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Boone County staff seek KYTC support for context-sensitive Hicks Pike design in proposed road swap
Summary
County engineers outlined requests to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to make Chambers Road a state-maintained route and Hicks Pike a state project designed in a ‘context‑sensitive’ manner with lane limits, traffic calming and a citizen advisory group; the court expects a May 6 agenda item but took no action today.
County engineer Rob Franksman briefed the Boone County Fiscal Court on a proposed road exchange with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet that would make Chambers Road a state-maintained route and transfer Hicks Pike to state design/construction.
Franksman said the draft letter and proposed resolution to the cabinet would ask KYTC to: conduct routine maintenance on Chambers Road (ditch and cross‑culvert replacement at known flooding sites, base failure repairs and resurfacing); and to plan, design and construct Hicks Pike in a context‑sensitive manner. He defined context sensitivity to include formation of a citizen advisory group to gather stakeholder perspectives, reasonable limits on lane and right‑of‑way expansion, traffic calming measures that enhance safety for all modes and discourage nonresidential through‑traffic, and aesthetics that match the surroundings.
Commissioners recommended two edits to the draft language: a clarifying sentence referencing prior joint discussions with KYTC, and a more explicit example of ‘appropriate aesthetics’ — a boulevard‑type residential feel (islands, landscaping, multiuse path). Rob and Judge Moore noted that language provides design direction but does not bind the cabinet; they emphasized they will advocate for mostly two‑lane configurations with turn lanes where needed and oppose designs that exceed three lanes.
Resident Gail Beaulieu (Saratoga Springs/Triple Crown) asked how members of the proposed citizen advisory committee would be selected and whether they would remain involved through the project. Franksman described KYTC’s practice: cabinet and county staff, city representatives (if applicable), local stakeholders (residents, neighborhoods, employer representatives) and first responders are typically on the advisory panel through phase‑1 (concept and alignment) and early detailed design; the group often disbands after primary decisions are made.
Judge Moore told the public the caucus would not make a decision today and that the road‑swap is likely to return to the fiscal court agenda on May 6 for further consideration or action.
