The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has received approval for $1.25 million in federal funding to address safety improvements along Kentucky 115/Pembroke-Oak Grove Road between Interstate 24 and U.S. 41 in southeastern Christian County.
KYTC District 2 Chief Engineer Deneatra Henderson says the Highway Safety Improvement Project (HSIP) is now in the early design phase and could move to construction in 2019.
The project will run along the Pembroke-Oak Grove Road from the I-24 exit 89 interchange and extend north to the south edge of Pembroke, a distance of more than 6.5 miles.
Officials say the HSIP project approved is based on data from police crash reports. Over a five-year period, the data showed there were a total of 84 collisions along this section of the Pembroke-Oak Grove Road. Of those, there were three fatal and 20 injury crashes. More than 73 percent were single-vehicle collisions, 16 percent were sideswipe collisions and 13 percent were wet-weather crashes. Officials indicate several of the crashes involved intoxicated drivers.
From the analysis, engineers were able to develop checklists of low-cost improvements aimed at enhancing safety. To extend the impact of the safety work, officials noted the federally funded safety project is being coordinated with a previously approved $730,000 state-funded resurfacing project along 7.4 miles of Kentucky 115 between Carneal Lane and U.S. 41.
