NEWS RELEASE
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet engineers have formulated plans to restore a crucial transportation connection in Livingston County. Work on a temporary repair to KY 937/Cutoff Road in Livingston County could start as early as today, but is most likely to move forward starting Saturday, July 9th.
During early morning hours Thursday, floodwaters took out a 60 ft. long 8 X 13 ft. metal culvert and washed out the roadway at KY 937 mile point 2.8 just north the intersection with KY 453/Iuka Road.
KY 937/Cutoff Road has been serving as a detour for KY 453 at this site due to a closure for construction to replace a bridge and straighten a curve just south of Smithland. With KY 937 closed by the washout, Livingston County residents have faced an extended detour through back roads, or around US 60 and I-24 through Ledbetter to travel between Smithland and Grand Rivers.
Fabrication of a new steel culvert for KY 937 was estimated to take 4 to 6 weeks. To speed things up, KYTC District 1 engineers put out a request seeking to locate a replacement culvert that might be in inventory. KYTC District 4 had one of sufficient length available from a pending project in Breckenridge County. A KYTC District 1 crew is picking it up today and should have it delivered to the KY 937 site in Livingston County late this afternoon.
KYTC District 1 spokesperson Keith Todd says engineers have completed as much prep work as possible, so installation of the temporary culvert could start late this afternoon. However, several factors come into play.
“We have additional rain the forecast for today and through the weekend which could create issues with the installation process,” Todd said. “Our engineers would also like water levels in the stream to drop another foot or two. Our best estimate, depending on weather conditions, is that the main installation effort could start on Saturday morning. Our engineers think it could take about 3 days of work to place the temporary culvert, get the area backfilled, replace the road base, and get temporary pavement placed that could allow the roadway to reopen to traffic.”
With the amount of work to be completed, engineers are optimistic traffic on KY 937/Cutoff Road could be restored by about Tuesday or Wednesday of next week with weather being the major determining factor.
Todd noted that KY 937/Cutoff road normally carries about 1,400 vehicles in an average day. With the added traffic from the KY 453 detour, it has been carrying an estimated 3,000 vehicles per day.
The Transportation Cabinet will attempt to provide timely updates as installation of the temporary culvert progresses.