By Dennis Brown

Kentucky’s Secretary of Transportation Joe Prather made a promise last week to get a traffic signal located at a deadly intersection on the AA Highway at Tollesboro.

“I think that I can safely commit to you today that we can put that light up,” said Secretary Joe Prather near the end of a meeting last Tuesday for the purpose of discussing safety on the highway.

Officials with the DOT District Nine Office in Flemingsburg said work on the project would get underway as soon as possible.

Prather said he wanted to get a first-hand assessment of the intersection of the AA Highway with Ky. Rt. 57 and to hear comments from local residents concerning their wishes on what could be done to improve safety for motorists navigating the intersection.

“I’m here to get serious about safety,” Prather told the overflow crowd of more than 100 area residents. He was joined at the meeting by numerous highway engineers who eagerly took notes as residents voiced their concerns and made suggestions on improving safety on the highway.

State Representative Mike Denham said he had begged in Frankfort for many years to upgrade the AA Highway to four lanes. “The people of this area deserve a four lane highway for the entire length of the AA,” Denham said.

Prather responded that the possibility of making the AA Highway a four lane corridor would be taken up as a long-term possibility.

Prather began his remarks by announcing his retirement from state government effective at the end of September. Highway Engineer Mike Hancock, who was on hand at the meeting, has been named as Prather’s replacement.

Prather opened the floor for comments from those in attendance and received several comments and recommendations from attendees.

Representative Denham noted some improvements that had already been made, including rumble strips, signals, signage, reflectors and deceleration lanes, and added that more needs to be done to improve safety.

Denham said he felt there were too many intersections and said the average speed on the AA Highway is 71 miles-per-hour. “Five-mile-per-hour traffic is merging onto the highway and it’s causing problems,” he said.

Denham said that in Bracken County that truck traffic on the highway was determined to be 53 percent of the load while the roadway was designed with an estimate of 12 percent. He

 recommended improving vision at intersections by relocating guardrails and extending or adding lanes in some areas to allow for the truck traffic.

Other recommendations and questions from attendees included enforcing speed limits and reducing speed limits near major intersections, locating weigh stations for trucks and fog detection equipment which could activate systems to improve visibility.

BTADD Director Amy Kennedy, who said she travels 37 miles each way for work, pointed out frequent dense fog in some areas and said people who are unfamiliar with local conditions have problems navigating the highway during certain times.

She added that with the closure of Ky. Rt. 8 between Vanceburg and Black Oak, more motorists are utilizing the Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway and causing that intersection with the AA Highway to be busier than usual.

Orangeburg Fire Chief Kerry Moore pointed out that mile markers along the highway are confusing to some motorists because they begin and end in each county. He said his department has been dispatched to mile markers in Lewis County while the accident was actually in Bracken County. He suggested changing the numbering system or adding the county name on each milepost.

Several addressing Prather requested the traffic signal be added at the Tollesboro intersection and he agreed that the request made sense to him.

“I want to thank you for opening up and telling us what’s on your mind,” Prather told the gathering before promising the light. “This is something I can get accomplished.”

Chief District Engineer Bart Bryant said the intersection will be signalized for traffic approaching from all four directions. The installation will include not only new signal heads, but also traffic controller boxes, advanced warning flashers and other equipment.

“We have a team already working on the project to make sure the installation takes place as quickly as possible,” Bryant said on Wednesday.

Highway District Nine engineers have previously undertaken a number of safety measures at the intersection, including dual overhead flashing beacons and oversized stop signs.

Those safety devices will be replaced by the new signal and its accompanying warning flashers. The new devices will complement other safety measures at the intersection, including dedicated left-turn and right-turn lanes and rumble strips that warn motorists when they are about to cross the center line or run off the road.

Lewis County Fiscal Court met in regular session last week and approved several measures dealing with the Lewis County Enhanced 911 Dispatch Center.

Kevin Cornette, Economic Development Director for Buffalo Trace ADD, addressed magistrates and explained some steps that are being taken to allow the local dispatch center to be able to accept calls from cellular telephones in the area and to be eligible for funding paid by those wireless phone customers for 911 services.

Cornette explained that customers have been paying a monthly fee for some time, but that fee has gone to the state and is then distributed to the entities who answer the calls to 911. He said for this area such calls have been going to Kentucky State Police dispatch centers and the funding has gone to those centers.

Cornette said with some changes at the local office the calls will be able to come in there and funding, estimated at $75,000 to $80,000 annually, will also be coming into the county to help with 911 expenses.

Cornette said a one-time cost of $826.50 to have necessary telephone lines installed at the local office and additional monthly costs of $747.76 in telephone bills will allow the local office to receive wireless 911 calls. The county is currently paying $1,642.80 to Windstream for services associated with the local 911 center.

Magistrates approved the costs along with a contract with Windstream to supply E-911 services to the county.

Magistrates also approved standard operating procedures for the dispatch center along with an evacuation plan for the center in the event of an emergency there. Cornette said the plan calls for the center to relocate to the Lewis County Detention Center if an emergency should arise. He said Windstream would then reroute all calls to existing numbers at the detention center.

He added that an overload of calls, such as during a widespread crisis, would result in overflow calls being rerouted to a Kentucky State Police dispatch center.

Magistrates also approved sending notification to wireless carriers to direct them to route all 911 calls made through local tower sites to the dispatch center. Judge Executive Steve Applegate was authorized to sign all necessary documents in association with the changes.

Cornette said the local center has been working since March to accept the wireless 911 calls and that work is progressing well in getting all addresses in the county verified to assist during times of emergency.

Cornette also addressed magistrates concerning the recent approval of funding for the Garrison Sewer Project.

Cornette said the total project cost is estimated at $5.3 million and told magistrates that Governor Steve Beshear would be making a visit to Lewis County to personally deliver some of the funding.

Cornette said there are currently 355 residences and commercial buildings in the project area and added they would 

look at expanding the project area if bids for the project came in lower than expected. 

He told magistrates that tap-on fees for those wanting to hook onto the system would increase dramatically after the project is finished and urged those interested in connecting with the system to act quickly to save money.

The funding for the project will come from grants and low interest loans.

Magistrates agreed to designate several items as surplus property and advertise those items for sale. Among the items are retired police cruisers from the sheriff’s department, confiscated vehicles, a backhoe and trucks from the road department, a Bush Hog, utility trailer and Chevrolet van.

Applegate said he had been in contact with auctioneer Stacy Cooper about selling the items in conjunction with one of Cooper’s regular auctions and that a date for the sale has yet to be determined.

Magistrates approved refinancing the Lewis County Detention Center through the Kentucky Association of Counties (KACo) beginning with an initial variable interest rate of 3.75 percent.

Applegate said that due to governmental regulations, it was difficult for local banks to be able to loan the money for such projects and that the funding through KACo would be termed as a lease rather than a loan.

County Treasurer Kathy Dillow explained that the county can’t borrow money long-term, that such funding was generally handled through bond issues. She said the current mortgage holder, Fifth-Third, would not be renewing a letter of credit with the county prompting the refinancing.

She said the county would save several thousand dollars annually by refinancing at the low variable rate and that they could switch to a fixed rate at any time. The refinancing would be for a 10 year term.

In other business:

*Magistrates denied a request from the Lewis County Conservation District for annual support of $20,000 and instead said they would provide the budgeted amount of $15,000.

*Magistrates approved changes to the Fiscal Court Capitalization Policy which creates some new categories for emergency medical equipment. The equipment is purchased through grants received by the county for use by the ambulance service in the county.

*Magistrates approved the reappointment of Steve Harris to the Vanceburg-Lewis County Industrial Authority. The term is set to expire August 31, 2013.

*Magistrates approved opening new checking accounts for a retirement revolving account and health insurance revolving account.