Residents’ petition seeks to rename former Louisville Rd. section to Colonel Cox Rd.

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Friday, Jan. 26, 2018 — The name of the northern-most Nelson County section of the old Louisville Road — Salt River Road — is expected to change soon in the wake of a petition signed by property owners and submitted to Judge Executive Dean Watts on Tuesday.

High Grove resident Don Thrasher presented Watts with a petition Tuesday that showed that 67 percent of road’s residents preferred the road name of Colonel Cox Road over the road’s current name, Salt River Road.

DON THRASHER

Watts said that while state statutes give him the right to name the roads, it also gives property owners the right to petition to change the name of their road. The judge executive can rename the road at the residents’ request if he chooses to.

As part of an agreed settlement of Thrasher’s earlier lawsuit against Watts, he and County Attorney Matthew Hite had been drafting questions to submit to Kentucky Attorney General regarding a county judge’s ability to rename state roads. When that process hit an impasse, Thrasher suggested trying a petition to determine if 50 percent or more of Salt River Road residents wanted their road name changed. Watts said he agreed to the request.

“Basically, the residents checked off the name they preferred,” Watts said Friday in a telephone interview. “He brought the petition to us on Tuesday, and I have the petition here on my desk and I have been verifying the names and addresses.”

“I think its a great compromise and a great solution,” Watts said of the petition’s results.

According to Thrasher, some of the residents of Kimbly Creek — the other renamed segment of the former Louisville Road — are starting work on their own petition to determine if residents wish to rename their road segment. Possible names include Forman Loop or Louisville Farms Road, Thrasher explained.

Watts said the southern-most section of the former Louisville Road that’s been commonly referred to for a number of years as “Old Louisville Road” will formally receive that name in the near future. Residents of Old Louisville Road will keep their road name but should expect to have their addresses renumbered.

Thrasher is a Republican candidate for Nelson County Judge Executive; Watts is the incumbent Democrat seeking re-election as judge executive.

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