‘Road diet’ to expand south to Broadway as move to reduce congestion
Councilman Roland Williams listens to discussion about the city’s plans to expand its remote water/electric meter reading capabilities. Click to enlarge.
By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette
Wednesday, May 14, 2014, 11:55 p.m. — After a discussion between Mayor Bill Sheckles and the Bardstown City Council at Wednesday night’s meeting, it is certain the “road diet” that changed traffic lanes on North Third Street between KY 245 and Beall Street is going to be extended further south.
The move will add left turn lanes for northbound and southbound traffic at the Broadway intersection. The change will eliminate all on-street parking on the east side of North Third between Broadway and Brashear Avenue, and several on-street spots on the west side of the street nearest the Broadway intersection.
The addition of a turning lane at Broadway will also eliminate several on-street parking spots along the area in front of Edward D. Jones on the east side of North Third south of Broadway. Bicycle lanes will be extended south of Beall to Broadway on both sides of North Third Street.
In a discussion of how the loss of on-street parking might impact area businesses, Councilman Joe Buckman noted that the affected businesses all have off-street parking available, or have access via an alley at the rear of the property.
Councilman Bobby Simpson and Tommy Reed look over a document related to the North Third Street “road diet” at Wednesday’s meeting of the Bardstown City Council. Click to enlarge.
Transportation Cabinet officials said left turns at Broadway were contributing to the rush-hour congestion since the road diet was implemented, particularly for traffic going north from downtown, Sheckles explained. The turn lanes will address that issue, he said.
Judging by what he’s seen from along North Third Street, Sheckles told the council the “road diet” is doing its job to improve safety and reduce the number of accidents.
“From Daughterty to the north side of Conway’s, I’ve seen a tremendous difference in getting people slowed down,” he said. “We’ll try [extending the road diet], it won’t hurt to try it.”
In other business, the council:
— awarded a $122,000 contract for sewer manhole inspection and rehabilitation to Municipal & Contractors Sealing Products of Cincinnati. The company will continue work to inspect and repair manholes as part of the city’s ongoing projects to reduce groundwater and storm water inflow into the sewer system. The ongoing project is already making a difference by reducing the amount of inflow into the sewer system, Civil Engineer Jessica Filiatreau told the council;
— heard a report detailing changes in a request for a water main to service a warehouse property on Withrow Court;
Jessica Filiatreau, civil engineer for the City of Bardstown, discusses the city’s ongoing manhole rehab project. Click to enlarge.
— heard details of a proposed project to update electric meters to allow remote reading via the cable TV system. The city utilities has converted all of its water meters to allow reading them by radio, and the next project will allow electric meters to be read via the cable TV system. The estimated $775,000 project will be paid for with electric utility reserves;
— approved first reading of a zoning change that will allow townhouses to be constructed on property along Old Bloomfield Pike near Life Care Center of Bardstown;
— heard from Sheckles the city was awarded a $24,131 grant for crumb rubber at the city park playgrounds.
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