THAYER HELPS SECURE SIGNIFICANT FUNDING BENEFITING KENTON COUNTY
FRANKFORT, KY (April 22, 2024)—Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, helped secure millions of dollars for local infrastructure projects in Kenton County over the next two years.
As a provision in House Bill (HB) 1, Thayer and the Senate successfully leveraged $450 million from Kentucky’s $3.7 billion budget reserve trust fund (BRTF) to boost the state’s road, bridge and highway repair efforts in the state road plan. Major projects in Kenton County are direct beneficiaries of this funding.
Included in the state’s two-year road plan, House Bill (HB) 266, Thayer helped secure nearly $807.65 millionfor planning, designing, obtaining rights-of-way, utility work, and construction of various projects in the county.
Priority projects for Thayer, which fall within the southern portion of Kenton County of his 17th Senate District include:
- $35.76 million for improvements in safety and congestion reduction on KY Highway 536 from Williamswood Road and Calvary Drive to KY Highway 17,
- This project is made possible by the $450 million transfer from the BRTF to the state road plan.
- $28 million for improvements in safety and congestion reduction on KY Highway 536 from KY Highway 1303 to Williamswood Road and Calvary Drive, and
- $9 million for safety and congestion reduction improvements on KY Highway 1303 from KY Highway 536 to Beechgrove Elementary.
- This project, too, is made possible by the $450 million transfer from the BRTF to the state road plan.
Thayer also worked with other members of the Kenton County delegation—including Senate Budget Chair Chris McDaniel and Sens. Shelley Funke Frommeyer and Gex Williams—to support other relevant Kenton County projects. Additional projects include but are not limited to
- More than $21.4 million to support four bridge projects in the county.
- $30.63 million to reconstruct KY Highway 236 (Stevenson Road) from Alice Street to Jacqueline Drive.
- This project also received general funds due to the Senate’s proposed $450 million from the state’s BRTF in HB 1.
- The project is in conjunction with the county and City of Erlanger’s sewer and water line project along the road.
- $5.87 million to provide connectivity, improve mobility and reduce congestion along KY Highway 536 from KY Highway 17 to KY Highway 16.
HJR 91 includes scheduled projects and anticipated needs for the remaining four years of the six-year highway construction plan. Find HJR 91 HERE. Kenton County-specific projects can be found on page 128.
Working closely with McDaniel, Thayer helped secure more than $807 million for further progress on the Brent Spence Bridge (BSB) megaproject in the biennial road plan. Appropriated across the biennium for the BSB is $358.4 million in federal grant funding, $146.6 million of the $250 million in general fund dollars appropriated in 2022, and $150 million in authorized bond money, for a combined total of $655 million. As of March 2024, $227.6 million has been authorized for final design work and right-of-way acquisition. Find further details on the project by CLICKING HERE.
The 2024 Legislative Session concluded on Monday, April 15.
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