Mayor: US 25 road project is on schedule

Efforts to widen US25W between the post office and entrance to Williamsburg are on schedule or at least the new schedule anyway.
Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison told the Williamsburg Kiwanis Club Thursday that initially, the cliffs overlooking town were to be blasted off last June in order to widen the road to three lanes.
Because the blasting work couldn’t get done until after school started, Harrison said city officials met with the state and decided to push that aspect of the project back until this May.
“They are still doing some of the side work, guttering, and sidewalks up on US25W. They should be ready to go, and blast the cliffs the last of May,” he said.
Work to widen the Exit 11 interchange in Williamsburg is also expected to be completed this summer.
“It is going to be a real interesting summer in Williamsburg with 25, 92, and the interstate bridges. I think that once it all happens, the whole face of this area will change completely. I am excited about it as much as I know there will be some problems with traffic flow,” Harrison said.
During the Kiwanis Club’s weekly meeting held at the Cumberland Inn Thursday, Harrison updated community members on several local projects.
He said city leaders are waiting to hear back from the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce concerning reforming the Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce.
“It is going to happen. I promise that. We can move so much forward if we get a working chamber. It is something we have actually been trying to do for the last year,” Harrison said. “It is going to happen.”

Possible skateboard park
Harrison said the city is looking at the possibility or purchasing some property to build a new park, and possibly a skateboard park.
“Being around kids like I am, one of the biggest needs I think our kids have or want, I should say, is a skate park,” Harrison said. “This would get them off Main Street and off of different buildings and things of that nature.”
He said the city is currently looking into some property that could possibly be used for such a park.
“Evidently, the set ups and jumps they use are pretty expensive, but I think we might be able to work out a way to get some of those even built for us,” Harrison said. “It might be adjacent to the Briar Creek baseball field.”

Streetscape Project
Harrison said the Streetscape Project is also coming along.
He said the city has received some funding from Frankfort, which will go toward installing new sidewalks and old time street lights.
“We want to have a new look downtown in the next couple of years that is what we are gearing towards,” Harrison said. “We are actually waiting on a company that is putting together some prices right now for the lamps.”

Waterpark addition
The city is currently working to purchase a new attraction for the Kentucky Splash Waterpark.
The city received $400,000 from the state for improvements to the waterpark. About $40,000 of that funding went toward the purchase of new computer equipment and software for the park.
The remainder of the funds will be spent on a new attraction, and city officials are negotiating with the companies to purchase an attraction for the remaining $360,000.
“We don’t want to spend a whole lot of money at the waterpark right now with a lot of the other projects that we have going on,” Harrison said.
He added that it is doubtful that the new attraction will be in place for the opening this year.