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Work is set to begin Tuesday on road work in Hardin County made possible by a grant opportunity through the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet’s Division of Waste Management.
“Our Road Department Supervisor Michael Steck applied for this grant, and it’s a test that lasts five years where you compare standard asphalt against a rubber-modified asphalt,” said Hardin County Government Communications Officer Brian Walker.
The county will be installing the rubber-modified asphalt on a one-mile stretch of Springfield Road, beginning at the intersection of Springfield and Valley Creek roads, and will then pave a one-mile stretch of traditional asphalt at the end of the rubberized section.
“This will be put through the same testing and quality standards over the next five years to see which one wears better, the overall need to make repairs, and what have you,” Walker said.
The county received about $162,000 through the grant, with the county contributing about $86,000 for the traditional asphalt portion.
“Putting them in the exact same place with the exact same amount of traffic and the exact weather, it’s going to give you a better comparison than say ‘here’s one in our county and here’s one three counties away, and what did they see?’” Walker said. “This gives us a real day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year accounting of how this is done.”
Work is expected to take three to five days, weather permitting. Springfield Road will remain open during the work, but local traffic should expect some delays.
The Kentucky Office of Highway Safety is reminding drivers ahead of Labor Day weekend to “drive sober, or get pulled over”.
The KOHS is joining the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and law enforcement agencies across the country for the annual “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” awareness and law enforcement safety campaign, which runs now through September 7. The awareness campaign is part of broader efforts to improve highway safety by discouraging impaired driving.
The KOHS says during Labor Day weekend in 2025, there were 69 crashes involving an impaired driver, resulting in 49 injuries and three deaths. The number of crashes saw a decrease from 2024, but the number of injuries and deaths saw an increase.
Law enforcement agencies joining the campaign will be participating in increased saturation patrols and sobriety checkpoints. The KOHS offers drivers the following safety tips:
- Before the festivities begin, make a plan to get home safely
- If you are impaired, use a ride-booking company or taxi, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation
- If you see an impaired driver, safely pull over and contact law enforcement. Provide a vehicle description, license number, location, and direction of travel if possible
- If you know people who are about to drive or ride while impaired, take their keys and help them make other arrangements
- Always wear a seat belt
Visit kydrivesober.com for more information.
Emergency crews responded to the second fire in four months at an auto and scrap metal recycling business in Radcliff Monday.
“We were dispatched at 12:24 p.m. to Edwards Recycling at 2525 South Dixie Boulevard, Radcliff, for a trash fire that they reported in their yard,” said Captain Benjamin Green with the Radcliff Fire Department. “Our unit arrived on the scene approximately a minute and a half later and found a heavy fire in some recycling material and old crushed up cars. We began a fire attack and knocked it down pretty quickly. We were on the scene for approximately one hour, and used approximately 6,000 gallons of water.”
Green said no injuries were reported among first responders or workers on property at the time of the fire. He said first responders were preparing to close both sides of Dixie Boulevard for fire response, but it was deemed unnecessary.
“At first we thought we were going to lay a line from the hydrant in front of 84 Lumber, like we did back, I think it was May 12 when we had the previous fire at that location, but due to the size of this one, it wasn’t as large as that one in May, so we did not have to do that,” Green said.
The Vine Grove Fire Department responded to the scene to provide mutual aid.