State wants public input to improve travel between Fayette-Jessamine counties

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet wants public input for a new study designed to improve travel and safety between Fayette and Jessamine counties.

The Jessamine-Fayette Connectivity Study will look at current safety and mobility conditions in the study area and how to improve east-west connectivity.

The state says the current study will not consider any connections or road improvements that would cross or impact the Kentucky River.

No decisions have been made about specific road alignments, according to the state.  The Transportation Cabinet wants public input to shape the state’s next steps.

“The public will play a critical role in the KYTC study process by providing local knowledge and feedback that will help inform our decision making,” said Casey Smith, planning supervisor for KYTC and project manager for the Jessamine-Fayette Connectivity Study.

“Our team is currently collecting and analyzing a significant volume of data in order to make comprehensive recommendations on how to improve safety and connectivity within the study area – especially as travel patterns change throughout the region – and we need the public to weigh in as we move throughout our study process,” Smith continued.

JessFayStudy.com offers users visual information, study background, and public involvement tools to provide feedback to the Transportation Cabinet and to support outreach within local communities.

Specifically, the state has published a public survey that will allow respondents to answer several questions about their travel patterns within the study area, identify problem spots they encounter when traveling through the area, and offer the study team feedback on potential solutions.

A new road project typically advances through the following phases:

• Planning
• Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Evaluation
• Design
• Right of Way and Utility Coordination
• Construction

The Jessamine-Fayette Connectivity Study is in the planning phase and is not related to previous planning studies that examined linking US 27 to I-75 with a new crossing of the Kentucky River.

To visit the study’s website, click here.