Kentucky Board Supports Port Development Funding
A new western Kentucky riverport is one step closer to development with a vote to recommend $250,000 in funding for the West Kentucky Regional Riverport Authority in Wickliffe, Ky.
The Kentucky Water Transportation Advisory Board determined the port authority was eligible to receive funds from the 2026 Kentucky Public Riverport Construction and Maintenance (KPRCM) program during its virtual meeting December 3. That allows the funding request to proceed directly to the secretary of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for his signature.
The funding will pay for half the estimated cost of the archeological excavation of Fort Jefferson, a Revolutionary War fort located on 19 acres that are part of the proposed riverport site. There are no remaining historic buildings on the site where the fort once stood.
The port authority has a public-private partnership agreement on 69 acres of land at Lower Mississippi Mile 950.2, with roughly 2,000 feet of riverfront and two mooring cells owned by the adjacent Phoenix Paper mill. The site is just upstream from where Mayfield Creek flows into the Mississippi River, near the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.
Funds from the 2025 KPRCM program paid for a habitat study and wetlands field work and allowed archaeological studies to begin. The 2026 funds will include more in-depth archeology, including hand excavation, examination of artifact concentrations, anomalies and areas that may contain intact subsurface deposits, according to a summary report that Jeremy Edgeworth, freight, rail and waterways coordinator for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, presented to the board.
The board voted unanimously that the port authority is eligible for the funds. Kentucky House Bill 1, which funds major construction and maintenance projects at public Kentucky riverports, includes a specific exception allowing up to $250,000 for pre-development archaeological activities.
Other Recommended Port Funding
The board then prioritized 10 applications received as part of the second call for 2026 KPRCM funding, ultimately fully or partially funding seven projects from the remaining $2,074,198.82 available.
Board members submitted conflict of interest statements and then voted by secret ballot on projects for which they did not have a conflict of interest, with Edgeworth tabulating the votes to determine the board’s priorities based on individual members’ project rankings. The projects constitute a recommendation for funding from the board, with final consideration by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, which administers the grant program.
Funding for projects recommended by the board were: $210,000 to the Paducah-McCracken County Riverport Authority for a fertilizer conveyor system replacement; $459,030 to the Eddyville Riverport and Industrial Development Authority for building replacement; $322,940.14 to the Henderson County Riverport Authority for an electric material handler; $353,895 to the Hickman-Fulton County Riverport Authority for a barge moving system; $520,000 to the Paducah-McCracken County Riverport Authority for scale house replacement; $87,500 to the Owensboro Riverport Authority for a triple mast forklift with carton clamp; and $120,833.68 to the Owensboro Riverport Authority for a terminal yard tractor.
Edgeworth also reviewed the status of previously approved projects funded by other rounds of grant funding from both the KPRCM and the Kentucky Riverport Improvement (KRI) grant program.
