After years of speculation and assessment, the widening of Hopkinsville’s West 7th Street — from the KY 91 Junction to KY 1007/North Drive — is finally underway.
During Tuesday’s Christian County Fiscal Court, magistrates unanimously approved a resolution to help transfer parcels of property to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet through a deed of conveyance — described by outgoing Judge-Executive Steve Tribble.
Billy Sizemore, with KYTC, said the widening would include a 10-foot multi-purpose lane with guttering on one side, a 5-foot sidewalk on the other side, two 11-foot lanes and a turn lane for the middle. This will allow for scooters, bicycles and other low- and non-motor travelers to operate safely, while pedestrians could travel to and from the business intersection, the senior citizens center, the Dodge Store, the Wood Shed, the Copper Still, Max’s Fuel and more.
Following concerns from outgoing magistrate Mark Cansler, Tribble also noted the project would include a much-needed improvement for that small bridge over the long-running creek — which over the years has become tighter and tighter with the increasing size of transit and personal vehicles.
Sizemore told the court that acquiring property and other easements will continue until March 2023, with a leading date tentatively set for November 2023.
In the 2022-24 biennial KYTC highway construction plan, this project is listed with a price of $5.85 million, and it’s one of 17 projects on the books costing $29.2 million in all.
