A change in Kentucky law could add another two years to Newport’s long-delayed U.S. 27 and Carothers Road improvement project, which city officials had hoped to put out to bid in early 2027.
Newport officials discussed the latest setback during a project update on Aug.17, saying a provision removed from state law this year has created new requirements for federally funded transportation projects that touch private property.
“The intention was to get that out to bid early 2027,” Newport Assistant City Manager Brian Steffen said. “We’re looking at 2029 based on this new House Bill provision here.”
The latest delay comes after years of setbacks for the project, which is intended to improve traffic and pedestrian safety along U.S. 27 and Carothers Road.
“It sounds like with U.S. 27, we were literally taking one step forward and one step back, but now I feel like it’s one step forward and five steps back,” said Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli Jr.
Last June, Newport announced that it had cleared what officials had described as one of the project’s biggest remaining obstacles when it reached a settlement with Gator Newport Partners over property and easements needed for the improvements.
Now, the city is facing a new obstacle stemming from House Bill 542, legislation passed by the Kentucky General Assembly and signed into law this year. Steffen said the bill was titled around agricultural and conservation easements, but it also deleted a provision of state law governing the “Minor Acquisition Review” process.
According to Steffen, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet officials have told the city the deletion has an unintended consequence for locally administered transportation projects receiving federal funding through the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments, commonly known as OKI.
Without the previous process, projects that previously required temporary construction easements from adjoining property owners could now require full appraisals, adding significant time and expense.
“Each one of those easements, the temporary construction easements, which really amount to no effect on anyone’s property, then will take an additional 18 to 24 months for every single property,” Steffen said.
Steffen said the change requires pre-and post-project appraisals completed by certified appraisers, and there are relatively few appraisers available who perform that type of work.
The impact is not limited to Newport.
Steffen said the change affects local project administrators across Kentucky as well as Kentucky Transportation Cabinet projects involving private property.
City officials said they have contacted legislators and OKI in hopes of getting the provision restored to state law.
“This was an unintended consequence of the change in the law,” Steffen said. “The folks that we spoke to in Frankfort, the attorney that wrote this, said flat out that that was not the intent of this bill.”
However, he said KYTC’s general counsel has interpreted the law to require the additional process and the cabinet has issued that guidance statewide.
City officials said correcting the issue would likely require another legislative change when lawmakers return to Frankfort.
The new requirements could also substantially increase project costs.
Steffen pointed to Newport’s Monmouth Street sidewalk paver project as an example. He said its environmental and engineering budget was originally about $8,000 but has grown to roughly $80,000 because of the additional requirements.
“So we’ve 10 times the cost on those items just because of the need for these additional construction easements,” Steffen said.
The additional expenses are particularly concerning for the U.S. 27 and Carothers Road project because of how long it has already been in development. Construction prices have increased over the years while the grant funding available for the project has not grown at the same pace.
Officials don’t yet have an estimate for how much the new requirements could add to the U.S. 27 project.
The U.S. 27 improvements are planned for the corridor around the underpass, with improvements intended to address traffic and pedestrian safety and access. Plans have included sidewalks, streetscape work and access management from 11th Street south to Carothers Road and from Carothers Road toward the Southgate city limits.
The Carothers Road portion of the project has been in development for roughly a decade. The city eventually combined it with the U.S. 27 project because of overlapping work, including traffic signals at the intersection and improvements extending north onto U.S. 27.
With costs and delays continuing to mount, city officials are considering whether portions of the project could be scaled back.
Steffen said one possibility would be to reduce or eliminate some of the planned work around the U.S. 27 underpass.
However, scaling back the project would not eliminate the new appraisal requirements for temporary construction easements, meaning it would not necessarily solve the latest scheduling problem.
Newport Vice Mayor Julie Smith-Morrow questioned whether the project remained feasible after so many years of delays and rising costs.
“We will get the project completed,” Steffen said. “It’s just a matter of how long and how much.”
