FRANKFORT, Ky. — A nearly $50 million highway improvement project is underway to bring much-anticipated improvements to a heavily traveled state highway corridor in Breathitt County, providing added safety and economic benefits for Eastern Kentuckians.
The project will add lanes and sidewalks to a busy stretch of Kentucky Highway 15 within the city limits of Jackson. It also will further strengthen and stabilize the dam that holds Panbowl Lake, which underwent a project last year to prevent flooding in the lake’s watershed.
“This project will not only improve a busy stretch of road in Jackson, but it will also further strengthen the dam that holds Panbowl Lake. This is a dam that we were worried would break in both the 2021 and 2022 floods,” said Gov. Andy Beshear. “We are proud to stand with Breathitt County as we get this $50 million project underway and greatly improve the safety for folks living in this area.”
This project received a $21.1 million federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grant made possible by the 2023 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Total cost for construction is $49.55 million. Triton Construction Inc. was awarded a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet contract for the work.
“We get things done by working smarter together,” said Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary Jim Gray. “These upgrades will improve travel between southeastern Kentucky and the central part of the state. Our partnership with the U.S. Department of
Transportation connects Eastern Kentucky communities while keeping them safer.”
Utility relocation work near the project has been ongoing for several months. Now, construction is ramping up on a little more than a mile of KY 15 from the intersection with Kentucky Highway 30 to the intersection of KY 1812 (Main Street)
and on a portion of Washington Street.
This section of KY 15 carries more than 13,000 vehicles per day. The route is part of the Appalachian Development Highway System and was built in the early 1960s in conjunction with construction of the Mountain Parkway.
The road was widened to add a center turn lane in the mid-1980s. The newly awarded project will widen the road to four lanes with a center turn lane and add sidewalks on the sides of the highway. The project will incorporate the stability improvements to Panbowl
Dam that were completed in June 2023.
Currently, the northbound lane of KY 15 is closed between Indian Hollow Road (mile point 17.253) and Lakeside Drive (mile point 17.7), and northbound traffic is shifted into the center turn lane. This is similar to the traffic control used during the recently completed Panbowl Dam reinforcement project. In addition, Lakeside Drive access is closed at the traffic light, and Lakeside traffic detoured to come out at Jett Drive. A 35
mph speed limit is in place through the work zone with double fines enforced.
Work zones will shift as the project progresses through next year. Updates will be posted as necessary to Kentucky Department of Highways District 10’s Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) pages using the hashtag #KY15Project.
