Traffic ties up at Cemetery Road and Hampton Drive by Kereiakes Park on Nov. 30.

A dangerous stretch of Warren County’s Ky. 234 (Cemetery Road) east of Interstate 65 has moved closer to improvements aimed at making it safer.

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 3 Public Information Officer Wes Watt said Wednesday that a route has been chosen for road widening and other upgrades to a 1.85-mile stretch of Ky. 234 from near Roger Porter Road to just past Fountain Trace Drive.

“The study has been completed, and the recommendation is for widening to the north of the existing highway,” Watt said. “Now that we know which alternative we’re going with, we can move into a more detailed design phase.”

Watt said cost, safety enhancements and public input were considered before making the decision on which side of the road would be used to widen the well-traveled highway, increasing the width of each of the two lanes from nine to 11 feet and also expanding the shoulders.

“It ended up being a pretty easy decision,” he said. “There is less right-of-way and utility impact on the northern option, so overall it’s a little cheaper.

“Public input showed support for the northern alternative too. By far the majority chose the northern alternative.”

According to a KYTC handout about the project, the northern alternative’s cost for right-of-way acquisition, utilities and construction comes to $12.72 million compared to the southern alternative’s price tag of $14.3 million.

“Cost is just one factor,” Watt said. “Everything pointed to the northern alternative.”

Now that a route has been chosen, the KYTC can move forward with its aim of improving a road that once handled a low volume of traffic in what was mainly a rural area.

“That road was not designed for the type of traffic that is on it now,” Watt said.

The increased traffic, and the rise in the number of subdivisions being built along Cemetery Road, led the KYTC to look at upgrading the road.

According to KYTC data, 50 crashes were reported in the target area from 2017 to 2022, with 25% of them resulting in injuries.

Although a route has been selected, residents in the area won’t see construction start right away.

The project, which will include new turn lanes at Barrington Drive and Drakesborough Drive, is only in the design phase. Right-of-way acquisition will begin next year, utility relocation in 2026, and construction in 2027, if the project makes it into the state’s highway plan.

“The design funds are in the highway plan this year,” Watt said. “But the construction funds are outside the (funded) biennium.

“There are always more needs and wants than money to pay for them. We have no way of knowing what the funding will look like for construction. It comes down to what resources are available.”

Available funding could have an impact on two stretches of Ky. 234. KYTC is also looking at how best to improve the area where Ky. 234 (Fairview Avenue) intersects both the entrance to Kereiakes Park and Hampton Drive.

Proposed improvements to that intersection have included a roundabout and widening, but options are limited because of the presence of Fairview Cemetery.

At a public meeting in August, residents seemed to favor an option that would widen the avenue slightly to add a short left turn lane into the park, a left turn lane into Hampton Drive and a two-way turning lane down the rest of the road.

“Public support was overwhelmingly in favor of the alternative that would add turn lanes,” Watt said. “We’re limited in the eastbound direction because of the cemetery.

“Even if it’s not the perfect solution, this (adding turn lanes) will help.”

Like the project farther east on Ky. 234, construction on any project to improve the intersection near Kereiakes Park must wait to see if it’s included in the state highway plan.