US 62 Corridor Study

US 62 – Mulberry Street Public Information Meeting TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 2024 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM ELIZABETHTOWN TOURISM & CONVENTION BUREAU 1030 North Mulberry Street Elizabethtown, KY 42701

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) will host a public meeting at Elizabethtown Tourism & Convention Bureau to present design alternatives developed to address congestion and safety within the US-62 interstate corridor by improving intersections as well as providing better accommodation for pedestrians. Stop by the open-house meeting at the Tourism Center any time during 5:00-7:00 PM. No formal presentation will be held, but individuals will have the opportunity to review displays, ask questions, and discuss the project alternatives with KYTC engineers and staff, as well as consultant personnel. If you can’t attend the meeting, come back here to the project website to view project information and complete a survey. Survey responses will be collected through September 13, 2024. Written comments may also be submitted to Kevin Blain, P.E. by email or mail, at kevin.blain@ky.gov or PO BOX 309, Elizabethtown, KY 42701. The meeting record will be made available for review and copying through an Open Records Request. All Open Records Requests must be submitted to the KYTC, Office of Legal Services, TCOB, 200 Mero Street, Frankfort, KY 40622. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), if anyone has a disability and requires assistance, please notify Kevin Blain no later than August 5. Please call (270) 766-5066.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is performing a planning study to identify potential solutions to improve safety, congestion, and access management along U.S. Route 62 in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. The study area (shown below) extends from Brook Street to Gregory Street and includes the I-65 interchange. This study is evaluating multiple corridor-wide improvement concepts and will recommend those which KYTC may consider in future design phases.

As part of the study, the project team would like to hear from the public about the proposed concepts for the corridor. The following information provides details about the study and includes five survey questions.

Scroll through to navigate the page. The tabs at the top of the screen can be used to go to a specific topic. Click on images to enlarge them or click on map buttons to interact with the maps.

US 62 is a 4-lane divided highway with 12-foot wide travel lanes and a posted speed of 45 mph. The highway has 10-foot wide shoulders in part of the corridor with curb and gutter in the rest of the corridor. The highway is considered an urban minor arterial west of I-65 and an urban major collector east of I-65. In the 1.7 mile study area, there are 67 private driveway access points and 14 intersections (6 with traffic signals and 8 without traffic signals). There are also small segments of disconnected sidewalks and there are no bicycle facilities. 

The current Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) along the corridor ranges from 8,900 to 25,500 vehicles per day, with the highest volumes just to the west of the I-65 interchange. AM and PM peak hour traffic volumes at key study area intersections are shown on the map, along with the current peak hour Level of Service (LOS) for each signalized intersection.

LOS is an A through F measure of traffic operating conditions based on the average delay caused by traffic control devices (e.g., traffic signals) at each intersection. LOS A indicates free-flow conditions with little intersection delay and LOS F indicates over capacity conditions with very long delays and traffic queues. LOS C indicates some delay, but vehicles can get through a signal without waiting an entire cycle (i.e. everyone waiting gets through when the signal turns green).   

Study area crashes between 2016 and 2020 were collected from the Kentucky State Police database. These crashes are shown on a heat map, highlighting areas with higher clusters of crashes.

Crashes most often occurred during daylight hours in dry conditions. The most common types of crashes were rear end and angle crashes. During the 5-year study time period, there was one fatal crash and there were seven crashes involving pedestrians. 

Survey Question 1 is closed.

The first cross section has two 11-foot wide travel lanes in each direction with 10-foot wide paved shoulders and a raised grass and concrete median. The second cross-section differs in that a curb and gutter would be constructed instead of paved shoulders. This second cross-section keeps the two 11-foot wide travel lanes and a raised grass and concrete median.

For both of those highway cross-sections, there are two options for bicycle and pedestrian facilities, one is a 10-foot wide shared use path on one side with a 5-foot wide sidewalk on the other (first image) and the other is a 10-foot wide shared use path on both sides of the road (second image).

The following illustrations show the different cross-section concepts.

Survey Question 2 is closed.

The first concept utilizes Reduced Conflict U-Turns (RCUTs) to reduce conflict points and signal delay and improve traffic flow through the corridor. RCUTs were recently constructed in Elizabethtown on US 31W, north of the US 62 study area. Examples from the US 31W project are available at   us31w.org  .

  Click here   to view the whole RCUT Corridor Concept in detail or scroll through the images below to view the corridor in sections.

The second concept utilizes roundabouts to eliminate traffic signals along the corridor, improving safety and traffic flow.

  Click here   to view the whole Roundabout Corridor Concept in detail or scroll through the images below to view the corridor in sections.

Survey Question 3 is closed.

The existing I-65 interchange is a standard diamond with traffic signals at both the northbound and southbound ramps. There are four concepts being considered for the interchange. Each of these concepts will look to provide pedestrian and bicycle accommodations across the interchange.

• Concept 1 is an improved diamond interchange with additional turn lanes at each intersection. It utilizes the existing bridge.
• Concept 2 is a Single Point Urban Interchange (SPUI) which consolidates the interchange to 1 signalized intersection and would require widening the bridge over I-65.
  • An example of this interchange type is the Elizabethtown Bypass at Rineyville Road/KY 361 interchange.
• Concept 3 is a Diverging Diamond Interchange which could utilize the existing bridge.
  • The New Circle/Harrodsburg Road interchange in Lexington is an example of this style.
• Concept 4 is a roundabout interchange which could utilize the existing bridge.
  • Roundabout style interchanges, also called dogbone interchanges, are under construction in northern and western Kentucky.

The following illustration shows the four different interchange concepts in the order listed above.

Survey Question 4 is closed.

A railroad bridge crosses over the corridor between Commerce Drive and Dolphin Drive. It has a horizontal opening of 32 feet and is a barrier for bicyclists and pedestrians traveling along the corridor. There are two options for accommodating bicyclists and pedestrians under the bridge.

In Concept 1, the railroad bridge would be replaced with a new, wider bridge that can accommodate a shared use path on either side.

In Concept 2, the travel lanes would be narrowed to 11 feet wide in each direction, providing space for a 4-foot wide sidewalk on one side. A concrete barrier would be added to separate the sidewalk from traffic.

Survey Question 5 is closed.

This application was created with ArcGIS Story Maps on behalf of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), in collaboration with WSP USA, HDR Inc., and TSW Design Group. For more information or further questions on the US 62 Corridor Study, please email kevin.blain@ky.gov.