials would need much more money to finish designing and constructing the road.

The KTC estimates the cost of completing I-66 through Pike County to be more than $1 billion. According to KTC’s description of the Pike County section of I-66, it is one of the most costly, due to the area’s rugged terrain.

According to KTC spokesperson Chuck Wolfe, just because a road project has been entered into the recommended highway plan does not mean it will survive in the legislature. He said transportation officials refrained from calling the plan the 6-year road plan this year, as it has historically been named. He said the officials doubt whether all the projects listed will be finished in six years.

In fact, Wolfe said Transportation Cabinet Secretary Joe Prather calls the plan a “15-year wish list,” because of the shortfalls in the state budget.

State Rep. W. Keith Hall is a little more optimistic than Wolfe about Pike County’s I-66 segments gaining approval in the legislature. As a member of the transportation committee, which is responsible for drafting a final highway plan to present to the General Assembly, he said the Pike County segments are slated to be funded by federal dollars rather than state dollars. For this reason, the segments would be less scrutinized than if the state was picking up the tab.

Nevertheless, Hall and Wolfe agree that the projects in the highway plan will take more than six years to fund, and even if the Pike County segments of I-66 withstand the legislature, they may not get done as quickly as projected.