Tom Loftus

Louisville Courier Journal

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Road improvements intended to accommodate heavy traffic headed to the Noah's Ark park attraction in Grant County are among the projects deleted in the Kentucky House's version of the state's two-year road construction plan.

House Republicans charged that majority Democrats helped themselves in rewriting the plan - advancing projects in their own districts at the expense of Republican districts including the ark park road improvements in the district of Rep. Brian Linder, R-Dry Ridge.

The controversial theme park of the Christian ministry Answers in Genesis called Ark Encounter is set to open this summer. Linder said an existing road - Kentucky 36 - leading to the park is inadequate to handle the heavy traffic anticipated. Gov. Matt Bevin's proposed road bill provided $10.5 million to improve the road, but the House deleted the project.

"This political partisanship has got to stop... At some point we need to really stop worrying about who's in control of the House and start worrying about who's in control of the universe," Linder said. "The only thing I can think of is either you've got something against me or you've got something against God."

But the House approved its revised two-year construction plan on largely party lines in a 56-40 vote. The House also approved a second highway measure - a resolution outlining the state's construction plans in 2019-2022 on a vote of 52-43.

Rep. Leslie Combs, a Pikeville Democrat who chairs the House budget subcommittee that developed the House plan, told Linder, "Yes, I do believe in God." And Combs said she accommodated the requests of the few Republicans who came to her with requests for projects.

Combs emphasized that a plunge in the gas tax rate prior to a year ago, when the General Assembly established a floor rate for the tax, has limited the available funds to spend on roads.

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House Republican leader Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown, disagreed. Hoover said his office did a quick analysis of all six years of projects within the two measures.

"Look at certain members of majority leadership...Four out of five (members of) majority leadership got more than a half billion more than was in the recommended budget," he said. "So don't say we just didn't have the money."

Hoover noted that this happens every two years as part of "a political process." And he noted the Republican Senate will now get its chance to rewrite the road construction plans, and then a conference committee will later resolve differences between the House and Senate plans.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said the House version of the plan is exactly the same for his district as Gov. Matt Bevin proposed and that he thought the overall plan was fair. However, Hoover's staff later said Stumbo was talking only about what Bevin proposed in 2016-18 because they said Stumbo's district got a substantial increase in road work in the House's version of the second measure covering projects in 2019-22.

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House Bill 305 spells out how the state Highway Department would spend about $4.5 billion in state and federal highway dollars on road and bridge projects through June 30, 2018.

Combs said major projects funded include $159 million in to continue expansion of the Mountain Parkway through Wolfe, Morgan, Magoffin and Floyd counties. it includes funding for an interchange on I-65 in Bullitt County, $128 million to widen I-75 in Rockcastle County and $75 million to widen I-75/I-64 in Fayette County to eight lanes.

Reporter Tom Loftus can be reached at (502) 875-5136 or tloftus@courier-journal.com.