Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Highway Expansion

Has Kentucky’s ‘Zombie Highway’ Met its Demise?

1:20 PM EDT on October 19, 2009

Interstate 66, a planned multi-billion-dollar road through the heart of Appalachia, has become a quintessential "zombie highway," holding on long after economists dismissed its potential -- thanks largely to Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY), who has earmarked $96 million for the project even as its chances of going beyond Kentucky dimmed to virtually nil.

100_0990.jpgA sign first posted in 2005 by former Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R-KY), who was later indicted on hiring fraud charges. (Photo: KentuckyRoads.com)

But I-66's checkered run, which has brought much planning and local cheerleading but zero construction work, could be coming to an end. The Louisville Courier-Journal reported today that the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has stopped work on a major portion of the highway, citing lack of funding:

Because ofits decision to pull back, the cabinet missed a key June deadline tofinalize a major environmental study of the 28-mile segment of the roadthat would run through Laurel and Pulaski counties, the heart ofRogers’ 5th Congressional District. ...

“Sincethe end of 2008, the project’s been dead in the water,” said JohnSacksteder of HMB Professional Engineers Inc. and the project managerfor the London-Somerset portion of the road. “We were told (by theKentucky Transportation Cabinet) to wrap up what we were working on andto set it on the shelf until further notified.”

Of course, the biggest reason for skepticism about I-66's official cancellation is Rogers himself, who remains a senior member of the purse string-wielding House Appropriations Committee and told the Courier-Journal that he was "unmoved in [his] commitment" to seeing the highway built. The administration of Gov. Steve Beshear (D-KY) also continues to support Rogers' work on the road.

But even if I-66 lurched back to life in the coming months, the four-land highway still would face stiff challenges from environmental groups. The Kentucky Resources Council is one such local opponent, having taken on the state government in 2007 for attempting to exempt I-66 from an existing river-protection law.

As conceived, I-66 also would cut through hundreds of acres of the Daniel Boone National Forest, raising the prospect of significant environmental degradation in the area. (Incidentally, Kentuckian explorer Boone was the original namesake of the controversial road, but Rogers later took over that role.)

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Want a Better 15-Minute City? Ask Residents What They Really Want

A new study from Bogotá models how other cities can ask a deeper set of questions about how to put essential needs within walking, biking or transit distance.

March 19, 2024

Tuesday’s Headlines Win the Gold

Two articles detail efforts in Paris and Los Angeles to put on (relatively) climate-friendly Olympic games in 2024 and 2028.

March 19, 2024

Monday’s Headlines Drink Your Milkshake

How does a president end wasteful subsidies for the highly profitable fossil fuel industry? Many have tried, but none have succeeded, including Joe Biden.

March 18, 2024

How — and Why — To Start a Neighborhood E-Bike Library

American advocates are loaning out e-bikes to their neighbors — and creating flocks of new riders.

March 18, 2024

What Urbanists’ Doug Burgum Lovefest Reveals About the ‘Why’ Behind Our Advocacy

I am far less interested in talking about Gov. Doug Burgum's politics than talking about his values, and how those values shape his urbanism, and thus the actual lives of the people he governs.

March 15, 2024
See all posts