By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1
The Water Street arch replacement in downtown Glasgow won’t happen soon. The money necessary for next steps failed to be included in the biannual road budget.
“That [project] has been a frustrating one for us because we just right now don’t have the funds to start buying property or moving utilities,” said Joe Plunk, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 3 chief engineer. “We’ve had conversations with utility companies, so they know it’s coming, but as far as being able to pay them to start with their [relocation]…, we’re still a few years away because [the funding wasn’t] included in the last budget cycle.”
Plunk said when he originally discussed the arch replacement he had assumed the money for relocation and rights-of-way purchases would be in the 2024-26 budget, which it was not. Despite the delay both Plunk and District 3 Public Information Officer Wes Watt are hopeful it will be included in the 2026-28 budget.
“We don’t know,” Watt said. “We hope it’ll be in [the] next plan.”
Plunk said there are several poles and utility lines — including a water line that runs down the center of the road between the arch and the section of N. Race Street above the arch — that need to be moved before any construction can begin.
He said the core samples that closed the road for three days in November 2023 have helped finalize the design, which, as previously reported, will still be double barreled, will have lights, sidewalks for pedestrians and the vertical clearance will be increased from the current 7 feet to 10 or 11 feet.
If the funds make it in to the 2026-28 budget, Plunk said the majority of those two years will be dedicated to relocation and rights-of-way purchases with the earliest construction likely beginning in 2028.
“[This is] a very important project for Barren County and we’re going to do all we can to reach the goal, which is to get [this] constructed,” Plunk said. “I like to say we are judged by what we finish not what we start so our goal is to get things constructed so everyone can reap the benefits.”
Watt said the biannual budget is typically released in late March or April. The road budget is made every two years by Kentucky’s legislature.
