Workers with the Crestview-based Stephen Edwards Building Movers prepared to move a house from the West Place Subdivision last month. (Photo submitted / October 9, 2011) |
The realization of a completed Nicholasville Eastern Bypass is taking baby steps as many houses in the West Place subdivision are being moved in anticipation of the work, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 7.
Natasha F. Lacy, public information officer KTC District 7, said the acquisition of right-of-way is moving along.
“We have only purchased the houses in the West Place subdivision at this time,” she said. “We anticipate acquiring the remaining right-of-way for the project in the spring.”
The project is designed to ease congestion in and around the city of Nicholasville, especially for those commuting to surrounding counties, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
The houses are being moved by the Crestwood-based Stephen Edwards Building Movers, according to the transportation cabinet.
The right-of-way portion will cost about $36 million alone.
Funding for the right-of-way purchase was authorized during the 2010 legislative session, transportation branch manager Bob Nunley said in January 2011.
The timetable for utility relocation is scheduled for fall 2013, Lacy said.
“We are currently in the final design phase for the project (both the northern and the southern sections),” Lacy said.
Lacy said if everything goes as plan, work on the 7.3-mile stretch of asphalt should begin in 2014, and the cost of the construction is estimated to come in around $65.4 million.
“If funding is available, we anticipate construction possibly beginning in 2014,” she said. “The $42 million is the current construction estimate for the northern section (U.S. 27, just north of Nicholasville to Ky. 39). The current construction cost for the southern section (Ky. 39 to U.S. 27, south of Nicholasville) is $23.4 million.”
State Sen. Tom Buford, R-Nicholasville, said while he feels that 2014 is an “optimistic goal,” everything will come down to how the economy is doing and where the greatest needs are statewide.
“I would put it at a 50/50 chance that it could begin in 2014,” Buford said. “That kind of hits the timetable I had guessed about five or six years ago. But, given the economy and given the needs for development on the east side of Jessamine County, while I feel it’s needed, the engineers of the transportation cabinet will probably be looking all over the state to see where the dire needs are.”
The new bypass would include a south terminus at U.S. 27 and Danville Road and a north terminus at U.S. 27 north of Nicholasville with a new interchange. The bypass would tie into the existing bypass to the west of the current Norfolk-Southern Railroad crossing.
The purchase of right-of-way and utility relocation are the final steps before beginning actual construction.
