Asphalt

LANCASTER — Three Allen Co. workers were injured Wednesday morning when an asphalt truck overturned along Sugar Creek Road north of Lancaster, spilling tons of asphalt on the ground. Transportation Cabinet spokeswoman Natasha Lacy said the contract workers were doing asphalt repair work along a stretch of road where flooding in May had caused a slide. One worker was airlifted to the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center and the other two were taken by ambulance to other hospitals, according to WLEX-TV in Lexington.

The city of Nicholasville is in the process of coming up with a solution for a hole in the asphalt near the drive-through lane at Member's Heritage Federal Credit Union, located at 1039 N. Main St. “There was a 60-inch storm pipe that failed (in late December),” Nicholasville streets superintendent Gary Goldey said. “It had a bad spot in it, and it's about 13-15 feet in the ground, and it caused rock and stuff to wash down into it, and it caused a hole in the blacktop, and, of course, now you can't drive over it with it being in that kind of shape.” Finding a solution isn't that easy, Goldey said, because of the hole's location, near the credit union.

It seems like an intractable problem; on one hand you have a company that has followed all of the state rules and procedures for building a blacktop plant in Waynesburg, and on the other, homeowners who are convinced that such a plant would threaten their health and property values. It will probably end up in front of a judge who, compelled to follow Kentucky law, will likely side with the corporation. Magistrate David Faulkner summed the situation up for the 60 people in attendance at a public hearing last week succinctly, saying, "Why have a meeting?"

The cost of resurfacing of roads spiked quite a bit from 2007 to 2008, Streets Superintendent Gary Goldey told the Nicholasville City Commission during last Thursday's meeting. "We knew it was going to go up, naturally, and I had anticipated just in my figuring a 15 percent increase, but it shot that way out of the water," Goldey said. The city paid $57.90 for a ton of asphalt in May 2007 and $56.85 for a ton in September 2007. This year, the price per ton shot to $85 per ton, Goldey said.

FRANKFORT - More than $27 million in asphalt rehabilitation projects, including one in Lincoln County, have been awarded by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet as the spring construction season gets under way. The first asphalt projects of the season are distributed over 45 counties. In Lincoln County, a 6.3-mile section of U.S. 27 (Somerset-Lancaster Road) from Ky. 1247 to the Garrard County line is scheduled for work. The Allen Company Inc. was awarded the project for $1,501,362.

It was before 7 a.m. one recent weekday, and dawn barely had broken on downtown Danville, but the headlights of vehicles driving along Second Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard revealed a half dozen men already busy at work outside the new CVS building where the streets intersect. The leader of the pack of eary risers is Eddie Sowers. “We’re putting the final touches on the parking lot here,” says Sowers, mounting a huge, asphalt roller after giving his crew the order of the day. The 41-year-old Stanford man is a superintendent and asphalt paving operator for McGlone Paving Co. of Harrodsburg.

Beginning at approximately 7 a.m. Saturday, work will get under way to seal the asphalt and repaint the markers of the parking area outside the Emergency Department at Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center. During this time, extra security and personnel will be in the lot to help assist with appropriate parking and traffic control. Traffic in this area is strictly for emergency vehicles and personnel during this project.

Sept. 27, 1958 A building at the Allen Company asphalt plant on Athens-Boonesboro Road that housed several pieces of heavy equipment was destroyed by a fire which started at 8:30 a.m. today, according to County Fire Chief Robert Clark. Cliff Hagan and Bob Pettit signed contracts to play with the St. Louis Hawks pro basketball club. Ben Kerner is the Hawks owner. A suit opposing the city's recent annexation move was filed today in the Clark Circuit Court by property owners in the affected suburban and farming areas.

Several city roads will soon receive a face lift. At its special called meeting Monday, the Nicholasville City Commission approved a bid of $113,700 from Lexington Quarry Company to resurface six areas within the city. Those roads include: â?¢ Shun Pike, from county seam to Short Shun. â?¢ Edgewood Drive, from U.S. 27 Bypass to Enterprise Drive. â?¢ Hendren Way, from Edgewood Drive to cul-de-sac. â?¢ Elmer Stephenson Drive, from Hawthorne Drive to Courchelle Drive.

Dear Editor, While I agree with Mr. Watson on the dangers of navigating 127 South, law enforcement officers can only improve this situation if they are driving asphalt trucks and bulldozers. There has been a population explosion in the Hustonville/Moreland area and the road system has not grown with it. A four-lane monster highway destroying our landscape is also not the solution. Truck and turning lanes placed strategically at key points along this perilous stretch of road would keep traffic flowing, unlike the maddening stop-and-start highway driving that is mandatory at this time.

FRANKFORT - More than $27 million in asphalt rehabilitation projects, including one in Lincoln County, have been awarded by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet as the spring construction season gets under way. The first asphalt projects of the season are distributed over 45 counties. In Lincoln County, a 6.3-mile section of U.S. 27 (Somerset-Lancaster Road) from Ky. 1247 to the Garrard County line is scheduled for work. The Allen Company Inc. was awarded the project for $1,501,362.

The city of Nicholasville is in the process of coming up with a solution for a hole in the asphalt near the drive-through lane at Member's Heritage Federal Credit Union, located at 1039 N. Main St. “There was a 60-inch storm pipe that failed (in late December),” Nicholasville streets superintendent Gary Goldey said. “It had a bad spot in it, and it's about 13-15 feet in the ground, and it caused rock and stuff to wash down into it, and it caused a hole in the blacktop, and, of course, now you can't drive over it with it being in that kind of shape.” Finding a solution isn't that easy, Goldey said, because of the hole's location, near the credit union.

Last week, Circuit Court Judge David Tapp upheld a 2009 decision by the Lincoln County Fiscal Court to deny a zoning change requested by the Allen Company that would allow the asphalt firm to build a plant in Waynesburg on US 27. The Allen Company had requested that a five-acre lot they had purchased, previously used as a gas station, be rezoned as “light industrial”. The property is currently zoned as agricultural. In his decision, Tapp said that the Fiscal Court had appropriately handled the zoning request, saying that the Allen Company's claim that the decision to deny the zone change was “void, arbitrary and capricious” was largely unfounded.

It was before 7 a.m. one recent weekday, and dawn barely had broken on downtown Danville, but the headlights of vehicles driving along Second Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard revealed a half dozen men already busy at work outside the new CVS building where the streets intersect. The leader of the pack of eary risers is Eddie Sowers. “We’re putting the final touches on the parking lot here,” says Sowers, mounting a huge, asphalt roller after giving his crew the order of the day. The 41-year-old Stanford man is a superintendent and asphalt paving operator for McGlone Paving Co. of Harrodsburg.

LANCASTER — Three Allen Co. workers were injured Wednesday morning when an asphalt truck overturned along Sugar Creek Road north of Lancaster, spilling tons of asphalt on the ground. Transportation Cabinet spokeswoman Natasha Lacy said the contract workers were doing asphalt repair work along a stretch of road where flooding in May had caused a slide. One worker was airlifted to the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center and the other two were taken by ambulance to other hospitals, according to WLEX-TV in Lexington.

Beginning at approximately 7 a.m. Saturday, work will get under way to seal the asphalt and repaint the markers of the parking area outside the Emergency Department at Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center. During this time, extra security and personnel will be in the lot to help assist with appropriate parking and traffic control. Traffic in this area is strictly for emergency vehicles and personnel during this project.

STANFORD - Forced to choose between a sound planning and zoning decision and the will of the people, Lincoln County magistrates sided with the folks who put them in office. All four magistrates voted Friday to deny a recommended zone change that would have allowed The Allen Co. to build an asphalt plant on U.S. 27 near Kings Mountain. Residents who live near the site have voiced strong opposition to the plant, worried about pollution, traffic and loss of property values. "I'm conflicted," Magistrate David Faulkner said.

It seems like an intractable problem; on one hand you have a company that has followed all of the state rules and procedures for building a blacktop plant in Waynesburg, and on the other, homeowners who are convinced that such a plant would threaten their health and property values. It will probably end up in front of a judge who, compelled to follow Kentucky law, will likely side with the corporation. Magistrate David Faulkner summed the situation up for the 60 people in attendance at a public hearing last week succinctly, saying, "Why have a meeting?"

Sept. 27, 1958 A building at the Allen Company asphalt plant on Athens-Boonesboro Road that housed several pieces of heavy equipment was destroyed by a fire which started at 8:30 a.m. today, according to County Fire Chief Robert Clark. Cliff Hagan and Bob Pettit signed contracts to play with the St. Louis Hawks pro basketball club. Ben Kerner is the Hawks owner. A suit opposing the city's recent annexation move was filed today in the Clark Circuit Court by property owners in the affected suburban and farming areas.

Lincoln Fiscal Court may have set a costly precedent Thursday by agreeing to take Pin Oak Lane into the county road system. Paving relatively short roads such as Pin Oak Lane is a losing proposition for the county, especially since the price of asphalt has nearly doubled. Like gasoline, asphalt comes from crude oil, which has been subject to sharp price increases in the past year. A half-mile of blacktop costs roughly $35,000, Judge Executive R. W. "Buckwheat" Gilbert said.