by Bill Mardis
Commonwealth Journal
Somerset —
Less than a decade ago, Pleasant Hill was a pastoral community. Modern homes were tucked among shaded lawns. Cattle grazed peacefully at day and fireflies blinked in darkness. The area was served by a friendly little road called Clifty.
Things have changed and are changing. In a relatively few days, huge electric bulbs will glow, turning night forever into day. Horseless carriages will trek in places where tailpipes have belched never before.
The northern bypass of Somerset –– the first genuine stretch of interstate highway in Pulaski County –– and the western end of Ky. 914 (southwestern bypass) both are slated to open in September. Junction of the two new highways, smack-dab in the middle of Pleasant Hill, will be a well-lighted maze of gently turning exit and entrance ramps.
Pleasant Hill –– called Possum Trot by those uncouth –– is not the same. Nothing stands in the way of progress and northwestern Pulaski County now has an urban feel. From the imprinted design vertical surfaces of overpasses to black ribbons of concrete through rolling countryside, the new highways and octopus-like interchanges are sights for a country boy to behold.
The traffic-flow changes are just days away. Bill Chaney, branch manager for project delivery and preservation for the Kentucky Department of Highways' District 8, said a half-mile section of Cumberland Parkway will close and traffic will shift onto the northern bypass (I-66) about the first of September.
The half-mile section of Cumberland Parkway to be abandoned by the highway department is partway up the east side of Fishing Creek hill east to North Hart Road. The new Cumberland Parkway, or I-66, veers slightly to the north on Fishing Creek hill and extends easterly to an interchange with four-lane U.S. 27 about two miles north of Somerset.
Chaney said the abandoned parkway surface up Fishing Creek hill will be removed and the roadbed sowed in grass. This apparently is being done to eliminate any possible confusion eastbound motorists might have as they move onto the new section of the parkway. Engineers say the realigned section of Cumberland Parkway turns so gradually it will be barely noticeable to motorists.
Transportation Cabinet engineers were in Pulaski County Tuesday to core drill roadbeds of Ky. 914 and the northern bypass to make sure specified amounts and depth of materials are in place.
After grade and drain, the roadbed is covered with two feet of rock. Above the rock base is a 4-inch-thick mixture of asphalt and rock designed as a drainage area beneath the road surface. Then, 8 1/2 inches of base blacktop are applied to support a final 1 1/4 inches of driving surface.
Most of the western end of Ky. 194 and the northern bypass are ready for the final blacktop surface. There are places where guardrails will be installed and considerable shoulder work remains to be done. Probably the area farthest from completion is on the east side of Fishing Creek bridge at the point where new Cumberland Parkway veers from the exiting route.
Although the northern bypass eventually will extend across Ky. 39 to Ky. 80 at Barnesburg, completion of Ky. 914 and the first section of the northern bypass signals the end of about $200 million worth of new highways built in Pulaski County during the last decade.
The circle of modern four-lane highways around Somerset is almost complete. Exceptions are the planned extension of I-66 (northern bypass) from U.S. 27 east to Ky. 39 and then to Ky. 80 at Barnesburg, and the section of Ky. 914 from Ky. 80 to Rush Branch Road that for whatever reason was built as a two-lane in a corridor where four-lane right-of-way was purchased.
Ky. 914 extends from Ky. 80 east of Somerset southerly and westerly to U.S. 27 at Beacon Hill Baptist Church; then westerly and northerly from U.S. 27 through the Oak Hill community and Saline to the realigned Cumberland Parkway, called the northern bypass. The northern bypass extends easterly to four-lane U.S. 27.
There will be two Somerset exits off I-66, one at the southwestern bypass junction and one at the U.S. 27 interchange.
Traffic will exit onto the southwestern bypass and travel about 2,000 feet to a signaled intersection with the existing Cumberland Parkway. Then, motorists will travel east along the Cumberland Parkway to Traffic Light No. 3 at U.S. 27. Or, motorists may continue east along southwestern bypass and reach Somerset along existing roads.
The I-66 and U.S. 27 interchange is about two miles north of Somerset. Motorists will travel south along U.S. 27 to reach the business district.
