2023 Road Reconstruction Update
Fort Henry Drive Project
This year the City will begin reconstruction of Fort Henry Drive - Phase I. The Fort Wright City Council awarded the bid for the project to Jefferson Contractors at their May 3rd City Council Meeting.
This project will be completed in two phases with the first phase beginning after July 1st 2023. Phase 1 will take place between Pickett Drive and the bottom of the existing concrete section near 434 Fort Henry Drive. Both phases of construction will include full depth removal of the existing street and concrete reconstruction. Under drains will also be installed beneath the roadway to direct storm water to catch basins. Some storm infrastructure will be included in the project as well. This phase of the project will take place between July 2023 – November 2023.
Phase 2 is expected to begin in the spring of 2024 with anticipated completion in late summer of 2024. Phase 2 will include both ends of Fort Henry Drive: from Pickett Drive to General Drive, and from the concrete section at 422 Fort Henry to Amsterdam Road.
Recently, AMS construction - a contractor for Duke Energy - has finished lowering gas services within the project area.
The Northern Kentucky Water District (NKWD) is currently working on installing their new main between Lookout Ct. and Pickett Dr. They started at Lookout Ct. and are now below Bunker Ct. Rector Excavating, NKWD 's contractor, currently has one crew on site but will be bringing another crew in to begin pressure tests and start tying services to the new main. They are encountering a lot of rock as they excavate for the new main, so they may need to open cut some locations to run services which will take a little longer. This portion of the project is expected to be complete by early August.
Last week the City met with Jefferson Contractors who was awarded the bid for the street reconstruction. Jefferson is scheduled to begin work in early August when Rector Excavating is finished. They will start with installing new storm infrastructure followed by the roadway.
Our Public Works Director and City Engineer will be meeting on site with Jefferson after the July 4th holiday to begin marking driveway aprons for removal to match grade to the new roadway. Once work begins on the roadway, Jefferson will dig out a section of pavement, install under drains and stone on the same day, then pour concrete the next. While working on digging the next section, crews will begin replacing driveway aprons to allow residents to get back into their driveways quicker. There will be a period of time that residents will not have access to their driveways as construction is completed in front of their homes. Jefferson will notify residents a couple days ahead of this work to allow them to get their vehicles out of their driveways and plan accordingly. We will make every effort to restore access to driveways as quickly as possible. While construction continues, we ask that you avoid the area unless you live within the project limits as additional traffic can slow the process.
We appreciate your patience as we work through these much needed improvements to Fort Henry Drive. Any questions or concerns may be directed to Jeff Bethell, Public Works Director either at jbethell@fortwright.com or 859-426-3106.
