The Courier-Journal takes a look at the proposed Interstate 66: Courier-Journal: I-66: A road to growth or path of destruction?; Environmental impact statement for first Kentucky leg being studied (Feb. 26, 2006) 

The US 51/US 60/US 62 bridge at Wickliffe, the US 45 bridge at Paducah, and the KY 56 bridge in Union County will all received new solar powered river navigation lights: USATODAY.com: Kentucky (July 9, 2004) 

Gov. Fletcher and Transportation Secretary Bailey have appointed chief highway engineers for nine of the Division of Highways' twelve districts.

• Edward “Ted” Merryman has been appointed as Chief Highway Engineer for districts 1 and 2. Previously, Merryman was chief highway engineer for district 2. [more information ]
• Greg Meredith has been reappointed as Chief Highway Engineer for district 2. [more information ]
• Gary M. Raymer, P.E. has been appointed as Chief Highway Engineer for district 4. [more information ]
• David Jones, P.E. has been appointed as Chief Highway Engineer for district 6. [more information ]
• Jim Rummage, P.E. has been appointed as Chief Highway Engineer for district 7. [more information ]
• Katrina O. Bradley, P.E. has been appointed as Chief Highway Engineer for district 9. [more information ]
• Samuel H. Beverage, P.E. has been appointed as Chief Highway Engineer for districts 10 and 11. [ more information ]

More information: WKYT: Gov. Fletcher Hires New Highway Engineers (June 29, 2004) , Associated Press: Fletcher appoints top highway engineers (June 30, 2004) , Hardin County News-Enterprise: Highway engineer appointed in E'town (June 30, 2004) , Maysville Ledger-Independent: New KTC Engineer Sees District as Unique (July 2, 2004) 

A report by a tax watchdog group and environmental activist group denounces plans to construct a new Ohio River bridge in eastern Jefferson County and plans to construct Interstate 66 across Kentucky: Courier-Journal: East End bridge draws fire (June 3, 2004) 

Dave Honan  has contributed photographs of several bridges over the Ohio River:

• Illinois Central (Canadian National) Railroad Bridge at Cairo, Illinois
• Illinois Central (Canadian National) Railroad Bridge at Metropolis, Illinois
• CSX Transportation Railroad Bridge at Henderson, Kentucky
• Carl D. Perkins Bridge over the Ohio River at Portsmouth, Ohio
• CSX Transportation Railroad Bridge at Sileam, Kentucky
• CSX Transportation Railroad Bridge at Siloam, Kentucky

Additionally, he has provided several photographs of a section of the US 119 relocation project in Pike County.

You can find more of his bridge and railroad photography on Dave’s website .

Thanks for the contribution Dave!

After initially declining to study possible routes for I-66 through southern Illinois, it seems that Illinois and Missouri residents are now hoping to have the route built between I-24 and a new bridge over the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau.

Kentucky is in the process of a feasibility study to determine the best route for I-66 between Paducah and the Mississippi River near Wickliffe.

More information: Southeast Missourian: Illinois I-66 planners wait on feds (date unknown) 

The Illinois Department of Transportation has reported a positive response to the proposed Interstate 66. Originally, Illinois had shied away from building part of Interstate 66 in Illinois. Building I-66 in Illinois would mean that Kentucky would not get a crossing over the Mississippi River in Ballard County.

More information: Associated Press: Saying Yes to Interstate 66 (July 24, 2003) 

Two-hundred-and-sixty-two photographs of Kentucky's roads have been added to this website. The new photo galleries include:

• Bridges of the Ohio River - Several of Kentucky's 40 bridges across the Ohio River.
• William H. Harsha Bridge Photographs - Photographs of Kentucky's first cable stayed bridge: the William H. Harsha bridge near Maysville.
• I-64 - Sherman Minton Bridge - The I-64 and US 150 bridge over the Ohio River in Louisville.
• Shortway Bridge - The Old KY 1120 bridge over the Licking River between Kenton and Campbell Counties.
• I-65 - John F. Kennedy Bridge - The I-65 bridge over the Ohio River at Louisville.
• US 31 - George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge (Second Street Bridge) - The US 31 bridge over the Ohio River at Louisville.
• I-65 - Miscellaneous Images
• KY 30 - Miscellaneous Images - Photographs of the new section of KY 30 under construction in Laurel County.
• I-65 Warren County Construction - June 29, 2001
• I-65 Warren County Construction - May 22, 2002
• I-65 Warren County Construction - August 15, 2002
• I-65 Warren County Construction - July 5, 2003
• I-75 - Miscellaneous Images - Includes photographs of I-75 widening projects south of Lexington.
• William H. Natcher Bridge - October 26, 2002
• William H. Natcher Bridge - February 8, 2003
• Louisville - Miscellaneous Images
• KY 3 and KY 645 - Inez - January 3, 2003
• AA Highway - Miscellaneous Images
• KY 67 - Miscellaneous Images
• KY 80 - Miscellaneous Images - Along KY 80 in Pulaski and Laurel Counties.
• KY 101 and KY 259 - Edmonson County - November 18, 2001 - A new section of KY 259 and KY 101 under construction in Edmonson County.
• US 23 - Miscellaneous Images
• US 60 - Miscellaneous Images - Photographs of the Cumberland and Tennessee River bridges.

A few new images have been added to the KentuckyRoads.com - Miscellaneous Signs and KentuckyRoads.com - General Images galleries as well.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will be holding a public meeting to discuss the proposed Interstate 66 in western Kentucky from 5pm to 7pm at Ballard Memorial High School, 3561 Paducah Rd., La Center, KY.

More information: http://www.kytc.state.ky.us/planning/pl-projects/projects/I-66/i66_12.10.02/i66_12.10.02.shtm 

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Division of Planning has posted a few new maps of preliminary study corridors for I-66 in western Kentucky.

Ballard and McCracken Counties

• Preliminary Corridors 
• More Information 

Warren and Edmonson Counties

• Bowling Green Beltline Corridors 
• I-66 Corridors 
• More Information 

Ballard County and McCracken County

Three possible routes for I-66 in Ballard County and McCracken County were revealed at a meeting in LaCenter on Tuesday:

• One route begins at Old Mayfield Road and I-24 in McCracken County and passes through the southern park of McCracken and Ballard Counties before crossing the Mississippi River at Wickliffe.
• Another route generally follows US 62 and KY 286 from Paducah to a new Mississippi River crossing at Wickliffe.
• A third route would follow I-24 into Illinois and construct a new route to Cape Girardeau, MO. Illinois officials are not participating in the study because of issues with building a route through the Shawnee National Forest.

The engineering firm of Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas is conducting the study along with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Another meeting is expected to be held later this year.

More information: Courier-Journal: Public input sought on possible I-66 routes in Western Kentucky (Aug. 22, 2002) 

Warren County and Edmonson County

The Glasgow Daily Times reports that I-66 public meeting in Warren County and Edmonson County were well attended. They report that the engineering firm of Bernard, Lochmueller and Associates, Inc. is working with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to provide alternatives for routes the proposed I-66 between the Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway and the William H. Natcher Parkway. Parties interested in viewing information from the public meetings should contact Keirsten Jaggers or Jeff Moore at the KYTC office in Bowling Green. The phone number is (270) 746-7898.

More information: Glasgow Daily Times: I-66 meeting well attended (Aug. 22, 2002) , Glasgow Daily Times: I-66 public meeting draws large crowd (Aug. 16, 2002) 

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will be holding a public meeting on Aug. 20 to discuss the I-66 project in Ballard and McCracken Counties. The meeting will be held from 5pm to 7pm at Ballard Memorial High School.

More information:

• Meeting Notice 
• KYTC's Division of Planning - Proposed Interstate 66  - Includes a project description and maps of the study area.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has scheduled several planning meetings:

• July 30 - New Elizabethtown-Radcliff Connector 
• July 30 - Reconstruction of KY 536 in Boone County 
• Aug. 8 - I-66 Somerset Northern By-Pass 
• Aug. 13 - Widening US 641 in Calloway County 
• Aug. 14/15 - I-66 Meetings in Warren and Edmonson Counties 
• Aug. 15 - Reconstruction of I-64 and US 60 Interchanges on I-265 (Gene Snyder Freeway) 
• Aug. 20 - I-66 in Ballard and McCracken Counties 
• Aug. 20 - Extension of the Edward T. Breathitt Parkway Extension to I-24 in Christian County 

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Division of Professional Services has posted several procurement bulletins . Even if you aren't a contractor, these bulletins are useful for learning about upcoming road projects. Recent bulletins include:

• preliminary design of a new interchange near mile 27 on the Daniel Boone Parkway ,
• widening of Hurstbourne Parkway (KY 1747) near I-64 and US 60 in Jefferson County ,
• reconstruct KY 1848 near I-64 in Shelby County ,
• preliminary engineering for reconstructing part of KY 194 in Pike County ,
• design for US 641 relocation in Crittenden and Lyon county ,
• design for US 60 widening in Ballard and McCracken county ,
• scoping study for the proposed Heartland Parkway ,
• bridge replacement on KY 22 in Pendleton county ,
• design for KY 1/KY 7 widening project in Carter county ,
• design of a new connector between KY 6 and the Corbin by-pass in Knox and Whitley counties ,
• and preliminary engineering of a railroad grade separation on KY 80 in Pike County .

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's I-66 web sites have been updated. Information from planning projects in Ballard, Edmonson, Marshall, McCracken, and Warren county can be found here . The Official Interstate 66  website has been updated with information about the Ballard and McCracken segment  and Pulaski and Laurel segment .

A new vicinity map  of the Pike/Mingo segment has been added. Also, the Phase 1 Archeological Survey for Pike/Mingo segment  has begun.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the Missouri Department of Transportation have begun a study to choose a route for I-66 to cross the Mississippi River. A public meeting on the issue has been scheduled for Map 14, 2002. The KYTC has posted a map of the study area .

The public open house will be held at the Information Age Park Resource Center, Great Center in Paducah from 4:00pm to 7:00pm on May 14. A meeting will be held in Sikeston, Missouri on May 13 at the Missouri DOT District Office. More materials for the public meetings can be found here .

This article  from Paducah's NewsChannel 6 has additional information about the proposed I-66.

The KYTC Planning website has been updated with materials for a planning study to look at improvements to US 60 at the Ballard-McCracken County line.

The KYTC has posted materials from an August 30, 2001 meeting regarding I-66 between I-65 and the Natcher Parkway here .

In addition the KYTC planning web site has new dedicated to I-66. Here is a list of links to I-66 information on the KYTC website:

• Interstate 66 - Division of Planning  - Contains links to materials from I-66 public meetings.
• Interstate 66 - Somerset to London  - A complete report detailing the proposed route from Somerset to London. This would connect the Nunn Parkway to the Daniel Boone Parkway.
• Interstate66.com  - Contains information about Interstate 66 in Pike County, Kentucky and Mingo County, West Virginia.

The KYTC has posted these materials  for an upcoming public meeting regarding the reconstruction of US 60 in Ballard County. The meeting will be held on Thursday, September 13, 2001.