Construction on R-Cut at U.S. 641/KY 402 Intersection near Hardin in Marshall County to Start Monday, April 26
KYTC District 1 to have 7 R-Cuts in operation by year's end
PADUCAH, KY (April 20, 2021) A contractor for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) plans to establish a work zone at the intersection of U.S. 641 and KY 402 near Hardin in Marshall County starting Monday, April 26, 2021.
The work zone is to allow construction of an R-Cut to replace the existing intersection and traffic signal. This Highway Safety Improvement Project (HSIP) is aimed at reducing the crash rate at the intersection. KYTC District 1 engineers expect to have 7 R-Cuts in operation by the end of this year.
As construction ramps up at the U.S. 641/KY 402 site, motorists should be alert for lane restrictions required to facilitate the work. There is a 45 mile per hour work zone speed limit with an enhanced enforcement presence.
An R-Cut restricts left turns, then directs traffic to a dedicated turn lane with a modified U-turn or R-Cut. The feature allows drivers to divide the decision to navigate through the intersection into several smaller decisions. An R-Cut reduces the 36 identifiable conflict points for vehicles traveling through an intersection by half. It also eliminates movements that create the most opportunities for serious crashes. R-Cut installations have reduced crashes by up to 54 percent.
Over a recent 5-year period, more than 27 crashes were reported at this intersection with a total of 14 injuries. There were 18 angle crashes with a total of 12 injuries and 9 rear-end crashes with a total of 2 injuries. The traffic analysis showed 75% of the crashes were in dry weather conditions, with 84 percent occurring during daylight hours.
The U.S. 641/KY 402 intersection is at Marshall County U.S. 641 mile point 1.224 and KY 402 mile point 8.076. Approximately 11,500 vehicles travel through this intersection in an average day.
Jim Smith Contracting of Grand Rivers is the prime contractor on this $1,196,823 Highway Safety Improvement Project. The target completion date is August 15, 2021.
KYTC District 1 has one R-Cut completed as part of the KY 80 Mayfield South Bypass at Central Road in Graves County. An R-Cut on U.S. 68 at KY 139 South of Cadiz in Trigg County is in operation and nearing completion. Two are under construction along U.S. 45 between Paducah and Mayfield, awaiting additional work after school is out. Two have just started construction along U.S. 60 in western McCracken County. With the start of this project on U.S. 641 at KY 402, KYTC District 1 engineers expect to have 7 R-Cuts completed and in operation by the end of this year.
For more information on how an R-Cut works, please go to www.US45Safety.org .
To get traffic advisories and alerts for KYTC District 1 via email please go to https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/KYTC/signup/13651 and click on the District 1 counties you regularly drive through, or for any of the specialty corridors you travel. Be sure to check your SPAM filtering to assure Gov Delivery is on your approved list.
Timely traffic advisories for the 12 counties of KYTC Highway District 1 are available by going to www.facebook.com/kytcdistrict1. You do not have to be a Facebook member to access this page.
Navigate traffic at goky.ky.gov, at waze.com, or with the WAZE App.
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