Kentucky highway plan includes new aquatic-center access road in Barbourville

By Brian Bateman

Barbourville’s aquatic center is included in Kentucky’s 2026-2028 biennial highway construction plan, with a project intended to improve safety by constructing a new access road to the city recreational facility.

The project appears in a Kentucky General Assembly budget document dated May 7, 2026. The document names Barbourville City local government in connection with providing safe ingress and egress to the aquatic center.

For residents and families who drive to the facility, the proposed road is intended to create a safer way to enter and leave the aquatic center. The stated access purpose also has implications for emergency access, although the available record does not describe the road’s design or how traffic would be routed.

What the highway plan says

The project is part of the state’s 2026-2028 planning framework. Its inclusion means the aquatic-center access road has been identified in the biennial highway plan; it does not establish that a road has opened or that construction is underway.

The plan identifies Barbourville City local government in connection with the safe ingress-and-egress objective. Barbourville is the Knox County seat, and the city is the exact locality connected to the project in the state records.

The available material does not identify the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet as having begun construction, nor does it provide a separate engineering description. The source record establishes the project’s purpose and planning period, but not the work’s current on-the-ground status.

Key details remain unresolved

The document does not list a project cost, exact route, construction schedule or funding split. It also does not show whether final engineering or right-of-way work has begun.

As a result, aquatic-center users and nearby drivers do not yet have a published timetable for when access could change. The plan also does not establish whether the project is fully funded, under construction or open to traffic.

The next known step is the project’s consideration within the 2026-2028 biennial highway plan. Later project information would be needed to clarify the proposed road’s design, cost, funding details, right-of-way status and construction timing.