The state's rebuild of KY 44 between the US 31E Bypass and Kings Church Road first entered Kentucky's highway plan in 1998. It's in the plan again this year, with construction now set for fiscal year 2030. In the 2020 plan, that date was fiscal year 2025. While the date keeps moving, traffic on Highway 44 East looks for other routes, and some of it ends up on neighborhood streets like Justin Trail and Erin Circle in Wilchar Estates.
If you're comparing Mount Washington neighborhoods, you need to know who pays when that happens. Under city code, the neighbors on that street do.
The Speed Hump Rule Puts Most of the Bill on the Street
Mount Washington adopted its neighborhood speed hump rules in Ordinance 2023-15, passed October 9, 2023. The codified text lays out the requirements before a hump goes in and who pays afterward:
- Residents of the affected neighborhood pay 80% of the installation cost.
- Residents pay all of the maintenance cost after that, including the required signs.
- The city sends out a survey with a 30-day response window, and at least 80% of the surveys must come back.
- At least 80% of households must agree to the humps, with each household counting as one signature.
In Mount Washington, then, calming a street means organizing a supermajority of your neighbors and then paying a recurring cost with them. For a buyer, that's a cost tied to the street itself, and it won't appear in a listing's square footage or price per foot.
Why Wilchar Estates Was the Test Case
The ordinance grew out of a specific neighborhood. Representatives of the Wilchar Estates Homeowners Association went to the Mount Washington City Council asking for speed humps on Justin Trail and Erin Circle, near Crossroads Elementary. According to Pioneer News, they told the council that drivers were using those streets to cut through and avoid delays on Highway 44 East and downtown. The same report said the problem was worst from 7:45 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. on weekdays and throughout the weekends, and that those streets have no sidewalks.
Pioneer News reported that the city public works department ran a traffic study in the summer and again after school resumed, and that the council then approved humps for Justin Trail and Erin Circle on a 5-1 vote. How to split the cost was the sticking point in that debate. Under the rule now on the books, the neighborhood pays most of the installation cost and the upkeep, not the city.
The cause behind it is the main road. Cut-through traffic exists because Highway 44 East backs up, and the project that would change that keeps getting pushed back.
A Construction Date That Moves With Every Plan
Kentucky enacts a new six-year highway plan every two years. Here's how the construction schedule for KY 44 item 5-347.50, the 2.3-mile stretch from the US 31E Bypass to KY 1319/Kings Church Road, has changed across recent plans:
| Highway plan | Right-of-way | Utilities | Construction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 plan | FY2023, $4.5M | FY2024, $1.7M | FY2025, $13.2M |
| 2022 plan | 2025, $4.5M | 2026, $1.7M | 2027, $13.2M |
| 2024 plan | FY2025, $4.5M | FY2026, $1.7M | FY2027, $13.2M |
| 2026 Enacted plan | FY2027, $4.5M | FY2029, $1.77M | FY2030, $13.73M |
The 2026 Enacted Highway Plan budgets $20 million in total for this stretch. Over these plans, the construction year has moved five years later.
East of Kings Church Road, the segment to the Spencer County line, item 5-43.00, has moved even further. In the 2020 plan, construction was set for fiscal year 2025. The 2024 plan moved it to fiscal year 2028. The 2026 plan doesn't start design until fiscal year 2029 and puts construction in fiscal year 2032, at $5.57 million.
The schedule has also slipped within a single year. In November 2025, a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet release said final design would begin in early 2026 once public feedback was in. The KYTC project page, last updated July 17, 2026, now says final design is expected to begin in Summer 2027, after preliminary design is complete. It labels every later milestone "subject to change depending on the Cabinet's funding constraints and various other factors."
Not everything on this corridor has stalled. The turn lanes in front of Bullitt East High School were split off as their own project and went to construction in November 2022. Smaller pieces can move on their own. The full rebuild is the part that keeps moving later.
The Road's Final Shape Is Still Open
The date is uncertain, and so is the design. At the December 9, 2025 open house at Calvary Christian Center, KYTC and its consultant showed two main plans for the stretch from the bypass to Kings Church Road. As of the July 2026 update, the project page still lists both.
Pioneer News described each one:
- Alternative A widens KY 44 to five lanes from the bypass to Bullitt East High School, then three lanes to Kings Church Road, with turning lanes.
- Alternative B adds six roundabouts: at Eastbrooke Pointe Drive, at the Bullitt East east campus entrance, at Parkland Trace/Winning Colors Drive, at Hubbard Lane, at E. Sanders Lane/Meadow Rose Lane, and at Kings Church Road. Side streets in between, including Bluegrass Way, Emerald Drive and Twin Eagles Parkway, would be right-turn only, and drivers would turn around at the next roundabout. Businesses and homes along KY 44 would also be limited to right turns.
The concepts also included right-in, right-out realignments at Hardy Lane and Primrose Drive, near Eastbrooke Pointe Drive. Between Kings Church Road and the Spencer County line, the options were spot improvements with four feet of added width, or a roadway shifted for better sight lines.
KYTC's traffic modeling for Hardy Lane shows why the decision matters for side streets. Getting onto KY 44 from Hardy Lane takes an average of 42 seconds per vehicle today. With no changes, that wait was projected to reach 135 seconds within five years. Under Alternative A, it was projected to drop to 20 seconds. James Maynard, P.E., the KYTC engineer on the project, said the roundabout plan appeared to be the safer overall option and also gave side-street drivers better times. He described early public feedback as "strong feelings either way."
The no-change projection is what applies for as long as construction stays years out. When the rebuild does arrive, Alternative B would change how many side streets reach KY 44, swapping left turns for right turns and a loop through the next roundabout.
What to Check on a Specific Street Before You Offer
For a home near Highway 44 East, the questions are about the street and the map:
- Find the property on the actual alternative maps. The project page links PDFs for Alternative A and Alternative B, plus the east-end alternatives and the bypass intersection options. Check where your side street meets KY 44 under each one.
- Visit at the hours that matter. The cut-through hours the Wilchar Estates HOA representatives reported to the council were weekday mornings and late afternoons. A Saturday showing at 1 p.m. won't show you those.
- Ask the HOA about traffic calming. In a neighborhood with an association, ask whether any speed humps exist or have been requested, and how their upkeep is budgeted, since the city ordinance assigns maintenance to residents.
- Count on the road as it is today. The official timeline puts right-of-way in fiscal year 2027 at the earliest and construction in fiscal year 2030, and both depend on funding. That's the schedule KYTC publishes. It isn't a promise.
This is general information about a city ordinance and a state road project, not legal or financial advice. If an HOA budget or a right-of-way question affects your decision, confirm the details with the association, the city, or the right professional.
Quick Answers
Has KYTC chosen between the widening and the roundabouts? As of its July 17, 2026 update, the project page still lists both Alternative A and Alternative B. The public comment survey closed January 12, 2026.
Who do I contact with a question about my property and the project? The project page lists the design project manager, James Maynard, P.E., at (502) 764-0485, and KYTC District 5 at (502) 210-5400.
Where can I compare Wilchar Estates with nearby areas? Start with the Wilchar Estates neighborhood page. For how Bullitt County's market has been moving apart from Louisville's, see this look at Gentry Crossings.
If you're looking at a home near Highway 44 East and want help reading the KYTC maps and checking the street at rush hour before you make an offer, Kelsey L Reneau is glad to go through it with you, one side street at a time. Let's Connect.
