The Kentucky General Assembly is now in possession of local assistance road funding requests from around the state.
One hundred and six cities applied for funding through the Local Assistance Road Program (LARP) administered by the Department of Rural and Municipal Aid within the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC).
One hundred six cities and 107 counties submitted 1,215 projects to the program, which accepted funding requests from June 1 to October 1, 2025. The overall cost of the submitted projects totaled more than $121 million, with an average total project cost of just under $100,000.
The list of projects has been submitted to the General Assembly via the Legislative Research Commission.
Bobbi Jo Lewis, Commissioner of the Department of Rural and Municipal Aid in KYTC, told the Budget Review Subcommittee on Transportation that 30% of the funding requests, or $36,219,801 worth, are projects scored a 10, or top priority. Twenty-two percent of funding requests were for projects scoring 9, and 16% for projects scoring 8.
The LARP program is supported with $20 million in annual funding for Fiscal Years 2025 and 2026. With the top-priority roads ranking at $36 million in requests, legislators questioned Lewis on how to best support the needs of local governments.
Lewis said moving forward, she would limit the “applied-for” projects to eight, with an incentive of two additional project requests if the initial submissions come before Sept. 1. She also said the current requirement to include photos every 300 feet of the road (about 17 per mile) should be reduced and/or allow for video/drone footage.
Chairman John Blanton, R-Salyersville, said he would agree with the need to amend the law to include or allow the use of drone footage.
Lewis also shared that before this program went into place, the application process for roads was spread out to anytime of the year. With LARP now in place, 63% of the projects requesting funding were applied for in the last several days of the application process – and will be funded in seven months, if selected by the General Assembly.
Lawmakers are considering additional revisions to the program in the upcoming legislative session. KLC will share all details of changes and dates to the program as soon as those discussions take place.
KLC has a primer on understanding the LARP program on our website here.
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