New roads reshaping Pulaski landscape

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March 18, 2009

Ky. 1247, U.S. 27 four-lane additions set to open this summer

By BILL MARDIS, Editor Emeritus The Commonwealth Journal Wed Mar 18, 2009, 08:28 PM EDT

“I’ve been driving these roads for years and I find myself not knowing where I’m going.”

The oft-heard comment is not a complaint, but a statement of slight frustration while trying to negotiate more than $190 million worth of new highways in Pulaski County.

And the beat goes on. A major roadway and the final contract section of another –– new Ky. 1247 through Cedar Grove to Burnside and four-lane U.S. 27 from Bull Road (Ky. 452) to Ky. 70 at Eubank –– are slated to open late this summer. Both will be completed before the weather turns ugly next winter.

New Ky. 1247 extends from Ky. 914 (southeastern bypass) at Murphy Avenue Extension to near the recently opened interchange of U.S. 27 and Ky. 90 in northern Burnside. The four-lane road will bypass an existing narrow, crooked Ky. 1247 that dips sharply to Pitman Creek south of Elihu; climbs upward through Cedar Grove; then north of John Sherman Cooper Power Station to U.S. 27 in northern Burnside.

When Ky. 1247 to Burnside is complete, it will allow motorists from the North to leave Ky. 80 east of Somerset; travel south on Ky. 914 to Murphy Avenue Extension south of Ferguson; then south along four-lane Ky. 1247 to the interchange with U.S. 27 and Ky. 90 in northern Burnside. From this point, motorists may travel south on U.S. 27 to Burnside and on through Tateville and Sloans Valley to McCreary County, or west on Ky. 90 through Bronston to Monticello.

The most impressive feature of new Ky. 1247 is a 521-foot-long, 85-foot-tall bridge over Pitman Creek. This new route avoids a stomach-turning thrill down the dip to Pitman Creek bridge on existing Ky. 1247. The old road with the unbelievable sinking sensation will remain open to local traffic.

Bill Chaney, Branch 1 manager for project delivery and preservation at the Department of Highways’ District 8, said concrete currently is being poured for the new bridge deck over Pitman Creek. “About half the deck is poured,” Chaney noted.

The most frequently asked question about the new Ky. 1247: “Why in the world would anyone build a four-lane highway through Cedar Grove?”

Frankly, the Cedar Grove community is not part of the equation. The slightly more than three miles of four-lane road is along the originally intended route of the southeastern bypass, a road that took a political path and ended up at U.S. 27 across from Beacon Hill Baptist Church. Since then, however, the southeastern bypass, numbered 914, has joined the southwestern bypass through the Oak Hill community to Ky. 80 at Saline, forming a half circle around southeastern and southwestern Somerset.

When new Ky. 1247 opens late this summer, motorists streaming down Ky. 461 from I-75 may completely avoid Somerset and cruise along through Cedar Grove to Burnside and points south and west.

New U.S. 27 will bring Science Hill, Eubank and northern Pulaski County closer to Somerset. Movers and shakers in Eubank say it will be 10 minutes to Somerset when the final section of the four-lane highway between Bull Road and Ky. 70 opens late this summer. However, meeting this time schedule would require putting the pedal to the metal. It will be 13.5 miles from Eubank to Somerset along the new highway and the speed limit is 55 mph. To travel that distance in 10 minutes; well, hopefully a “bubble gum machine” doesn’t flash.

Hinkle Contracting Corporation of Somerset and Paris is general contractor for the final two sections of four-lane U.S. 27 from Science Hill to Eubank. Bizzack Inc., a Lexington-based contractor, built the first section from northern Somerset to Science Hill. Traffic is already on four-lane 27 from Somerset to Bull Road.

Bizzack’s contract included the interchange with I-66 (northern bypass). Total cost of four-lane U.S. 27, including the interchange, is slightly more than $73 million.

The I-66 interchange with U.S. 27 about three miles north of Somerset is part of what will be a northern bypass of Somerset. Cumberland Parkway, corridor for I-66, will veer slightly northward at Fishing Creek and intersect with four-lane U.S. 27 at the already constructed interchange. The parkway’s new route will result in a controversial closing of a half mile of the existing parkway and creation of a Somerset exit at the interchange with southwestern bypass.

Most of the right-of-way has already been purchased to extend I-66 (northern bypass) easterly from the U.S. 27 interchange to a planned interchange with Ky. 39. Right-of-way purchases are just getting under way in the corridor of the planned I-66 from Ky. 39 to Ky. 80 at Barnesburg. From there, a corridor has been selected for I-66 through Shopville, Stab and Squib to I-75 at the weigh station south of London.

On the other side of town, the final contract section of southwestern bypass, from Ky. 80 to Cumberland Parkway won’t be completed until early next year, Chaney noted. This timetable also applies to the section of the northern bypass between Cumberland Parkway and new U.S. 27. Hinkle is general contractor for both projects.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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