ASHLAND, Ky. — Kentucky highway engineers will host two public meetings this month to gather ideas on how to improve transportation in the Ashland-Boyd-Greenup urban area of northeast Kentucky.

The meetings are part of the Boyd-Greenup County Small Urban Area Study that the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet contracted with consultant engineering firm QK4, Inc. to begin last fall.

The study’s focus is to identify existing safety and traffic congestion issues on all state-maintained roadways and chosen local routes in a 50-square-mile area that includes the U.S. 23 corridor between Catlettsburg, Ashland and Greenup and along the U.S. 60 corridor between Ashland and Cannonsburg in Boyd County.

Engineers will use analysis of traffic data — both now and projected to 2050 — and public input to identify issues, then develop possible highway improvements that could meet existing and future transportation needs.

In December, the engineering team met with state, city, county and local officials about the study and began planning public meetings.

The first meeting will be 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21 at the City of Flatwoods Senior Center. A second will follow 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28 at the Ashland City Commission Chambers on the third floor of the city building.

Each meeting will follow an “open house” format where anyone may drop in from 5-7 p.m. to talk to engineers, learn more about the study, and offer ideas on how to improve area transportation. The public may share information using maps, computers, and other means provided at the meeting.

For those who cannot attend, a public involvement website is available online at https://tinyurl.com/sza838b and share information on the map.

More information and a map, link can also be found online via Kentucky Department of Highways District 9 at http://transportation.ky.gov/DistrictNine or on the KYOVA Interstate Planning Commission’s site at http://kyovaipc.org.