The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will spend $1.1 million to construct traffic turning lanes at Pembroke and South Christian elementary schools, local and state officials announced Thursday.
A left-turn lane will be constructed on Kentucky 115 in front of Pembroke Elementary School.
The South Christian project will have left- and right-turn lanes built on Kentucky 117 at the school’s south entrance.
Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman presented a ceremonial check for the projects during a stop Thursday at Pembroke Elementary. Both projects are intended to address traffic backing up behind vehicles waiting to turn into the two school entrances.
“As a teacher and a school parent, the safety of our Kentucky schoolchildren is never out of my thoughts,” Coleman said in a news release. “This ceremonial check represents more than the cost of engineering and materials. It represents a high priority of Gov. Beshear and all of us on Team Kentucky — making streets and roads safer around our schools.”
District Superintendent Chris Bentzel thanked the governor and lieutenant governor for emphasizing school safety. He noted that Pembroke and South Christian serve many of the county’s rural students and dependents of Fort Campbell soldiers.
According to the news release, the project might require “minor right-of-way acquisition and utility relocation.” No timeline for the work was given.
The projects are among 70 safety improvements totaling $23 million that the Beshear administration has touted. The funding comes from the state’s 2020 Highway Plan.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
