Times-Tribune-Published: August 28, 2007 08:21 am

A waiting game

Residents concerned about proposed I-66 route

By Heather Ponder / Staff writer

It was a mix of sadness, anger, and aggravation Monday night as the Interstate 66 project Preferred Alternate M was presented.

The open house held by the Kentucky Department of Transportation at the London Community Center drew more than 400 Laurel residents. Those in attendance were given the opportunity to obtain a first hand look at the enlarged maps that may or may not seal the fate of some land and home owners.

“I will have Highway 80 on one side and Interstate 66 down under me. Who would want to live there,” said Carla Reed after viewing a map of her property.

Reed is one of several in her family to have their homes and lives affected by the Interstate route.

“The land our families live on is a part of our family heritage, a gift from our parents. We built there so we can be close together. When 80 came in, it took 12 acres of our parents’ property and now 66 threatens to take more,” Reed said.

“Three out of four of the proposed routes involved our property. So even if the route changes in Phase II, odds are we will be involved.”

According to Department of Transportation Branch Manager Joel Holcomb, it is unlikely that the route will change.

“If we were to go through an alternate section it would not be a significant change because our environmental impact statement is based upon this route,” Holcomb said.

The need for such changes would be based upon a number of factors, he said, including economic reasons, or if a small change could save a home with a property line caught on the edge of the recommended alternate. He said, however, that small changes could also include parcels of land not currently included.

According to Holcomb, with the preferred alternate selected, additional environmental studies will be conducted and the FEIS will be completed. Approval is scheduled to be obtained in the summer of 2008 a record of decision (ROD) will then be prepared with a projected approval date of December 2008.

Once the environmental documentation has been approved, federal funds may be appropriated for construction, final design, right of way acquisition and utility relocation.

For homeowners, it is a waiting game.

“They said we will know for sure in 2008. I am not making any improvements on my property until then. It is kind of depressing to think that you don’t know what is going on minute by minute,” Reed said.