Common ground still nowhere in sight in debate over Exit 29

London Mayor Randall Weddle spoke “unofficially” about Exit 29 annexation during last week’s Corbin Rotary Club meeting.

While the ongoing dispute between the City of Corbin and City of London regarding annexation of Exit 29 and its adjoining property continues to stagnate in an appellate court, decisions that could shape the future of that area are still being discussed despite a definitive outcome being unknown.

The issue began in August 2020, when the London City Council proposed an ordinance to annex the right-of-way along I-75 between Exit 38 and Exit 29 and two tracts of nearby proprerty, which prompted the filing of a lawsuit by the Corbin City Commission the following month in an attempt to stop the annexation. A ruling was later made in Laurel Circuit Court in February 2022 siding with the City of London. Following that outcome, the City of Corbin filed an appeal, sending the matter to the Kentucky Court of Appeals where it currently awaits a decision.

Past attempts between the two cities to come to an agreement on Exit 29 have been fruitless, though newly-elected London Mayor Randall Weddle recently championed the notion of the two cities being able to find common ground in an effort to create “joint prosperity.”