For immediate release 5/17/99
Contact: Melissa Forsythe

"No single project could mean what this one would to Appalachia", Governor Patton said. He was talking about the proposed bi-coastal Interstate 66, that would enter Kentucky at the Missouri border in the western part of the state and traverse the southern part of Kentucky , northeast through the mountains to West Virginia. Governor Patton has asked for $17 million in federal transportation funds for the project, and today in Lexington, U.S Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater told Governor Patton he expects to make an announcement in the near future. "We’re optimistic that we’ll be included", Governor Patton said. "We asked for $17 million out of $140 million in discretionary funds available nationwide." The governor hand-delivered his request to Secretary Slater last October, for a special appropriation to begin the planning, design, and environmental impact studies necessary to start construction of the eastern Kentucky segment of the super highway. "It will take a long time, but a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step", Governor Patton said. "We’re on the verge of getting it started, and if we do that, surely in time it will be completed."

Secretary Slater praised Governor Patton’s efforts to increase federal transportation funds to the states at the Appalachian Intermodal Transportation Summit in Lexington. Slater delivered grants to Kentucky projects, including $4.6 million for the Louisville airport; $435-thousand to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for helping communities solve interdisciplinary transportation planning problems; and announced that Louisville’s TARC is in line for a one million dollar grant to help former welfare recipients and other low-income people get to and from work. Slater said the White House is committed to improving Kentucky’s economy through innovative transportation initiatives.

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