The Owensboro Riverport Authority is reaching the final design phase of a long-awaited road-widening project.
The riverport authority is hoping U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao will sign off on the contract next month so it can proceed to the next phase.
The riverport received $11.5 million in federal grant money in December 2018 to be used to widen Industrial Drive (KY 331), which is the main access way to the port.
The project is two-fold.
“One, to not only improve the main access to the Industrial park area on Industrial Drive, but two to improve the overall port access to the river rail,” said Brian Wright, president of ORA.
The grant will allow 1.5 miles of the residential road to expand to three lanes. It’s not unusual to have 4,000 to 5,000 vehicles traveling on Industrial Drive daily, Wright said, adding that it is people coming and going to work in heavy truck traffic.
“The biggest public sector that’s impacted is the transportation sector and the agricultural sector,” he said. “We take in grain annually from the farmers of West Daviess County and other counties on a routine basis. We’re just one small piece of it.”
Riverport authorities have been eyeing a much-needed road improvement plan since the early 2000s, but it wasn’t until they received the BUILD Grant that the project was handed over to MarAd to administer.
Project plans were also delayed until recently because the port needed to complete a necessary environmental assessment, which it did in December. A finalized version of the contract was completed within the last two weeks and sent to MarAd.
Construction is anticipated to begin in January 2022. Wright is hoping to have the project completed by 2024. The grant must be complete by the end of 2025.
“It will be a hands-on project for the next three years, with oversight through a third-party engineering firm and construction company,” Wright said. “We’re eager to get started.”
