Finishing touches being put on new stretch of U.S. 27 near Eubank

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June 17, 2009

By BILL MARDIS, Editor Emeritus The Commonwealth Journal Wed Jun 17, 2009, 08:04 PM EDT

The final coat of base blacktop is being applied this week to one of the southbound lanes of new U.S. 27 between Ky. 452 (Bull Road) and Ky. 70 at Eubank. Another inch of blacktop will be a finishing surface.

Bill Chaney, branch manager for project delivery and preservation for the Highway Department's District 8, said construction of the final contract section of four-lane U.S. 27 is on track to be completed late this summer or fall.

Three contract sections of four-lane U.S. 27 are already done and traffic is on the new roadway from northern Somerset to Ky. 452. It’s two-way traffic on recently constructed northbound lanes between Ky. 452 and Ky. 70 while existing lanes of old U.S. 27 are being transformed into two southbound lanes.

Chaney said southbound traffic, now on one of two northbound lanes, will eventually be shifted to one of the southbound lanes of the new highway while the adjacent southbound lane is created.

Total cost of the 13.5 miles of four-lane U.S. 27 between Somerset and Eubank, including an I-66 interchange, is $73,038,792.33. Hinkle Contracting Corporation, Somerset and Paris, built all of new U.S. 27 except the initial contract section between Somerset and Science Hill. Bizzack Inc., Lexington, built the first section which opened in August 2007. The interchange, located two miles north of Somerset, was built by Bizzack, and awaits completion of I-66.

The I-66 interchange with U.S. 27 is part of what will be a northern bypass of Somerset. A realigned 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.

U.S. 27 and the northern bypass (I-66) are just part of more than $190 million worth of new highways in Pulaski County.

New Ky. 1247, extending 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, is scheduled to open late in the current construction season. Four-lane Ky. 1247 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.

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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