Greenway Trail Southside Extension
Russell Clark with the National Park Service congratulated the community for successfully developing a plan to expand bike lanes and greenway trails in Paducah. The project’s goals include connecting neighborhoods, encouraging active transportation, promoting Paducah as a destination, and implementing complete streets that improve safety and bolster economic development.
In June 2023, the City accepted the National Park Service – River, Trails, and Conversation Assistance Program Technical Assistance Grant. Through this grant, National Park Service staff has been assisting the City with the creation of a master plan to extend the Greenway Trail, gather input for an urban bike loop plan, and prepare for a future application to become a designated Kentucky Trail Town. After two years of public feedback through focus groups, public meetings, surveys, and steering committee input, a plan is ready to be shared. The community survey feedback included that safety is the biggest priority (50 percent of respondents) and that comfort and conveniences (restrooms, drinking fountains, and shade trees) are important along the trail.
The initial phase includes adding routes of varying lengths from the riverfront to Bridge Street. To begin that phase, the Paducah Board of Commissioners approved a Municipal Order authorizing a request for qualifications for the design and engineering of the Greenway Trail Southside Expansion. Austin Hart with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet announced that last month a project was awarded to Jim Smith Contracting to perform a lane diet on Kentucky Avenue from 3rd Street to 28th Street. Instead of the current four-lane roadway, Kentucky Avenue will be converted into a three-lane roadway (two driving lanes with a center lane) and bike lanes. Hart expects that project to begin next year.
The second phase of the project would improve Irvin Cobb Drive from Bridge Street to Wayne Sullivan Drive as a “complete street” with a multi-use path on the north side of the road to provide a greenway segment parallel to the roadway. Future expansions could be regional. Clark said that he will be meeting next month regarding a Regional Trails Initiative through the the Purchase Area Development District.
Southside Revitalization Plan
The Paducah Board of Commissioners approved an ordinance adopting the Southside Revitalization Plan which establishes the Southside program area and designates the Urban Renewal and Community Development Agency of Paducah with the authority to implement and oversee the administration of the plan. This plan was developed in accordance with Chapters 99 and 424 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes. The draft plan was presented publicly at the Planning Commission and URCDA meetings on June 9 and July 7 with a favorable recommendation by resolution from those boards. To view the plan, visit https://paducahky.gov/southside.
The Southside of Paducah is one of Paducah’s earliest neighborhoods, and the revitalization of this neighborhood is a priority of the Board of Commissioners to address a shortage of housing and commercial units. The Southside Program Area consists of eight main neighborhoods: Walter Jetton, Uppertown, River Park, Kolb Park, Farley Place, Littleville, Dolly McNutt, and Ella Munal and covers 3.3 square miles and contains 3,678 parcels of land. Due to this large-scale area, the Plan will be implemented in phases. The phase one area includes the area between the southern right-of-way line of Kentucky Avenue to the northern right-of-way line of Caldwell Street and from the western right- of-way line of South 3rd Street to the eastern boundary of the Illinois Central Railroad track between Kentucky Avenue and Caldwell Street.
Representatives from CFSB attended the meeting to show their support in providing up to 100 percent financing for single-family residential loans and construction loans.
In addition to the development of the plan, the Planning Department will be bringing an updated incentive program before the City Commission for adoption. Regarding communication, there will be a breakfast for developers, a lunch for pastors, neighborhood signs, neighborhood walks, increased social media presence, a newsletter, and educational workshops. There is an “I am Southside” initiative to showcase the Southside.
Homeless Service Grants
The Paducah Board of Commissioners approved three separate municipal orders providing Homeless Services Grant Awards. In May, the City accepted applications for this new funding opportunity for nonprofit agencies that support human and social services. The maximum funding that could be requested was $50,000. The City is providing Homeless Services Grants to the following agencies:
- Paducah Cooperative Ministry, $50,000.
- Family Service Society, $50,000.
- Washington Street Community Development Corporation (Washington Street Community Warming Center), $25,000. (Note: Commissioner Raynarldo Henderson stepped away from the dais during this item and did not vote.)
Solid Waste Ordinance Amendments
The Paducah Board of Commissioners introduced two ordinances amending Chapter 42 and Chapter 94 of the Paducah Code of Ordinances regarding solid waste operations. At the July 8 City Commission Meeting, Director of Public Works Chris Yarber proposed changes to solid waste operations to expand city services and increase operational efficiencies. The goal is for these proposed changes, once finalized and approved, to be effective September 1. Below is a summary of several of the proposed ordinance changes.
- Brush will be picked up weekly for residents with no need to call in or send a request through an app for collection. There will not be a designated collection day.
- Brush will be collected at no additional charge if the collection pile meets specific size standards. There will be a fee of $150 if the brush pile exceeds the size standards.
- Residential brush that meets specific size standards will be collected if placed by a contractor.
Also in September, the Public Works Department is making changes to the curbside recycling program. Instead of Mondays, recycling will be collected on the same day as household garbage. Furthermore, curbside recycling will be every other week with a calendar created to show the recycling weeks. Currently, the program is twice per month on Mondays with no collection on the fifth Monday for months with five Mondays. This change will increase the number of collections per year for residents.
Additional operational changes will be presented in the future including a proposed expansion of the bulk item collection service.
Golf Carts and Street-Legal Special Purpose Vehicles Discussion
Police Chief Brian Laird and City Clerk and Director of Customer Experience Lindsay Parish provided an overview of golf cart and street-legal special purpose vehicle requirements as outlined in their respective KRS chapters, KRS 189.286 and 186.077. These types of vehicles are prohibited on roadways unless certain conditions are met. However, local governments can opt in to permit these vehicles to operate on roadways by adopting ordinances.
This topic has come to the surface for many cities across Kentucky since during the 2025 Legislative Session, the General Assembly passed Senate Bill 63 which created the new section of KRS Chapter 186 allowing street-legal special purpose vehicles to operate on roadways provided that certain conditions are met. That bill went into effect on June 27. The legislation defines a street-legal special purpose vehicle as an all-terrain vehicle (ATVs), utility terrain vehicle (UTVs), minitruck, pneumatic-tired military vehicle, or full-size special purpose-built vehicle (including self-constructed or modified vehicles) that meets specific equipment requirements.
Parish provided various crash statistics including there are approximately 15,000 golf cart-related injuries each year nationally and approximately 40 percent of those involve children under the age of 16. Chief Laird added that the number one contributing factor to vehicular collisions in Paducah is inattention. In 2024, there were 1747 traffic collisions with 290 of those collisions resulting in injuries.
In a review of several Kentucky cities, Parish found that Calvert City permits special purpose vehicles. Several cities permit golf carts including Frankfort, Bowling Green, Calvert City, and Cadiz. Parish also outlined the various policy considerations that would need to be determined if Paducah decided to move forward with permitting golf carts and/or street-legal special purpose vehicles. Policy considerations include the process for selecting which streets would be permitted, implementation process for local permitting, times for use, underage driving considerations, and restricted areas.
The Paducah Board of Commissioners is interested in determining the best way to move forward in permitting golf carts in Paducah but not special purpose vehicles.
Boards and Commissions
- Reappointment of Karami Underwood to the Paducah-McCracken County Senior Citizens Board.
- Joint appointment of Kimberly Davis to the Paducah-McCracken County Convention Center Board.
- Appointment of Laura Grumley to the Paducah Area Transit Board.
Additional Meeting Information
- Mayor Bray congratulated Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Wilson who serves as President/CEO of the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce. Last month, the local chamber received the Category One 2025 Chamber of the Year Award through the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.
- Municipal Order approved for a Contract for Services between the City of Paducah and Barkley Regional Airport for FY2026 with the City providing $120,000 in operational support.
- Municipal Order approved for a contract with Carahsoft for Microsoft 365 licensing.
- Municipal Order approved for a contract with AssetWorks for work order software modules.
- Municipal Order approved for a contract amendment with TetraTech for environmental services associated with the Brownfield Assessment Cooperative Agreement.
- Municipal Orders approved for the purchase of solid waste dumpsters, a track skidsteer, and a one-ton service truck.
- Municipal Order approved for a Fleet Maintenance Service Agreement between the City of Paducah and the Kentucky Fire Commission/State Fire Rescue Training.
- Municipal Order approved authorizing a contract amendment with Communications International, Inc.
- Municipal Order approved for a contract modification with A&K Construction for the Paducah Sports Park. This modification adds 73 days to the contract due to weather and time delays associated with cement stabilization during the sports park construction. The new contract completion date is March 1, 2026.
- Municipal Order approved for the FEMA FY2025 Port Security Grant application requesting cameras.
- Municipal Order approved authorizing the submission of the 2025-2030 Paducah Consolidated Plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for Community Development Block Grant funding. This plan is required for Paducah’s entitlement community designation which will result in an allocation of $583,406 in funding for this fiscal year.
- Ordinance introduced for a budget amendment for the FY 2025 Insurance Fund and Health Insurance Fund.
- Ordinance introduced for a contract with Stringfellow for the purchase of one knuckleboom and one side arm refuse truck. This ordinance includes a budget amendment for these purchases.
###
