PIKEVILLE, Ky. - A proposed interstate highway that has been praised for potential economic benefits and condemned for possible environmental problems is nearly ready to advance beyond the drawing board in eastern Kentucky.

        Keith Damron, a highway planner for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet in Pikeville, said the first segment of Interstate 66 in Pike County could be ready for construction next year.

        I-66 was proposed as a cross-continental highway that would stretch from Virginia to California, crossing the southern part of Kentucky, but the U.S. Department of Transportation determined that proposal was not feasible.

        The scaled-back idea is to build the interstate across Kentucky, connecting it with highways in West Virginia and Missouri.

        Initial work in Pike County would involve a short stretch of the proposed 420-mile highway.

        “We're ready to take it to final design,” Mr. Damron said Tuesday. “Assuming that we get environmental approval, the schedule we're working on is to have the first section under construction by late next year.”

        That can happen only if federal construction funds are appropriated.

        “We don't know if a federal appropriation is coming, but we want to be in position to use the money if it does become available,” said Ken Sperry, Kentucky's deputy state highway engineer for project development.

        The segment in Pike County has received about $5.6 million in federal and state funding for environmental and design work. Another stretch, from Somerset to London, has received $26 million.

        Advocates say the interstate would spur economic growth and create jobs for residents of the mountain region.

        “When the road is ultimately completed, it will mean improved access both to and from this region,” said Ewell Balltrip, head of the Kentucky Appalachian Commission.

        “Consequently, that will mean greater connections for commercial and industrial operations.”

        But environmentalists contend the proposed road puts fragile cave systems in southern Kentucky at risk.

        Building the proposed interstate would be damaging to the environment and would waste taxpayer money, said Betsy Bennett, an environmental attorney and member of Kick-66, a group of environmentalists and landowners opposed to the road's construction.

        Ms. Bennett said the proposed route for I-66 parallels existing highways that aren't heavily used.

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