You remember the Ring Road expansion mess in Hardin County, right? The road construction plan that would connect Gaither Station Road to the Western Kentucky Parkway? It’s turned into a bit of a mess.

In late February attorneys representing the McGeehees sent a letter to Greg Stumbo requesting that the project be removed from the six-year highway plan. Not just because it adversely impacts the McGeehees by destroying their home and farm but because the project isn’t necessary. Especially during this time of economic disaster in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The letter recommends– rightly so, we believe– the Commonwealth focus its limited funds on the construction and maintenance of highways where there’s a proven need.

Last year House Bill 79 was passed by the General Assembly which (via an amendment) authorized the biennial highway construction plan. The legislature officially omitted the extension of Ring Road in the plan. But the Transportation Cabinet pushed to include the $15.8 million project in its own six-year plan. The two-mile project was segmented and a portion of extension project started then, continuing to today.

Rather than rehash everything, take a look at a portion of the letter:

We sought to enjoin the construction of the segmented one mile extension to Gaither Station Road in the Franklin Circuit Court. We have attached the Opinion and Order entered by Judge Phillip Shepherd on February 13, 2009. While Judge Shepherd denied our Motion for a Temporary Injunction, Judge Shepherd notes that the “Plaintiffs’ concerns are legitimate and raise important legal issues.”

Judge Shepherd admonishes the Transportation Cabinet, where the Cabinet is taking our clients’ private property through its exercise of its eminent domain power, for an “ill-conceived” project with “little or no apparent public benefit.” Judge Shepherd found the testimony of Dr. Nick Stamatiadis, a civil engineer, “compelling,” where he offered testimony that the traffic counts on the surrounding roads strongly support that this project is entirely unnecessary. Judge Shepherd further notes that “the testimony and legislative history of the six year road plan established that this project has never been supported by any traffic or engineering study done by the Department of Highways” and “that it was a political ‘add-on’ to the six year road plan.”

Judge Shepherd concludes that “the project, as it is currently segmented, will provide, quite literally, a bridge to nowhere,” and that the “allocation of significant highway funds to such a patently unnecessary project is a matter of great concern, as there are vast numbers of other greatly needed highway projects in the Commonwealth that are not receiving sufficient attention or funding.”

Isn’t that great? The Transportation Cabinet is going against common sense and the General Assembly by wasting taxpayer dollars.

While the Motion for Reconsideration in Franklin Circuit Court was denied for jurisdictional issues, an Appeal for the actual condemnation is pending in the Court of Appeals.

Read the entire letter and its attachments by clicking here. Let us know what you think.