Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman and other regional leaders broke ground on a new connector roadway Monday morning in Highland Heights.
The new roadway will connect the roundabout at the intersection of Norse Boulevard and Johns Hill Road to the existing traffic signal at Pooles Creek Road and KY Route 9, also known as the AA Highway.
“This is a one and a half mile connector road, and it’s something that the community has needed for a long time,” said Coleman. “From what I heard, longer than I’ve been in office, times about two.”
Once completed, the road will connect NKU, and by proxy Highland Heights, with Wilder and Covington via its connection with KY 9. The AA Highway is also a central corridor through much of Campbell County.
“The project will provide better, safer connections for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists,” said Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 6 Chief Engineer Bob Yeager.
Funding for the project has been in the works for decades, said Yeager. Federal funds were first earmarked for the project in 2002, thanks to efforts by former Sen. Jim Bunning. Environmental studies for the project took time, Yeager said, but additional money later came from the General Assembly in 2025.
Now carrying a price tag of roughly $9.9 million, the project will serve as the second phase of work initially finished in 2018 with the completion of Norse Boulevard, as well as the roundabouts at the intersections of Three Mile Road and University Drive and Johns Hill Road and Norse Boulevard. That phase cost about $10.6 million.
The new road will be designated KY 2405. It will create new intersections at Pooles Creek Road and St. Johns Lane and will sport an eight-foot multi-use sidewalk. Firms Louisville Paving and Gresham Smith are serving as the design-build team on the project.
“For NKU, this new connection will help us welcome people to our campus more safely (and) more conveniently, while strengthening our connection to the communities around us,” said NKU President Cady Short-Thompson.
Yeager attributed the recent monetary success to Campbell County-based Kentucky Rep. Mike Clines. Clines did not attend the groundbreaking, but another state representative from Campbell County, Matt Lehman, spoke at the event.
“Northern Kentucky is not like a lot of other parts of Kentucky,” Lehman said. “We are lucky. We are growing. We’re seeing an increased population. We’re seeing new opportunities. What goes along with that is some of the challenges of growth – it’s construction; it’s new roads.”
“We’re continually looking for ways to reduce conflicts, improve roadway connections and make our transportation system safer for everyone,” Yeager said. “This project is yet another example of putting that commitment into action.”
Site clearing for the project has already begun. The transportation cabinet hopes to have the road completed by fall 2028.
