KY-727 Roundabout

The purpose of the project is to improve the design of the intersection of Fifth Street Road and Black Diamond Road located near Corbin Primary School. The project will eliminate safety concerns with the current roadway and will construct a roundabout with three legs. Given the roadway’s current traffic volume, location near the school, and limited Intersection Sight Distance (ISD), the roundabout configuration will provide a new alignment that is expected to improve traffic performance at the intersection. With the increasing demand and need for an efficient and effective route, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet aims to propose a solution that is safer for all drivers in the area.

The existing configuration of the intersection includes two quadrants that comprise the route of KY 727. These quadrants are uncontrolled, while KY 3221 and CR 1088 are both stop controlled. The location of Corbin Primary School has increased the traffic volume along the roadway and has impacted the crash-rate of the intersection. According to the Kentucky State Police Crash database, there have been 46 crashes within the vicinity of the intersection in the past 10 years. Furthermore, 25 crashes involved more than one vehicle, often being sideswipes, angle, rear end, or head on collisions. The project, once completed, is designed to reduce the severity of the collisions for an overall safer route. 

The proposed roundabout will be 16’ in width and will accommodate vehicles, buses, and an occasional larger truck. A Traffic Operational Analysis was conducted to measure the effectiveness of the roundabout, and the results showed a high rating for both current traffic volumes and future patterns as well. Given an Average Daily Traffic (ADT) analysis and peak hour traffic volumes during school hours, each leg of the roundabout will have a design speed that will correspond to the existing posted speed for that leg. The realignment of the roadway increases Stopping Sight Distance (SSD) that is in accordance with the standards set by Kentucky’s Highway Design Manual. These factors and further research support the design of the roundabout to be the favored solution of the project. 

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet would like to seek input from the public about this proposal, especially from drivers who are familiar with this area. If you have any questions or concerns about this proposal, or would like any additional information, please contact District 11 Design Engineer Greg York at the email address below: