Somerset — The new partial cloverleaf interchange in northern Burnside will open Thursday, February 12 after morning rush-hour traffic, if weather permits.
Kentucky Department of Highways engineers announced opening of the $25.3 million project during a news conference yesterday (Feb. 5) at District 8 offices on U.S. 27. They emphasized there is still work to be done and some of the ramps are temporary.
The interchange is a complicated maze of ramps designed to eliminate traffic congestion at the junction of four-lane U.S. 27, Ky. 90 and Ky. 1247. Mark Foster, project engineer, said existing traffic signals at the intersection will be removed and no lighted signals are planned at the interchange.
Signs will be installed at appropriate points at the interchange and Highway Department engineers advised the traveling public to “pay very close attention” to the signs until motorists familiarize themselves with the ramps.
Foster pointed out that north-south U.S. 27 between Somerset and Burnside is not affected by the partial cloverleaf interchange. U.S. 27 traffic will go beneath an interchange bridge.
Highway Department engineers prepared the following instructions to motorists negotiating the interchange:
FROM SOMERSET TO MONTICELLO –– Turn right onto ramp on the south side of Pitman Creek bridge on U.S. 27. Exit ramp onto old Highway 90 toward Monticello. Continue west across new bridge on Ky. 90 over Lake Cumberland toward Monticello.
FROM SOMERSET TO KY. 1247 (going north toward John Sherman Cooper Power Station) –– Turn right onto ramp on south side of Pitman Creek Bridge. Exit ramp onto old Highway 90 toward Monticello. Turn left off Highway 90 onto Cumberland Drive. Turn left again onto Highway 90 toward Ky. 1247. Cross over U.S. 27 on the new bridge and continue north on Ky. 1247.
FROM MONTICELLO TO SOMERSET –– Take Ky. 90 onto new road over U.S. 27. Take turning lane located in right lane. Cross railroad bridge and exit onto ramp. Circle around ramp toward Somerset. Exit ramp and continue north on U.S. 27.
FROM MONTICELLO TO WHITLEY CITY (through Burnside) –– Take Ky. 90 onto new road. Exit on first ramp toward Whitley City. Exit ramp and continue south on U.S. 27.
FROM KY. 1247 TO WHITLEY CITY (through Burnside) –– Take Ky. 1247 over railroad bridge and continue over U.S. 27. Turn left onto temporary ramp toward Whitley City. Exit ramp and continue south on U.S. 27.
FROM WHITLEY CITY TO KY. 1247 –– Take ramp directly after U.S. 27 bridge over Lake Cumberland. Continue on ramp, crossing railroad toward Ky. 1247. Merge onto Ky. 1247.
FROM WHITLEY CITY TO MONTICELLO –– Take ramp located directly after U.S. 27 bridge over Lake Cumberland. Continue on ramp, crossing the railroad toward Ky. 1247. Turn left onto Ky. 1247. Continue on Ky. 1247 over railroad bridge and continue over U.S. 27. Ky. 1247 turns into Highway 90. Continue west toward new Ky. 90 bridge over Lake Cumberland and toward Monticello.
FROM KY. 1247 TO SOMERSET –– Take Ky. 1247 and merge left onto ramp. Circle ramp toward Somerset. Exit ramp, merging onto north U.S. 27.
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Big Bang Theory
Pulaski County is not at war. The booming you may hear at dusk is mock cannon fire to scare away birds.
Stuart Spillman, environmental director for the Lake Cumberland Health Department, said at least three cannons are on loan from the department to residents who want to scare away swarms of starlings and blackbirds settling in to roost.
He said a cannon is being used by a resident on Laura Lane off Ky. 39; another is in the Oak Hill Road area and a third is on Ashurst Street in the eastern part of Somerset.
Spillman said a timer on each cannon allows it to “fire” at whatever frequency is desired. The cannons must be used as the birds circle before going to roost. “After they settle in, nothing will chase them out,” Spillman said.
The Health Department doesn’t operate the cannons unless there is a specific complaint in an area where there are lots of birds, Spillman noted. He said so far this year the birds are not as bad as in the past. -
Boil water advisory is lifted countywide
The water controversy that Pulaski County has been boiling over — so to speak — for the last week is finally over.
At 10 minutes after noon Wednesday, the “boil water” advisory for the Western Pulaski Water District was lifted — almost a full week after the problems began around 1 p.m. last Thursday.
Prior to that, the Somerset Water Service — along with the other water providers in its system, including Science Hill Water, Southeastern Water, and Eubank Water — lifted their advisories, with Somerset on Saturday afternoon and the last, Southeastern, by Monday morning. Western Pulaski was the last in the system to complete sample testing for potential contaminants, due to not being able to access its Pikeville-based testing lab until Monday.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler thanked the public for its patience and understanding during the duration of the boil water advisory — put in place to keep citizens from drinking water that could have been contaminated after an accident last Thursday at the water plant site — and also thanked all the city employees for their hard work during this time.
“The boil water advisory went about as well as would be expected,” said Girdler.
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