In short, they are back roads which people use a lot. These roads are very important, both to the people who live on them, and to those who use them to commute back and forth into the city. East Hickman is especially important in that regard, as many local people who work in Lexington use it to gain access to Tates Creek Road.
Jessamine County Judge-Executive Wm. Neal Cassity told the court he was glad that the transportation cabinet decided to target East Hickman for improvement.
"I'm really glad they're fixing that road," he said. "There have been some really bad accidents out there."
Jessamine County Sheriff Kevin Corman said he is also looking forward to the implementation of the secondary road improvement plan.
"Hopefully it will eliminate some of the problem areas within the road system throughout Jessamine County," he said. "There has been technological advances made during the past couple of years, such as GPS mapping, that has helped the state transportation cabinet identify problem areas not only within our county, but across the state."
Stuart explained that District 7's criteria for determining which of the county's secondary roads will be next on the repair list involves three main factors: how much traffic travels the road, what condition the road is in, and how long it's been since the road was repaired.
Rural secondary roads are included in the transportation cabinet's road system, which include four categories of roads, the others being state primary roads, state secondary roads, and supplementary roads.
Work won't begin on the above-mentioned roads until Spring, and the money will come from 22.2 percent of Kentucky's gasoline tax. That money will be split up and divided between each of the state's 120 counties.
This year, Jessamine's portion is $635,696.
Of that, $200,000 is slated for East Hickman, $276,000 for Ky. 39, and $173,000 for Logana Road. That comes out to a bit more than the total, but some extra money from last year was left over, and was added to this year's funds, Goodpaster said.
The transportation cabinet divides the funds between the counties in the following manner:
â?¢ One fifth is distributed equally among the 120 counties
â?¢ One fifth is prorated to each county based on its rural population
â?¢ One fifth is prorated to each county based on its rural road mileage
â?¢ Two fifths are prorated to each county based on its rural areas.
For more detailed information on rural secondary roads and how funds are distributed, see Kentucky Revised Statutes 177.320.
