The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has released information regarding the stalled road improvement project on US Hwy 62 between Leitchfield and Clarkson.
The wide-ranging KYTC project to essentially straighten what is popularly known as the Beehive Curve began in 2021 but suddenly stopped in the late spring of 2022.
During a Grayson County Fiscal Court meeting on June 7, KYTC maintenance supervisor Bow Warren told magistrates the work stoppage was due “financial difficulties” the construction company responsible for the work, Charles DeWeese Construction, Inc., was experiencing.
Warren later expanded on the “financial difficulties” the construction company was having by saying he wasn’t sure when the $6.51 million project would be completed because the “contractor is potentially bankrupt and looking to be bought out.”
“Work on this project continued until early summer and then came to a standstill when the contractor pulled off the job, leaving it about half way finished,” KYTC spokesman Chris Jessie said in an email Monday morning. “The original expectation of this specified working days contract was to have the project completed by this fall.”
Jessie added that he was not certain when the project would be finished: “We regret the extended period of inconvenience on local property owners and motorists, but a timeline of continuing construction is not currently available.”
It is important to note that neither Grayson County magistrates nor Judge-Executive Kevin Henderson are involved in either the project itself, or the project being delayed. US Hwy 62 is a state maintained roadway (by the KYTC), and runs for 391 miles in the commonwealth, across 20 Kentucky counties.
Jessie said he will “provide updates” on the project “as they become available.”
(Photo: KY Hwy 62 project just east of the William Thomason Byway)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
