Clark County will get $24.5 million for the next two years for road, bridge, and sewer projects — as well as money for economic development.
State legislators Rep. Ryan Dotson and Sen. Greg Elkins, both of Winchester, announced the allocations this week in interviews and a social media post. The funds are from House Bill 502, the state’s two-year road plan, House Bill 900, the budget reserve trust fund, and Joint Resolution 76 for road projects.
Eastern bypass project
According to Elkins, $9 million in federal funds granted to the state in the biennial road budget is for purchasing right-of-way to extend the eastern bypass (Veterans Memorial Parkway), from Irvine Road (Ky. 89) to Boonesboro Road (Ky. 627) during Fiscal Years 2027 and 2028. The 2027 fiscal year begins July 1, 2026.
Elkins said the state’s six-year road plan includes $84.6 million to complete the bypass extension, including $22.4 million for utilities in FY 2029 and $53.2 million for construction beginning in FY 2030.
“I know there has been a lot of talk about three lane and undivided, but that money is now in there to four-lane the bypass all the way out,” Elkins said.
Elkins said that when the road plan first came out of the Governor’s Office, Winchester’s bypass project was missing, so he brought it to the state transportation secretary’s attention.
“I talked with Secretary Jim Gray, and that was an accident,” Elkins said.
“It’s a several-hundred-page document, and it’s easy to overlook one project or accidentally drop one out,” he explained. “But we went to work — Representative Dotson and I did — and got the project put back in the road plan, and then I went to work and made sure it was four lanes.”
Elkins said the plan had previously included a total of $58 million for a three-lane extension, but it was increased to $84 million to make it four lanes.
The senator said that once construction begins, it will probably take about 18 to 24 months to complete.
The bypass is to terminate at Boonesboro Road, where James Monroe Homes’ new 200-acre Boone’s Crossing development is currently under construction near the Southwind Golf Course.
When the highway construction is completed, it will include the reconstruction of the intersections at Ky. 627 and Bypass Road, and at Ky. 89 and Veterans Memorial Parkway, as well as roundabouts at Two Mile and Muddy Creek roads.
Relief for GRC traffic
Elkins said he will try to get some money into the road plan next year to widen Ky. 627 past George Rogers Clark High School, adding an additional lane to improve traffic flow and safety.
He said he has discussed it with the District 7 office and will work with County Judge-Executive R.J. Palmer on it throughout the rest of this year.
“It is pretty high on our priority list. We don’t have any funds set aside for it yet, but in the next road plan, I’m going to try to get something.”
“I’m concerned about our children’s safety out there, as is everyone else,” he commented.
Road paving money
In the news release he posted on Facebook April 27, Dotson said the $15.3 million Clark County is allocated in the state’s two-year road plan includes money for resurfacing the Bert T. Combs Mountain Parkway from mile point 0 to MP 5.341 and a bridge replacement project on Four Mile Road.
HJR 76 allocates $1.4 million — $1,177,400 to Clark County and $251,000 to the City of Winchester — in Local Assistance Road Plan funds for paving projects. Those include resurfacing improvements on Beckwood Road, Cunningham Lane, Dry Fork Creek Road, Old Ruckerville Road, Flanagan Street, Pendleton Street, Calloway White Road, Amster Grove Road, Grimes Mill Road, Magnolia Street, Early Drive, and Glenway Road.
“These projects will improve the condition and reliability of the roads Clark County residents depend on each day to get to work, school, and church,” Dotson said in a statement.
Elkins mentioned that HB 900, also known as the “rainy day” fund, includes $150 million over the next two years for “construction-ready” projects throughout the state.
Each county and each incorporated city that is a county seat can get $100,000 apiece if they are willing to match the state funding. That means Clark County could have $200,000 and Winchester $200,000 for resurfacing existing roads and streets or building new ones if the Fiscal Court and Board of Commissioners come up with the local portion.
The local governments can use the money to “put asphalt wherever they want,” Elkins explained. “It’s intended to be spent if you can find a way to do it.”
Red River Road bridge
Although it is not part of the road plan, Elkins said, $1.6 million is available to begin construction on the Red River Road bridge project. The old bridge over the CSX railroad was closed in 2024 for safety concerns, isolating 35 households in the area.
The senator said he hoped the project would begin this year, but it would likely be nine or 10 months due to negotiations between the county government and CSX.
“The funds are set aside, I’m told,” Elkins said. “We just need to wait on CSX and the county to get their work done.”
Sewer line extension
One project the lawmakers are pleased with is the inclusion of $6 million in HB 900 for the Clark County Sanitation District to extend sanitary sewer service to several hundred residents in the U.S. 60 and Rockwell Road corridor. It would also retire two old wastewater package treatment plants in Yorktowne Mobile Home Park and Verna Hills that are, in Elkins’ words, “in danger of catastrophic failure.”
The treatment plants, one of which is half a century old, are operated by the homeowners’ associations, which can’t be expected to raise millions of dollars to fix the problem.
If the plants were to fail, it could be a public health and environmental disaster.
Economic development
Also in this year’s budget reserve trust fund, HB 900, is $1.8 million for the Clark County Fiscal Court for economic development projects.
“That money was intended to be used for the purchase of property for the new industrial park,” although it doesn’t have to be used for that, Elkins said. “That isn’t nearly enough, but … it will help.”
The Winchester Industrial Park is running out of land. There are only 30 acres left, and local officials want to buy more for development.
Dotson said there is a possibility that the Economic Development Cabinet might also provide other funding: Product Development Initiative, or PDI, funds and “closing funds” to supplement the $1.8 million.
He said he has talked with Palmer and Winchester’s former industrial authority director, Brad Sowdan, about going after some of that money. Dotson said he had originally requested $33 million to buy industrial land.
“That is what Brad and I talked about. We submitted the budget request, and we knew it was a high mark, but we knew there was some opportunity possibly to help make this a regional industrial park, so we’re just trying to work at different angles to secure some funding,” he said.
Sowdan has since taken a job with Richmond’s industrial authority.
Dotson said the ultimate goal is to purchase 300 acres adjacent to the Winchester Industrial Park.
In his media release, Dotson said the HB 900 allocations for sanitary sewer service and economic development will “position Clark County for future growth.”
Looking ahead: U.S. 60
What will also likely contribute to future growth in western Clark County is the plan to widen U.S. 60 or Winchester Road, from Haley Pike in Fayette County to Bypass Road in Winchester.
Although there is no money allocated in the current biennial budget, the state road plan includes $59 million in Fiscal Years 2029–2032 to make the road four lanes all the way into Lexington, Elkins said.
The senator said the widening of U.S. 60 will be done in two phases: probably from Polo Club in Lexington to Haley Road, and then from Haley Road to Winchester.
In the next road budget, he said, “I’ll be making sure we have the funds actually available to begin that project.”
