CORRECTION: The original version of this article contained errors related to the street names in the project. The relevant lines have been corrected. — LINK nky editorial, Feb. 21, 2025
The Boone County Fiscal Court is considering swapping ownership of one of its county roads, Hicks Pike, with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, which is responsible for maintaining Kentucky state roads.
In exchange, the county would take ownership of Chambers Road, or KY-2951, which currently belongs to the state. Now, the fiscal court is soliciting input from county residents on whether or not it should happen.
“We really truly do want your input,” said Boone County Judge/Executive Gary Moore told attendees at a special meeting Thursday evening, “because this does impact the community and people’s lives and property and other things.”
Hicks Pike currently falls under the county’s jurisdiction, and Chambers Road falls under the state’s. If the fiscal court eventually votes to approve the swap, the roads would change ownership and management.
Road swaps between the state and county have occurred before, and this current swap is contextualized by predicted development expansion along Hicks Pike. As a result, the state has flagged Hicks Pike for a variety of improvements in the state’s six-year road plan, for which there is currently about $5 million in federal funds set aside for fiscal year 2025, which ends on June 30.
The design phase for the improvements has not yet begun, but Boone County Engineer Rob Franxman informed attendees to Thursday’s meeting that improvements would likely include the addition of roundabouts, improvements to the pavement shoulder and dedicated turn lanes and multi-use paths.
A transfer of Hicks Pike to the state would also mandate the road conform to federal standards for truck traffic, meaning the road would need to able to accommodate up to 80,000 pounds of truck weight. Truck traffic would become a topic of resident input later in the meeting.
The six-year road plan currently calls for about $61 million in federal funding for Hicks Pike through 2030. If the state takes control of the road, Franxman said, it would be much easier for the state to deploy those funds for improving the road.
Chambers Road, on the other hand, had been flagged as part of a project in a previous state plan, which called for widening I-71 from the Boone and Gallatin County lines to the interchange with I-71 and I-75.
Part of that plan called for replacing an old tunnel under the interstate with a new bridge built to modern standards. Although no money is currently set aside for the I-71 project, Franxman said that moving Chambers into county ownership would grant local residents more input on the road’s future.
The elected officials at the meeting expressed support for the swap.
“Right now we’ve had general acceptance of the idea of this, across the board for all the elected officials and the staff and KYTC,” said Boone County Commissioner Chet Hand. “So, we have at least a good starting point for the discussion.”
The commissioners then asked for comments from the crowd. People expressed a variety of concerns: how the roads would impact continued development in the county (which some attendees were critical of), general road and safety conditions, the effect any construction may have on emergency service access as well as the effect of construction on flooding in the area.
Much of the conversation, however, concerned semi-truck traffic on both roads and how the swap may affect that. One emblematic comment came from resident Mike Ryan, a retired truck driver, who said that closing Chambers for construction may redirect truck traffic onto Hicks Pike.
The officials and county staff members encouraged people to leave public feedback so they could make an informed decision about whether to proceed with the swap.
“I think once that 30-day comment period is concluded, then the fiscal court will have the opportunity to consider that at one of their meetings and make a resolution that that asks KYTC to move forward with the process,” Franxman said.
You can leave public input and view a presentation going over the details of the swap at yourvoice.boonecountyky.org/roadswap.
The county will accept feedback for 30 days after the special meeting that occurred on Thursday, Feb. 20. A video of the meeting, which includes the engineer’s presentation, comments from state and county officials as well as comments from county residents will be available for view at the county’s video archive page in the coming days.