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Bypass, parkway connector routes being considered

April 11, 2012|By Rachel Parsons | The Winchester Sun

James Mann | jmann@winchestersun.com

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is seeking input from community members to help design three possible routes for a new bypass connecting Veterans Memorial Parkway and Bypass Road.

Local road committee members met with Kentucky Transportation Cabinet consulting engineers Tuesday to develop three road alternates to present to the cabinet.

Michael Jones, an engineer with Vaughn & Melton and a member of the project design team, facilitated the meeting and helped committee members create the alternate designs.

“We’ve got to look at things other than just what’s on the ground out there,” Jones said.

Two of the proposed routes will connect to Bypass Road at or near Windridge Drive, and the third route will connect to Boone Avenue before it connects with Bypass Road, using an existing intersection.

City Manager Ken Kerns said the engineers will determine if the alternates will require additional lanes or other changes to existing roads.

“The consultant goes back and sees if they can make that work,” Kerns said.

The three alternates are required as part of an environmental study, but the cabinet will make the final decision.

“We’ll try to match that as much as we can,” Jones said of the committee’s selection.

Engineers may have to change the selected alternate to accommodate design requirements, such as road curvatures and grade elevations, in order to make the road safe for driving 50-60 mph.

The cabinet also is seeking input from property owners who may be impacted by the new road. Several committee members live or own property in the Boonesboro Road area, and on Bypass Road. Committee Chairman Frank Hicks said the panel would try to be as respectful of property lines as possible. The former county extension agent said he is sensitive to the impact on farm owners and hoped to avoid splitting land into small, unusable tracts.

When designing the alternatives, Hicks said the committee tried not to disrupt businesses, homes, property lines and utility lines.

There will be a public meeting in Winchester during the summer to present design alternates. There will be a preliminary line and grade inspection in September to help determine the best alternative. The committee will discuss the findings of the inspection, as well as the public comments at its October meeting.

Contact Rachel Parsons at rparsons@winchestersun.com, or follow her on Twitter, @ParsonsRachel.

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