A new section of roadway is coming to Newport.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 6 Office announced this week that the expansion of KY 9 in Newport, Kentucky has begun.

“This project will begin the realignment and widening of the KY 9 corridor in Newport,” said Rob Hans, Chief District Engineer for Department of Highways District 6, in Covington. "When the entire corridor is complete, it will provide improved access to Newport as well as the Taylor Southgate Bridge.”

Prus Construction Company, of Cincinnati was awarded the low-bid contract of $5.5 million for this project.

This is the first of three projects required to complete the KY 9 corridor from the Newport flood wall near 12th Street to its ending point to the intersection of York and 3rd Street, near Newport on the Levee. Utility work associated with the first project is currently in progress along the new alignment between 12th and 9th Streets; roadway construction work will begin in the spring 2015.

The new road will have 2 lanes in each direction, bike lanes and sidewalks. The next project, which includes two roundabouts, will be the northern portion of the corridor from 5th Street to the Taylor Southgate Bridge. Currently the northern phase is scheduled for a summer 2015 construction letting. The final phase, the middle portion that will tie all the sections together, should be under construction in 2016, or possibly sooner.

Once all of the phases are complete this new roadway will safely move traffic on KY 9 through Newport, provide regional connectivity, and provide opportunities for more economic development, KYTC said in a news release.

The completion date for the first phase is summer 2016.

-Staff report