More areas of attention suggested for road repairs

Don Estep is Publisher Emeritus of The News Journal.

Roads! I wrote about the condition of Highway 312 out of Corbin last week and I have been reminded that there are other situations that need attention.

One of those is the Cumberland Gap Parkway between Exit 29 and U.S. 25 that runs by Lowes and Walmart. The highway department has worked on and off for years repairing the potholes there.

They have replaced sections of the concrete and about as soon as one area is fixed another needs it. It is bad now and it will probably get worse this winter.

A major reconstruction road project is slated for the Cumberland Gap Parkway across U.S. 25 out to Master St. That area is mostly blacktop and has not suffered the pothole problem that exists down the road.

Interstate 75 near exit 25 for years has had a pothole problem. Presently it is in good shape but it has kept the highway department busy keeping it that way.

Last week I mentioned the amount of traffic on 312. It doesn’t compare with 5th Street road during the start and ending of each school day at the Corbin Primary School.

If there ever was a need for road construction it is on this section of the road leading to the school. It is narrow and has many curves.

With so many vehicles and school buses using 5th Street high priority should be given to this situation. Presently there are a series of potholes right in front of the school that need fixing.

Many of you know of other roads that need fixing. Hopefully some of these will be addressed before cold weather.

•I was made aware of the furniture being removed from the sitting room section of Dupont Lodge at Cumberland Falls State Park. I drove down Sunday to see what was happening and was told it was in storage in preparation for a museum to be located in that area.

Dupont Lodge holds many memories for me. My father was on the construction crew that built the first lodge in 1933. My mother sewed the curtains for the rooms in the

Lodge on her foot-peddle Singer sewing machine.

That took place before I was born but I heard my parents talk about it many times.

The original Lodge had 26 rooms. It burned in 1940 and was rebuilt and now has about 50 rooms.

My dad also helped build the bath house that many of us used when there was a beach at the Falls. It also burned as did a couple of hotels at the Falls.

In order to get concrete down to the area of the beach house my dad said they had to build a trough from the upper road down the mountainside.

When I was in high school in the late 1950’s many of us spent part of our weekends each summer on the beach at the Falls.

That was before strip mining that made the water unsuited for swimming.

The Falls was popular for local people whether for the beach or for picnics.

Obviously today not as many local people make frequent trips to the Falls, but the Falls remains at the top of the list in the number of visits by tourists.

In a few weeks the fall colors will be here and brisk cool weather will arrive which will make it a great time to visit the Falls.