Mountain Parkway (KY 9009) Widening

Mountain Parkway (KY 9009) is a vital connection to the rural communities of Eastern Kentucky. For most of its length, the parkway is a two‐lane facility with some short truck climbing lanes. Located in mountainous terrain, the route traverses many vertical and horizontal curves. The road is frequented by large, slow farm equipment and livestock trucks, and there are a limited number of places where faster through‐traffic can pass safely. Impatient through‐drivers often pass at inappropriate locations, and as such, the route has incurred a high accident rate. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) initiated a project to widen the corridor to two lanes in each direction to provide continuous passing opportunities. Lochner was responsible for the final design of a two‐mile section of the parkway, from KY 205 to MP 59.2.

In addition to providing four travel lanes along the full two miles, Lochner’s roadway plans improved the roadway geometry and reduced the grade or curvature of some of the vertical and horizontal curves. At the KY 9009/KY 205 interchange where the parkway crosses the Red River, Lochner performed structural design for seven bridges and three culverts. The bridges, which were all PCI beam structures, ranged in complexity from a 105‐foot‐long simple‐span bridge with a variable width deck to twin 308‐foot‐long, three‐span curved bridges over the Red River main channel. The existing interchange was a very non‐standard configuration, so Lochner’s design plans reconfigured the interchange to bring it to a standard diamond formation, with KY 205 as the through movement. The reconfigured interchange better meets driver expectation, improves safety, and accommodates access to a county park and large agricultural‐industrial park.

As part of the design process, Lochner reviewed and revised the preselected typical section to enhance constructability and reduce construction costs. Lochner’s revisions saved KYTC 30% of the pavement cost compared with the preliminary design. Lochner also expedited the project design to provide right of way plans in advance of joint inspection plans to enable right of
way acquisition to begin well ahead of the traditional time frame.