Kenton County is assisting the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet in maintaining more than 53 miles of state-managed rural roadways over the next year.
On June 10, the Kenton County Fiscal Court passed a resolution for the county to conduct routine maintenance of all Rural Secondary routes within its jurisdiction. The resolution also approved an attached maintenance contract for the services, valued at $228,900.00. The contract period runs from July 1 through June 30, 2026.
“This is the agreement we’ve had with KYTC for the last few years,” Kenton County Public Works Director Spencer Stork said. “This is for maintenance on their Rural Secondary roads in Kenton County.”
According to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet website, Rural Secondary roads are constructed and maintained by the KYTC. They are a type of supplemental road that typically serves local importance, often acting as farm-to-market roads and urban collectors.
Each year, counties participating in the program receive funding for the construction, reconstruction, and maintenance of their rural and secondary roads. KYTC is responsible for expending all Rural Secondary Program funds.
Under the resolution, the county will assume routine maintenance for all 38.961 miles of Rural Secondary roads within its boundaries, as well as 3.264 miles along KY-14, or Bracht-Piner Road–a State Secondary route.
The county’s maintenance responsibilities will include ditch clearing, debris and dead animal removal, pothole patching, general bridge repairs and culvert work on pipes up to 36 inches long. However, the county will not undertake more extensive projects, such as resurfacing, road striping, right-of-way mowing and large-scale repairs. These duties will remain the responsibilities of KYTC.
In addition, Kenton County passed a subsequent resolution that will take care of snow and ice removal responsibilities on approximately 11 miles of roads that aren’t classified as Rural Secondary, but still align with the county’s snow and ice response plans. An attached maintenance contract is worth $501,955. The contract period runs from November 1 to April 15, 2026.
This includes over six miles of KY-536, or Mt. Zion Road through Harris Pike, 1.2 miles of KY-1303, or Bristow Road through Turkeyfoot Road, and 3.6 miles of KY-2043, or Banklick Road.
Kenton County Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann explained the rationale behind the county’s participation in the program.
“The idea being that we can specifically react faster and help the state in areas that they need maintenance, and that way, we’re not putting county dollars on state roads. We’re getting reimbursed,” he said. “It’s a good partnership to try and get things done.”
Funding is derived from taking 22.2% of the state’s motor fuels tax revenue. Annually, Kenton County and KYTC’s District 6 office collaborate to propose how these funds should be distributed.
After state approval, the funds are transferred to the county, which then executes the projects using its own road crews or contracted services. While Kentucky retains oversight responsibilities, Kenton County assumes responsibility for the day-to-day execution of projects.
The county’s public works crews are not under an obligation to provide maintenance to all state-owned roads, but rather only state-owned roads in unincorporated parts of the county. Unincorporated Kenton County is comprised primarily of rural areas throughout the county’s southern end, as opposed to the incorporated urbanized and suburban areas in the county’s north.
