Mayor: CUC should fix roads soon, or else

Unease over rough roads caused by sewer line extension in Corbin has hit a boiling point with some city leaders this week, and they are promising swift action on the issue if something isn’t done about it soon.

Corbin Mayor Willard McBurney said Monday that poor road conditions on Fourth and Fifth Streets should be addressed “very soon” by the City Utilities Commission, otherwise city workers may intervene to repair the problem.

“I think it is ridiculous that the streets are left like that for people to drive over each day,” McBurney said. “If it’s not fixed soon, the city will take it on ourselves to get it fixed and then we’ll deal with the appropriate people.”

City leaders say deep ruts on Fourth and Fifth Streets, caused by sewer line extension work, should be fixed by the local City Utilities Commission soon or they plan to intervene.

McBurney said he felt like two weeks was sufficient time to patch the road.

The problem has been caused by ongoing sewer line extensions out to Tattersall Trails Estates subdivision and the new Corbin Primary School. Workers with Anderson Contracting, of Williamsburg, have been forced to dig deep trenches in the road in many places along the streets to bury sewer lines. City Utilities Commission General Manager Ron Herd said Tuesday he understands citizen frustration over the rough roadway, and added that officials are working as quickly as possible to rectify the problem. He said poor weather in recent days has slowed work and any street repair efforts.

“We will fix it. I know it has been a pain and I can’t make excuses. It’s a mess,” Herd said. “We are trying to work with the contractor to get something done … Anytime you have to cut the street, especially road with a lot of traffic, it is going to be a pain. I promise when it is finished we aren’t going to leave a mess.”

Herd said that contractors still have some work to do near a pump station that is being installed at the intersection of Fifth Street and Stamper Street. In the short term, he said workers would likely put “cold patch” asphalt in deeply rutted areas on Fourth Street for now until regular asphalt can be used. State inspectors won’t allow companies to lay asphalt unless the air temperature is at least 40 degrees Fahrenheit and rising.

Herd said he hopes the situation will improve in the next week or two.

Corbin City Commissioner Phil Gregory said the street situation concerns him because of the increase in traffic on the two streets caused by the opening of Corbin Primary School this year.

“They know what we want. We told them we would concrete it if we had too to get it done,” Gregory said. “There are too many cars being driven up through there because of the school. The patch and gravel they have there now won’t stay in the holes.”

McBurney said the poor road conditions are particular hazardous because drivers try to “straddle” deep ruts on Fourth Street, raising potential for an accident.