Crews recently began blasting and this week will begin moving excavated dirt and rock from near the Magoffin County Health Department to fill areas near the Burning Fork Bridge. Trucks will haul 20 to 25 loads of material per hour to the fill area, crossing US 460 (Parkway Drive) near St. Luke Catholic Church.
“We’ll have signage and flaggers in place alerting motorists to be prepared to stop for trucks crossing the road,” said Marshall Carrier, a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet project manager for the Mountain Parkway Expansion. “As with any work zone, we urge drivers to lower their speed and be vigilant.”
Continued blasting will occur nearly daily in the project area. Initial blasting will occur behind the Magoffin County Health Department and near the intersection of the parkway and Burning Fork Road (KY 1888). Crews have placed barrier walls along the parkway in some places to prevent debris from falling on the road.
Ongoing utility relocations
Meanwhile, waterline relocations for Magoffin County Water District customers along Restaurant Row are complete, and work continues for Salyersville Water and Sewer customers. Gas line relocations between Magoffin County High School and the east end of Restaurant Row also are complete. The western section of this segment will see more gas line work in the coming weeks.
Businesses and property owners will be notified of any planned utility outages. Occasionally, an unexpected outage might occur. In this case, owners should contact their utility provider. Contact information for utilities also is available on the Mountain Parkway Expansion website, under the Restaurant Row Segment tab.
Bridge, retaining wall construction
In other work on the Restaurant Row segment, construction of a retaining wall near Magoffin County High School is expected to be finished this week, and crews will soon begin work on a second wall. Road crews will start work on an access road near the high school over summer break but will maintain full access to the school during construction.
On the west side of the project, crews have finished pouring concrete for the first phase of the Burning Fork bridge. This phase is expected to be complete within a month. Traffic will move to the new bridge so that the old bridge may be demolished to make way for construction of another two-lane section on the new bridge.
About the Mountain Parkway Expansion
The Mountain Parkway Expansion is a 46-mile transportation improvement project that will create a wider, safer connection between Eastern Kentucky and the rest of the Commonwealth.
The project will widen 30 miles of the existing parkway from two lanes to four lanes, and will extend the parkway another 16 miles between Salyersville and Prestonsburg.
For more information on the Mountain Parkway Expansion, visit www.MtnParkway.com or follow the project on Twitter (@MtnParkway) or on Facebook (www.facebook.com/mtnparkway). A project office is open in Magoffin Plaza in Salyersville; call (606) 349-8160 for hours.
Story provided by: Mountain Parkway Expansion