Kentucky
Transportation Cabinet engineers have made substantial progress on
efforts to restore a crucial transportation link in Livingston County.
KY
937/Cutoff Road is expected to reopen near the KY 453 end sometime
Sunday afternoon.
Traffic
at the site may be one lane with alternating flow controlled by
flaggers for a time as work to finish out the repair is completed.
KY
937/Cutoff Road will likely remain closed at the Lee Creek Bridge about
8/10ths of a mile south of US 60 until Monday or possibly Tuesday of
this week.
The
critical transportation link has been closed since early Thursday when
floodwaters washed out a large culvert at KY 937 mile point 2.8, near
the KY
453 intersection. Engineers found a culvert that could be used to
temporarily repair the roadway and got it delivered to the site Friday
afternoon. Just as installation work ramped up an excavator required
for the work had a mechanical issue that put it
out of service.
As
if that delay weren't enough, engineers were called to the Lee Creek
Bridge near the US 60 end of KY 937, today, where a small hole had
appeared in
the pavement. On inspection, they found a void underneath the pavement
just off the south end of the bridge.
Engineers
quickly developed a repair plan only to find the void beneath the
roadway was much larger that it initially appeared. The estimated
repair
time at that site went from a few hours to a couple of days.
With
both ends of the highway cut, Engineers recognized the need to get the
connection to KY 453 restored as quickly as possible. Once the
excavator
was repaired, the Livingston County Highway Maintenance Crew redoubled
their efforts to replace the washed out culvert.
The crew completed a substantial amount of
the necessary fill work this evening and are confident they can finish
placing the remaining fill and complete a temporary surface on the
repair by Sunday afternoon. They expect the KY
937/Cutoff Road connection to KY 453 to be restored sometime after
about 2:00 p.m., Sunday.
Once traffic is restored Sunday afternoon, motorists are advised to slow down and use caution as pavement at the culvert repair site is likely to settle and create rough driving conditions for several weeks.
Meanwhile, highway personnel plan to continue their attack on the void near Lee Creek Bridge on Sunday afternoon. Workers used a backhoe to tear away pavement over the void today to allow it to be back-filled with asphalt millings. Engineers estimate it could take a couple of days to get the void filled and the roadway properly repaired at the US 60 end of KY 937.
As all this work continues, motorists with passenger vehicles who need to access KY 937 in the Potters House Church area are advised to use Armstrong Road and Condra Road. Condra Road provides the only access to churches, homes, and businesses along KY 937/Cutoff Road. While Armstrong Road and Condra Road have recently been paved, the narrow one lane roadway is not designed for increased traffic flow generated by the closure of KY 937.
Restoring the transportation link provided by KY 937 is made even more critical by the closure of KY 453 South of Smithland for a bridge replacement project. KY 937/Cutoff Road is the marked detour for KY 453. The closure of both highways has meant about an extra half-hour of driving to make the connection between Smithland and the Grand Rivers area in the southern portion of Livingston County. The two highways carry about 3,000 vehicles per day.
KYTC Engineers are optimistic they can restore the KY 937 connection to KY 453 by Sunday afternoon.
Again, at this time, the only access to the Potters House Church area is via Armstrong Road and Condra Road. Armstrong Road turns off US 60 at mile point 8.921 about a mile east of the KY 937 intersection.
