Awards announced by Gov. Beshear

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced a new round of discretionary road funds, totaling more than $6.1 million, to 42 local governments.

“I’m glad we are able to allocate this funding, especially for communities still recovering from the devastating tornadoes of 2021 and widespread flooding of 2022,” Beshear said. “Local streets and roads help connect and define a community, but roadway needs can quickly mount up and overwhelm a local government’s budget.”

For example, the City of Buckhorn, in Perry County, having seen some of the worst flooding in Eastern Kentucky, was approved for $69,714 with which to resurface three streets — Bill Owens Lane, Buckhorn Lane and Witherspoon Way.
“The City of Buckhorn is in desperate need of this funding,” the city’s application stated. “Our streets are long overdue to be resurfaced. However, the city has not had the funds available to do so.”

Elsewhere, the City of Maysville was approved for $176,250 with which to resurface the streets of Washington Glen, an older subdivision that was part of the former City of Washington, which Maysville annexed in 1990. The cost for Washington Glen would consume nearly all of Maysville’s municipal road aid allotment for the year, according to the city’s application.

In Western Kentucky, Graves County, which took the brunt of the tornado outbreak of December 2021, was approved for $298,650 toward resurfacing of Meridian Road. The issue now is damage “due to the high impact of farm equipment, large commercial vehicles and everyday travel,” Judge-Executive Jesse Perry stated in the county’s application.

Also approved for funding were the counties of Adair, Allen, Anderson, Bath, Boyle, Bullitt, Carlisle, Casey, Clark, Cumberland, Floyd, Franklin, Greenup, Hardin, Hart, Johnson, Knott, Knox, Lewis, Lincoln, Madison, Magoffin, Martin, McCreary, McLean, Mercer, Muhlenberg, Pike, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Rowan, Russell and Wayne, along with the cities of Harlan, Hazard, Madisonville, Russell Springs, Sharpsburg and Versailles.

During his administration, Gov. Beshear has approved discretionary funding totaling $68,349,117, and awards have been made to all 120 Kentucky counties.

The discretionary funding is administered through the Department of Rural and Municipal Aid at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC).