GRAYSON, Ky. — Work starts this week on the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s $6 million Carol Malone Boulevard (KY 7/KY 1) widening project in downtown Grayson. The four-lane highway will be reduced to two-lane traffic during construction.

Beginning Monday, March 29, contractors placed work zone signs and barrels along Carol Malone Boulevard between Academic Parkway and the Little Sandy River bridge, and begin underlying road bed repairs at various locations. Lane closures and flagged traffic will be required for the work.

By today or Thursday, crews will begin major traffic changes that include shifting all traffic on the four-lane highway into a new two-lane configuration to make room for construction.

Shifting lane closures will be used initially to repave the road so new paint can be applied to mark new travel lanes on the southbound side of Carol Malone Boulevard.

By Friday, April 2, contractors expect all traffic will shift into its new configuration: One lane each direction with a center turn lane, and left-turn lanes at U.S. 60, throughout the 1.5-mile work zone from Academic Parkway to the Little Sandy River. The speed limit will be reduced to 25 miles per hour.

Motorists should note that due to heavy traffic volumes, especially during school and business rush hours, significant traffic delays are likely. Drivers should seek alternate routes if possible.

After traffic changes are implemented, construction will take place through the summer and fall on the northbound side of Carol Malone Boulevard out of the way of daily traffic flow. Traffic will then be switched later this year, and work will shift to the southbound side of the highway.
Construction will continue through the summer of 2022.

Carol Malone Boulevard, which carries KY 7 and KY 1 traffic through downtown Grayson, is an important I-64 connector in Carter County that serves as many as 17,000 vehicles per day. Work to widen it and improve traffic flow began more than 15 years ago.

The project will provide wider travel lanes, new right- and left-turn lanes — including additional turn lanes at U.S. 60 (Main Street) — and other work to reduce congestion, and improve traffic flow and safety along 1.5 miles of the four-lane state highway in downtown Grayson.

Plans for the highway improvement project were advertised for bid last fall, and the Transportation Cabinet awarded the $5,976,248 low-bid contract to Mountain Enterprises, Inc.