PADUCAH, Ky. (July 1, 2019) – Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) engineers have developed a revised plan for construction of a Double Crossover Diamond (DCD) along U.S. 60 at the Interstate 24 Paducah Exit 4 interchange that is expected to reduce traffic congestion along a planned detour.
The revised plan calls for U.S. 60 traffic through the I-24/U.S. 60 Paducah Exit 4 interchange to remain open initially while ramps at the interchange will close starting at 6 a.m., CDT, on Monday, July 8.
The contractor has worked to complete as much construction as possible prior to the ramp closures. This is expected to allow closures of U.S. 60 through the interchange to be limited to nights only.
“While closing the ramps at Exit 4 and detouring traffic to the KY 305 Paducah Exit 3 interchange will create some inconvenience, keeping U.S. 60 open through the interchange should greatly reduce the volume of traffic using the detour,” said KYTC District 1 Chief Engineer Kyle Poat. “This should improve traffic flow along the detour while the ramps are closed.”
Poat noted that once the ramps close July 8, traffic signals at the ramp ends will be disabled. This will allow through-traffic along U.S. 60 between Coleman Road and James-Sanders Boulevard to move more efficiently.
With the ramps closed, work can proceed with median barrier wall construction under and around the overpass. Once that concrete work is completed, the contractor will set a date for overnight closures of U.S. 60 to allow paving of lanes for the Double Crossover Diamond, which is designed to increase road capacity and improve safety.
Engineers believe the change in strategy will not increase the length of the ramp closures.
Once the Exit 4 ramps close on July 8, travelers on I-24 will be detoured to the I-24/KY 305 Paducah Exit 3 interchange. Traffic seeking to connect to U.S. 60 East into Paducah and to access businesses on the Paducah side of I-24 near Exit 4 will detour via Charter Oak Drive and Coleman Road. Motorists seeking to connect to U.S. 60 West and businesses near the west side of the Exit 4 interchange will detour via KY 998/Olivet Church Road and New Holt Road to reconnect with U.S. 60 near Kentucky Oaks Mall.
Last week, KYTC engineers encouraged local commuters who travel to and from the area to consider alternate routes via New Holt Road, Pecan Drive, and James-Sanders Boulevard to help reduce the number of vehicles traveling the marked detour through the Exit 3 interchange.
Message boards will be placed at Wickliffe advising through traffic traveling into Paducah from the U.S. 51 Ohio River “Cairo” Bridge to use KY 286 and U.S. 62 to connect to I-24 at Exit 7 during the ramp closure. Additionally, extra detour signage and message boards will be placed around Paducah to help divert local traffic to Exit 7.
I-24 traffic through the Paducah Exit 4 interchange will remain open throughout the ramp closure.
Much of the planned work will take place along U.S. 60 between James-Sanders Boulevard and Coleman Road with closures limited to overnight hours. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will provide timely notice when the night closures of U.S. 60 are scheduled to begin. The likely start date is July 22. Traffic is expected to move to the new DCD configuration after the first couple of nights of paving with the DCD to be substantially complete by August 12th.
The contractor is required to reopen U.S. 60 and the ramps at the Paducah Exit 4 interchange by Aug. 12, 2019.
Approximately 28,500 vehicles travel U.S. 60 through the Exit 4 interchange each day. In comparison, KY 305 carries about 5,000 vehicles through the Exit 4 interchange in an average day.
Jim Smith Contracting of Grand Rivers, Ky., is the prime contractor on this $9,179,425 highway improvement project. The target completion date is Nov. 20, 2019.