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Self-driving cars aren’t here yet, but Kentucky is among states getting the rules ready

Elaine S. Povich — Tue, 29 Oct 2024 09:50:28 +0000

Pedestrians look toward a Waymo autonomous self-driving Jaguar taxi stopped at a red light in Los Angeles. States are trying to prepare for more widespread use of self-driving cars in the future with new laws. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Vernon. (LRC Public Information)

Early one morning last year, as state Rep. Josh Bray left his small town of Mount Vernon in southeastern Kentucky to make his way to the Capitol in Frankfort, he decided to count how many drivers he saw texting or distracted by something else.

He quit counting after 24 when he saw a truck driver reading a newspaper while going down the road.

The incident spurred the Republican lawmaker’s effort to pass a bill this spring in the Kentucky legislature that sets rules for self-driving vehicles, including the largest commercial trucks after July 2026. Bray thinks the rules will ensure that self-driving vehicles are safer than those operated by often-distracted human drivers.

The new law for fully autonomous vehicles — those designed to function without a human driver present — requires owners to file a safety and communication plan that law enforcement can use and to have a minimum of $1 million in liability insurance per vehicle, roughly 10 times higher than the amount for regular personal vehicles.

“I felt like it was necessary to have something on the books in Kentucky because we are kind of a logistics hub,” Bray said. For example, he said, self-driving baggage handling vehicles at a northern Kentucky airport now will be able to cross a state road.

The legislature approved the bill in late March and a few weeks later overrode a veto by Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who said the bill advanced too quickly and that there should be a testing period before fully autonomous vehicles are allowed to drive in the state.

While no fully autonomous cars are in regular use in the country yet, some states have allowed limited testing and pilot programs on public roads. Many state legislatures are trying to get ahead of self-driving vehicles that eventually will be on their roads by setting standards for operating the vehicles and rules for law enforcement if they see an autonomous vehicle breaking a traffic law. And many laws require, as Kentucky’s does, a minimum insurance requirement to protect drivers, passengers and pedestrians, should the vehicles be involved in an accident.

This year, five states and Washington, D.C., enacted bills dealing with fully automated vehicles, according to Douglas Shinkle, associate director of environment, energy and transportation for the National Conference of State Legislatures. The new laws in Alabama, Kentucky and South Dakota allow for the operation of fully autonomous vehicles, while California’s new law deals with safety requirements. North Carolina’s brings the vehicles under updated dealer regulations for all cars.

Updates to current laws

About half the states already have statutes regulating vehicles operated by some degree of autonomous technology — ranging from the fully autonomous vehicles that are not on the road yet to those that have some driver-assist functions, Shinkle said. But many of the laws are being changed already.

“There’s been a steady progression of bills,” he said, “with some going back and refining some of the language. Every year some new states are getting into the mix.”

Most of this year’s new laws have to do with commercial vehicles, he said. States hope to bring in manufacturers of the vehicles or other industries that would use the technology.

“A lot of this is motivated by states that don’t want to be left behind,” Shinkle said. ”They hope this may lead to jobs in their states.”

But labor unions worry that driving jobs might be lost to the technology.

Dustin Reinstedler, president of the Kentucky chapter of the AFL-CIO, testified against the bill in his state, saying at a legislative hearing that his union preferred alternative legislation calling for a study of the “effects of autonomous vehicles on our roads and the jobs of over 50,000 workers.”

Already, autonomous ride-hailing vehicles from Waymo, formerly known as the Google self-driving car project, dot the landscape in Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco, allowed to drive within limited areas.

Safety concerns

Fully autonomous vehicles have raised safety concerns. California enacted a law this year that will, among other things, require manufacturers to continuously monitor every autonomous vehicle on the road and designate a remote human operator to immobilize a vehicle if necessary. The law also allows law enforcement to issue a notice of noncompliance when autonomous vehicles violate local traffic ordinances.

Earlier this month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began an investigation into four crashes of Teslas operating with a partial-automation system (which can navigate highways and steer the car on city streets but requires a licensed driver to be present), including one in which a pedestrian was killed. In a news release, NHTSA said reduced visibility may have led to the crashes.

“I just don’t think technology is there yet, particularly with 18-wheel vehicles.” – Kentucky Republican state Sen. Greg Elkins, who supported Beshear’s veto

Greg Elkins, R-Winchester. (Kentucky Senate Majority Caucus)

A NHTSA spokesperson said in an email that in each incident, the Tesla entered an area with reduced roadway visibility due to sun, glare, fog or dust. She would not elaborate nor be further identified.

Bray, the Kentucky lawmaker, argued that the self-driving vehicles and driver-assist vehicles are “much safer than human drivers.” He added that fully autonomous vehicles, such as large trucks, could run in the middle of the night, taking traffic off the roads during peak hours and lowering the risk of tired drivers falling asleep.

The idea of semitrucks without drivers makes Kentucky Republican state Sen. Greg Elkins uneasy. He opposed the bill and supported the governor’s veto.

“My reasoning was I just don’t think technology is there yet, particularly with 18-wheel vehicles,” he said in an interview. “I would have been OK with the bill that would have restricted [it to smaller vehicles].”

Alabama’s new law requires a minimum of $100,000 in liability insurance for fully autonomous vehicles, about the same as ordinary cars.

California’s new law requires $5 million in insurance for manufacturers testing autonomous vehicles on state roads, should any one of them be in an accident.

Robert Passmore, a vice president at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, a trade group for insurance companies, said that should individual autonomous vehicles come into regular usage, the insurance companies still have to answer the question of “who was driving at the time.” He argued that the liability coverage should mirror that required for regular cars with drivers.

“Our position is that these vehicles should be insured the same,” he said. “The things that can happen as the result of driving are pretty much the same. Whatever the minimum limits are for that type of vehicle, those are probably appropriate [for autonomous vehicles]. Most people carry more than the minimum anyway.”

This article is republished from Stateline, a sister publication to the Kentucky Lantern and part of the nonprofit States Newsroom network.

Environmental groups sue Brent Spence Corridor Project

LINK staff — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 12:27:01 +0000

The reimagined Brent Spence companion bridge. (Photo provided by brentspencebridgecorridor.com)

A coalition of transportation and environmental nonprofits have sued the Brent Spence Corridor project in federal court over its potential environmental impacts, especially as they relate to non-white communities around the bridge.?

Filed on Tuesday, the suit’s plaintiffs include the Devou Good Foundation, Civic Cincinnati, Ride the Cov and Queen City Bike. The group’s complaint alleges that the project has inadequately explored the potential environmental impact of the construction and demands that work on the project cease until their concerns are redressed.?

Construction for the estimated $3.6 billion corridor project, which includes a new companion bridge slated for construction next to the existing bridge, is scheduled to begin next year and continue through 2029. This conceivably would bring the number of traffic lanes up from the existing bridge’s eight lanes to 16. The project also entails the widening of I-75.

Specifically, the suit calls for the project to engage in and produce an Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS. Large federal projects are required to assess their potential impacts on the local environment. The project first completed an environmental assessment in 2012, which found no significant impact.?

The project floundered for years due to lack of funding, but following an injection of federal money in late 2022, the project went about updating its initial assessment. The federal government approved a second finding of no significant impact in May, following months of public input. Projects whose assessments find no significant impact are not required to produce an environmental impact statement, much to the protestations of the plaintiffs.

“By refusing to acknowledge that the Project will have significant impacts on the human environment, Defendants have arbitrarily and capriciously refused to prepare an EIS, which would require them to meaningfully consider reasonable alternatives, including ones that would include substantial investment in public transportation as part of the Project, or to consider charging tolls on the Ohio River bridges, which would reduce the demand for the Project’s dramatic increase in the number of travel lanes,” the suit alleges.?

“Defendants also have failed to adequately consider or mitigate adverse effects on the predominantly non-white residents located near the highway in the project area, including effects on air quality, noise, health and mobility caused by the anticipated 6 years-long construction of the project,” the suit continues. “They have also failed to adequately consider or mitigate long term effects of expanding these highways, including greatly increased vehicle traffic; water quality and quantity impacts from increased emissions and from the additional acres of highway right of way and impermeable pavement; increased urban sprawl and associated segregation; and the unequal distribution of the benefits and burdens of these transportation system investments.”

The suit demands the court nullify the federal government’s finding of significant impact, issue a court order voiding any agreement using federal funds on the project, prevent any additional work on the project until the environmental assessment issues can be redressed and pay for the plaintiffs’ legal fees.?

This story is republished from LINK nky.

More restrooms have adult-size changing tables to help people with disabilities

Tony Leys, KFF Health News — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 09:50:02 +0000

Nancy Baker Curtis demonstrates using an adult-size changing table with son Charlie at a rest stop near Adair, Iowa. The table is motorized so it can be lowered when a person needs to get on, then raised for easy changing. (Tony Leys/KFF Health News)

ADAIR, Iowa — The blue-and-white highway sign for the eastbound rest stop near here displays more than the standard icon of a person in a wheelchair, indicating facilities are accessible to people who can’t walk. The sign also shows a person standing behind a horizontal rectangle, preparing to perform a task.

The second icon signals that this rest area along Interstate 80 in western Iowa has a bathroom equipped with a full-size changing table, making it an oasis for adults and older children who use diapers because of disabilities.

A sign outside a bathroom at a rest stop near Pacific Junction, Iowa, includes two icons: one of a person in a wheelchair and the other of a person preparing to use an adult-size changing table. Iowa is installing such changing tables at rest stops to better serve people with disabilities. (Jenny Pohl)

“It’s a beacon of hope,” said Nancy Baker Curtis, whose 9-year-old son, Charlie, has a disability that can leave him incontinent. “I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re finally there.’”

The white changing table is 6 feet long and can be lowered and raised with a handheld controller wired to an electric motor. When not in use, the table folds up against the wall.

The table was recently installed as part of a national effort to make public bathrooms more accessible in places like airports, parks, arenas, and gas stations. Without such options, people with disabilities often wind up being changed on bathroom floors, in cars, or even on the ground outside.

Many families hesitate to go out because of the lack of accessible restrooms. “We all know somebody who’s tethered to their home by bathroom needs,” Baker Curtis said. She doesn’t want her son’s life to be limited that way. “Charlie deserves to be out in the community.”

She said the need can be particularly acute when people are traveling in rural areas, where bathroom options are sparse.

Baker Curtis, who lives near Des Moines, leads the Iowa chapter of a national group called “Changing Spaces,” which advocates for adult-size changing tables. The group offers an online map showing scores of locations where they’ve been installed.

Advocates say such tables are not explicitly required by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. But a new federal law will mandate them in many airports in coming years, and states can adopt building codes that call for them. California, for example, requires them in new or renovated auditoriums, arenas, amusement parks, and similar facilities with capacities of at least 2,500 people. Ohio requires them in some settings, including large public facilities and highway rest stops. Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, and New Hampshire also have taken steps to require them in some public buildings.

A rest stop along Interstate 80 near Adair, Iowa, was one of the first in the state to include an adult-size changing table. Without such tables, many travelers who wear diapers wind up being changed on bathroom floors, in cars, or even on the ground. (Tony Leys/KFF Health News)

Justin Boatner of Arlington, Virginia, advocates for more full-size changing tables in the Washington, D.C., area. Boatner, 26, uses a wheelchair because of a disability similar to muscular dystrophy. He uses diapers, which he often changes himself.

He can lower an adjustable changing table to the height of his wheelchair, then pull himself onto it. Doing that is much easier and more hygienic than getting down on the floor, changing himself, and then crawling back into the wheelchair, he said.

Boatner said it’s important to talk about incontinence, even though it can be embarrassing. “There’s so much stigma around it,” he said.

The adult-size changing table at a rest stop near Adair, Iowa, is 6 feet long and 32 inches wide. It can be raised and lowered and has a guardrail and safety strap to keep people from rolling off. It folds up to save space. (Tony Leys/KFF Health News)

He said adult changing tables are still scarce, including in health care facilities, but he’s optimistic that more will be installed. Without them, he sometimes delays changing his diaper for hours until he can get home. That has led to serious rashes, he said. “It’s extremely uncomfortable.”

Iowa legislators in recent years have considered requiring adult changing tables in some public restrooms. They declined to pass such a bill, but the discussion made Iowa Department of Transportation leaders aware of the problem. “I’m sorry to say, it was one of those things we’d just never thought of,” said Michael Kennerly, director of the department’s design bureau.

Kennerly oversees planning for rest stops. He recalls an Iowan telling him about changing a family member outside in the rain, with only an umbrella for shelter. Others told him how they changed their loved ones on bathroom floors. “It was just appalling,” he said.

Iowa began installing adult changing tables in rest stops in 2022, and it has committed to including them in new or remodeled facilities. So far, nine have been installed or are in the process of being added. Nine others are planned, with more to come, Kennerly said. Iowa has 38 rest areas equipped with bathrooms.

Kennerly estimated it costs up to $14,000 to remodel an existing rest-stop bathroom to include a height-adjustable adult changing table. Incorporating adult changing tables into a new rest stop building should cost less than that, he said.

Several organizations offer portable changing tables, which can be set up at public events. Some are included in mobile, accessible bathrooms carried on trailers or trucks. Most permanent adult changing tables are set up in “family restrooms,” which have one toilet and are open to people of any gender. That’s good, because the act of changing an adult is “very intimate and private,” Baker Curtis said. It’s also important for the tables to be height-adjustable because it’s difficult to lift an adult onto a fixed-height table, she said.

Charlie Curtis prepares to get onto an adult-size changing table with help from his mother, Nancy Baker Curtis, at an Interstate 80 rest stop near Adair, Iowa. Charlie has a disability that can lead to incontinence. His mother helps lead a national effort to install adult-size changing tables to make it easier for families like theirs to get out into their communities. (Tony Leys/KFF Health News)

Advocates hope adult changing tables will become nearly as common as infant changing tables, which once were rare in public bathrooms.

Jennifer Corcoran, who lives near Dayton, Ohio, has been advocating for adult changing tables for a decade and has seen interest rise in recent years.

Corcoran’s 24-year-old son, Matthew, was born with brain development issues. He uses a wheelchair and is unable to speak, but he accompanies her when she lobbies for improved services.

Corcoran said Ohio leaders this year designated $4.4 million in federal pandemic relief money to be distributed as grants for changing-table projects. The program has led to installations at Dayton’s airport and art museum, plus libraries and entertainment venues, she said.

Ohio also is adding adult changing tables to rest stops. Corcoran said those tables are priceless because they make it easier for people with disabilities to travel. “Matthew hasn’t been on a vacation outside of Ohio for more than five years,” she said.

Kaylan Dunlap serves on a committee that has worked to add changing-table requirements to the International Building Code, which state and local officials often use as a model for their rules.

Dunlap, who lives in Alabama, works for an architecture firm and reviews building projects to ensure they comply with access standards. She expects more public agencies and companies will voluntarily install changing tables. Maybe someday they will be a routine part of public bathrooms, she said. “But I think that’s a long way out in the future, unfortunately.”

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

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Kentucky is an outlier with costly single-bid road paving contracts, new findings show

Liam Niemeyer — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 09:20:54 +0000

Leaders of Kentucky's Transportation Cabinet told lawmakers they were working to improve the bidding process for roadwork to encourage more competition. (Photo by Luke Sharrett/Getty Images)

New findings from Kentucky legislative researchers show the state awards significantly more road paving contracts to a single bidder than other nearby states, generally driving up the overall costs of the contracts.?

Legislative Research Commission staff presented the new findings to a committee of lawmakers Aug. 15 as a part of releasing an LRC report.

That report from December 2023 found road paving contracts awarded by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet most frequently only had one asphalt company bidding for the work and that contracts with two or more bids were rare. Single-bid road paving contracts were also more costly compared to state engineering estimates, the report said, though single-bid contract costs went down in 2022 and 2023.?

Jeremy Skinner, an analyst for the Legislative Oversight and Investigations Committee, told lawmakers that from January 2018 to July 2023, Kentucky had about 50% of its road paving contracts go to a single bidder. That percentage is much higher than neighboring Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia which had respectively 10%, 15% and 32% of contracts go to single bidders.?

“The data shows that same single-bid contracts tend to be more expensive. Therefore, anything you can do to increase competition is probably advantageous,” Skinner said.?

Skinner did caution road paving contracts from other states may not be a perfect comparison given that some states only shared partial data, and the methodologies of how states calculated the costs of projects to compare to the bids weren’t clear. Skinner’s findings also showed the cost of single-bid contracts in Kentucky, while higher than state estimates, were lower than the cost of single-bid contracts in Ohio and Indiana.

Skinner, referencing the December 2023 report, said reasons for the single-bid contracts could range from the fact there are fewer asphalt plants and companies in rural parts of the state to compete for contracts and the limited distance an asphalt plant can be from a road project to service it.?

Single bid contracts were more common in rural areas, Skinner said, but researchers also found a lack of competition for contracts in Central Kentucky where there are more companies and plants. More than two-thirds of the road paving contracts in Fayette County had single bidders over a nearly five year period; Clark County had 94.4% of contracts go to a single bidder.?

‘No longer an excuse for inaction’

Andrew McNeill, president of the think tank Kentucky Forum for Rights, Economics and Education focused on free-market policies, said the the lack of competition for road paving contracts has been a problem in Kentucky for decades.

The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting in reporting on the issue in December noted that the road paving industry has a history of alleged corruption. The investigative journalism outlet, a part of Louisville Public Media, also reported lawmakers had originally promised to release the December 2023 report months ago.?

“It’s going to take favoring the taxpayers over a very powerful special interest, but there’s no longer an excuse for inaction or ignoring this problem,” McNeill said. “The legislature needs to remain attentive to this so that if the cabinet is not willing to reform itself, then legislative action is the likely next step.”?

McNeill’s own analysis of road contracts over the first six months of 2024 found Kentucky awarded more than $142 million in single-bid contracts, which he asserts cost the state over $4.5 million compared to if a second bidder was competing. McNeill calculated that figure by relying on a paper from economics professors from the University of Kentucky and Brigham Young University-Idaho, which found that highway contracts in Kentucky between 2005 and 2007 that had two bidders were an average 13.5% below the engineer’s estimate for cost. He then reduced the cost of each single-bid contract in the state to 86.5% of the value and added up the difference.

Transportation Cabinet leadership at the Thursday presentation told lawmakers they were working on the recommendations for addressing single-bid contracts included in the December 2023 report. Those recommendations included creating an internal process to verify a state engineer’s estimate of a road paving project, developing written guidelines for accepting or rejecting a bid and using software to detect potential collusion on bids. The cabinet disagreed with a recommendation asking for written guidelines, saying the agency needs flexibility on how it weighs bids.?

James Ballinger, the State Highway Engineer for the Transportation Cabinet, told lawmakers following the presentation the cabinet wanted “as much competition as we can” on the contracts.

Chad LaRue, the executive director for the Kentucky Association of Highway Contractors representing the road paving industry, said the group appreciated the work of legislative researchers and stood “ready to work” with the Transportation Cabinet on the report’s recommendations, along with “educating lawmakers and others about the unique challenges inherent in the highway construction industry in the Commonwealth.”?

Rep. Adam Bowling, R-Middlesboro, co-chair of the legislative oversight committee, asked Ballinger for the cabinet to provide an update on the progress made on the recommendations in the next 30 to 60 days.?

McNeill, the think tank leader, told the Lantern the Transportation Cabinet has an opportunity to take further steps beyond the report’s recommendations “to really prioritize reforming their contracting processes and efforts to entice and create competition for these asphalt contracts.”?

“The ball is in the Transportation Cabinet’s court,” McNeill said.

IT glitch causing delays in flights, business operations globally

Paige Gross — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 15:31:55 +0000

Long queues of passengers form at the check-in counters at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, amid a global IT disruption caused by a Microsoft outage and a Crowdstrike IT problem, on July 19, 2024 in Manila, Philippines. A significant Microsoft outage impacted users globally, leading to widespread disruptions, including cancelled flights and disruptions at retailers globally. Airlines like American Airlines and Southwest Airlines reported difficulties with their systems, which rely on Microsoft services for operations. The outage affected check-in processes and other essential functions, causing frustration among travellers and lines to back up at many affected airports worldwide. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)

Editor’s note: The global glitch also delayed delivery of the Morning Lantern, our daily emailed newsletter, by 19 minutes. Not getting our free newsletter? Subscribe here

Air travel, banking, media and hospital systems are just some of the industries affected by a bug in a software update that has scrambled business operations for many globally Friday morning.

Many of those who use Microsoft Windows are likely experiencing a “blue screen of death” or an error page. The issue is due to a single bug in a software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, which provides antivirus software for Microsoft users.

The company pushed out an update to the software overnight, and at 1:30 a.m. EST, CrowdStrike said its “Falcon Sensor” software was causing Microsoft Windows to crash and display a blue screen, Reuters reported.

CrowdStrike President and CEO George Kurtz released a statement early Friday morning on X, saying that the incident was not a security concern or a cyberattack. He added that the issue has been identified and that the company has been deploying a fix.

“We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website,” Kurtz said.

The bug was causing major delays and cancellations at airports across the globe. Flight tracking data site FlightAware noted nearly 24,000 delays and 2,300 cancellations globally by 9:30 a.m. Friday. While some airlines have been able to resume operation of their digital systems, others are finding analogue solutions in the meantime.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said it was monitoring the situation and suggested those experiencing travel delays and cancellations to use its FlightRights.gov website to help navigate their delays in travel.

Some states’ 911 and non-emergency lines were experiencing issues, including Alaska, Virginia and New Jersey.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy released a statement early Friday morning saying that the state had activated its State Emergency Operations Center in response to the disruptions and has provided guidance to other agencies about how to work through the situation.

“We are also engaging county and local governments, 911 call centers, and utilities to assess the impact and offer our assistance.,” he said.

Microsoft released a trouble shooting guide on X early Friday morning.

By 10 a.m. Friday, some global companies were seeing relief in their outages. Downdetector, which tracks real-time outages, showed companies like Visa, Zoom, UPS and Southwest Airlines gaining more normal operations than they were experiencing in the early morning hours.

Speaking to the hosts of Today this morning, Kurtz said he was “deeply sorry for the impact we’ve caused to customers, to travelers, to anyone affected.” He said some customers have been able to reboot and are seeing progress getting online, and that trend will likely continue throughout the day.

Effects from the global IT outage Friday continued to be felt throughout the day, especially by government systems and transportation hubs.

Courts in Massachusetts and New York experienced disrupted service, as court transcription recording systems were not operational in some Massachusetts courthouses, the Associated Press reported.

The Texas Department of Public Safety, which runs its driver’s license offices, also closed their offices for the day, with “no current estimate” on when they will reopen.

Around 4 p.m. EST, Kurtz released more statements on X, reiterating that the outage was not a security breach.

“We understand the gravity of the situation and are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and disruption,” he said. “We are working with all impacted customers to ensure that systems are back up and they can deliver the services their customers are counting on.”

Kurtz said the company is working on a “technical update and root cause analysis” that they will share with customers, and shared a letter that was sent to customers and partners.

“We know that adversaries and bad actors will try to exploit events like this. I encourage everyone to remain vigilant and ensure that you’re engaging with official CrowdStrike representatives. Our blog and technical support will continue to be the official channels for the latest updates,” it said.

“Nothing is more important to me than the trust and confidence that our customers and partners have put into CrowdStrike. As we resolve this incident, you have my commitment to provide full transparency on how this occurred and steps we’re taking to prevent anything like this from happening again,” it continued.

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

Have cello, will pedal: Brainstorming a walkable, bike-friendly Kentucky

Liam Niemeyer — Fri, 12 Jul 2024 09:50:12 +0000

Cellist and vocalist Ben Sollee, above, in his "Misty Miles" video, will speak at the Kentucky Bike Walk Summit next month in Lexington. (Ben Sollee)

Acclaimed cellist and native Kentuckian Ben Sollee said he gained a sense of freedom growing up in Lexington on his bicycle. He would hop on it to ride around the neighborhood, no cell phone and little worries with him, not having to be home until dark.?

But as he grew into adulthood and a career as a touring musician across the country and world, traveling by cars, planes and trains, he began to feel disconnected from the “experience of music and being in a place” given his fast-paced, time-consuming travel.?

In 2009, he was booked to perform at the Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee and decided to try getting there via a newly-bought bicycle capable of carrying more than 50 pounds of equipment, supplies and, of course, his cello. He remembers the roughly 330 miles between Lexington and the music festival as “very hot” as he pedaled across the Cumberland Plateau, playing several smaller shows along the way.

“The wonderful thing about being on a bicycle is you can only ride so far and so fast, especially when you’re hauling so much gear,” Sollee told the Lantern. “I found myself being very present.”?

Ben Sollee (“Misty Miles” video)

He said over the next five years he would ride about 6,000 miles on his bike as he incorporated it into some of his tours. The bicycle, he said, provides him not only a healthy way to get around but also a way to be more present in his community and with himself.?

It’s that message of how bicycling has improved his life and its connections with his music that he hopes to bring as one of the keynote speakers for the Bike Walk Kentucky Summit next month at Transylvania University in Lexington.?

The conference, scheduled for Aug. 15-16, is described by organizers as a gathering of hundreds of Kentucky leaders in and outside of government hoping to brainstorm and envision safer and more numerous walking, hiking and biking routes and facilities across the state. A similar summit took place at the private university in 2018 connected to the nonprofit Bike Walk Kentucky.

Jim Gray

Jim Gray, the secretary of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and a former Lexington mayor,? will give opening remarks along with current Mayor Linda Gorton. In a statement, Gray said the summit will “promote safe practices and encourage more complete streets to support a safer and more inclusive transportation system that protects all road users.”?

Other keynote speakers at the summit include Bill Nesper, the executive director of the League of American Bicyclists; Angie Schmidt, a writer and expert on sustainable transportation, and tourism and recreation leaders Kalene Griffith and David Wright from Bentonville, Arkansas, a community highlighted by Axios for its investments into the cycling industry.?

Sollee hopes the summit can promote cycling as not only something that’s healthy for Kentuckians and the environment but also something to be celebrated — highlighting the challenges bicyclists face on public streets battling traffic but also the fun it can bring people, too.?

“The biggest thing we could possibly do is just celebrate and promote people that use their feet and bicycles in the community,” Sollee said. “We really have to be very proactive about sharing, not just what a battle it is out there to ride your bicycle on public streets, but also what a joy it is, and how you know how it helps us connect with other people in our community.”

Those interested in attending the summit can register on Bike Walk Kentucky’s website.

Another frame of Sollee and bike in “Misty Miles” video.

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

Coming Monday: Total eclipse of the sun

Sarah Ladd — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 19:27:56 +0000

The path of totality and partial contours crossing the U.S. for the 2024 total solar eclipse occurring on April 8, 2024. (NASA photo)

LOUISVILLE — As millions gear up for the total solar eclipse on Monday, Kentuckians are being cautioned to protect their eyes from sun damage and prepare for traffic delays.?

The SDO spacecraft captures an image of a partial eclipse on Aug. 21, 2017. (www.science.NASA.gov photo)

The 2024 total solar eclipse — the last one for at least two decades — will happen Monday, April 8.?

The time of the eclipse varies by location. The totality phase will enter Kentucky around 2 p.m., CDT, in parts of Fulton and Hickman counties before reaching Ballard, McCracken, Livingston, Crittenden, Union and Henderson counties along the Ohio River. It will also clip Carlisle, Graves, Webster and Daviess counties.

?The full darkening will be visible in Louisville at 3:07 p.m., EST.

To search for eclipse times by ZIP code and find other information, visit https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/where-when.?

A solar eclipse is when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth, blocking the sun and causing momentary darkness, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). There was a total solar eclipse in 2017, as well, but NASA says the Monday eclipse is “even more exciting” because it has a wider path.?

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet estimates the eclipse will attract 150,000 visitors to Western Kentucky, where a dozen counties are in or near the path of totality.? This will lead to “major” traffic delays. For more information on traffic delays, visit https://2024-solar-eclipse-kytc.hub.arcgis.com/.?

“You want to make sure that you see this once in a lifetime event — for some, twice in a lifetime event — but that you do it safely,” Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday.?

“We want people to take in this incredible event, but we also want them to be prepared for potential heavy traffic as everyone heads to and from the main eclipse corridor,” Transportation Secretary Jim Gray said. “We have some simple suggestions for visitors: Arrive early and pack the essentials such as water, eclipse glasses and plenty of patience for navigating crowded highways.”

Protect your eyes?

Dr. Patrick Scott, an optometrist with UofL Health, said looking at the eclipse — even for a few seconds — can cause damage to the eyes.?

“We don’t typically look at the sun on a day to day basis because … it can be damaging, it’s too much light,” he said.?

During an eclipse, people are “tempted to look up,” he said, but should resist the urge because it can “cause permanent damage to the receptive cells of the retina.”?

Children are most at risk of damage, he said, as well as people who take medication like tetracycline or amiodarone, which can make them more vulnerable to sun damage.?

Sunglasses are a definite no-go for eclipse viewing, Scott said. They do not filter out the sun’s rays enough to avoid damage.?

“Eclipse glasses should be the only type of viewing glasses that you would use to look at the eclipse,” he said. When buying eclipse glasses, he added, be sure to check for the label that says “ISO 12312-2.”?

People who are looking to reuse eclipse glasses from the 2017 eclipse should make sure the lenses are scratch-free, said Scott.?

“If there are scratches or any type of blemish that can allow the sun’s rays to get through,” he said, “I would not use them.”??

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Kentucky lawmakers hope school ‘van’ drivers will be easier to find

McKenna Horsley — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 20:12:59 +0000

A teacher waves to her students as they get off the bus at Carter Traditional Elementary School in Louisville on Jan. 24, 2022, in this file photo. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

FRANKFORT —?Republican-backed bills aimed at relieving issues around transporting Kentucky kids to schools were heard in legislative committees Tuesday.?

Rep. Emily Callaway, R-Louisville, presented House Bill 447 to the House Education Committee Tuesday morning. If passed, her bill would allow school districts to use passenger vehicles, such as vans, to transport kids to and from school as well as other approved school activities. The vehicles could be owned by the district, leased or contracted.?

Emily Callaway (LRC Public Information)

The vans would not require drivers to have a commercial driver’s license, which is needed to drive large school buses. Without that requirement, more job applicants would be eligible to transport students, Callaway said in a statement.?

Hours later, Rep. David Hale, R-Wellington, presented House Bill 461 in the House Transportation Committee. The bill would allow civil penalties to be levied for violations caught on cameras that record school bus surroundings, including traffic, while buses stop for students to get on or off a bus.?

Schools across the country are facing bus driver shortages. A fall report from the Economic Policy Institute found that about 192,400 bus drivers were working in K–12 schools in September 2023, down 15.1% from five years before.?

Kentucky is no stranger to these problems. In November, Jefferson County school bus drivers called in sick to protest a lack of support from their school district and long bus routes. Before that, Jefferson County Public Schools were forced to cancel classes after changes in bus routes triggered chaos. Students did not get home until hours after school ended. Officials said a shortage of drivers necessitated the disastrous changes in bus routes and schedules.

Other districts have experienced similar issues. Daviess County Public Schools said a software issue forced a delay in the first day of school in 2022 as a new transportation routing system was implemented.?

Kentucky’s worsening teacher shortage requires an ‘across the pipeline’ approach, officials say

A report to the legislature late last year said Kentucky’s public schools are suffering an “acute” shortage of staff, including bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers and substitute teachers. Although local school boards have increased pay by up to 19 percent over the last five years, staff leaving school jobs “appear to be making a lot more in the private sector, as much as 115 percent,“ said the report by the Office of Education Accountability.

Callaway said her bill would reduce long bus rides for both drivers and students across Kentucky and would lower the number of large buses driving on narrow rural roads.

“These vans will be clearly marked. They will have safety inspections every 30 days,” the representative said.?

The House Education Committee forwarded Callaway’s bill in a vote of 18-0 and adopted a committee substitute version. So far, the bill has both Republican and Democratic co-sponsors. Another Louisville lawmaker, Senate Democratic Whip David Yates, introduced a similar piece of legislation, Senate Bill 92, in the Senate earlier this session. It was assigned to the Senate Transportation Committee, but so far has not had a hearing.?

David Hale (LRC Public Information)

Callaway is also the primary sponsor of another school transportation bill, House Bill 446. It would require local boards of education to adopt a transportation services policy that would allow districts to refuse transporting a student if they had a risk of harming others or if their parent or guardian had acted in “a threatening or aggressive manner” toward school employees, such as a bus driver. That bill was approved by the House Education Committee last week.?

Hale’s bill would allow school districts to install cameras on the stop arms of school buses to monitor surroundings while the bus is stopped. The representative said the cameras would record only while the stop arm is activated and not while the bus is moving. He’s sponsored similar legislation before.?

In Kentucky, it is illegal for traffic following a school bus to pass the bus as it stops and children are aboard.?

Hale said some districts in the state have purchased such cameras and are using them already. He said the estimated cost of installing cameras on one bus in his House District was $1,900.??

The transportation committee forwarded the bill in a vote of 23-1 with a committee substitute version.?

“This has certainly struck a chord with a lot of school superintendents around the state,” Hale told the committee, adding he heard they viewed it as a safety measure for students entering and exiting a bus.?

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UofL Health wants to build new cancer center, needs $25 million from Kentucky General Assembly??

Sarah Ladd — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 10:50:40 +0000

Margie Baylis (photo provided)

LOUISVILLE — One morning in 2019, Margie Baylis awoke to her right breast swollen up into her shoulder.?

The Owensboro photographer then got some shocking news: she had lung cancer at age 45.?

The first in her family to be diagnosed with cancer, Baylis, now 50, needed to come to Louisville for care at UofL Health’s Brown Cancer Center.?

She would have gone “out of my way” anyway for the care she got, she told the Lantern, but driving into downtown was daunting.?

“Louisville is a scary city,” she said. “I was 45. Trying to navigate that was scary. I can’t imagine being 70 and trying to navigate it.”??

For this reason and others, UofL Health is seeking $25 million from the Kentucky Legislature to build the Center for Rural Cancer Education and Research in Bullitt County off Exit 121.?

The money was not allocated in either the House budget or Gov. Andy Beshear’s proposal, but UofL hopes the Senate will add it. A Senate Majority spokesperson confirmed to the Lantern that the hospital system had requested the money but said it was too soon to know if it would make it into the Senate’s budget.?

Positioning this center in Bullitt County, UofL Health says, would allow better access to people coming from rural West, Western and South Central Kentucky.?

Worry over downtown traffic plagues many patients who need care, said Dr. Jason Smith, UofL Health’s chief medical officer.?

UofL Health chief medical officer Dr. Jason Smith.
(Kentucky Lantern photo by Sarah Ladd)

“People … don’t mind driving but they don’t want to come to downtown,” Smith said in an interview last week with the Kentucky Lantern. “It’s hard. And you’re talking about patients that are older, patients that are sick. Patients are having to come to the hospital five times a week sometimes for chemotherapy or radiation.”?

Some, Smith said, will even forego the care they need.?

“The problem you run into is that ‘Okay, well, if I know I have to have cancer care, and I’ve got to overcome traffic and parking and anxiety, I’m just not going to go,’” Smith explained. “‘I’m just not going to get tested.’ What could be a little problem becomes a really big problem.”?

Kentucky suffers dismal cancer rates. In 2021, more than 10,000 Kentuckians died with cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Kentucky has the nation’s third highest rate of cancer deaths, better than only Mississippi and West Virginia. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the state and nation, behind heart disease.?

In 2023, UofL Health said the Brown Cancer Center cared for more than 70,000 patients from 115 of Kentucky’s 120 counties.?

Margie Baylis’ story

After her 2019 Stage 2 lung cancer diagnosis, doctors removed the left lower lobe, leaving Baylis with one and a half lungs and a lower threshold for getting winded.?

Her surgeon, she said, “really thought he left the cancer in a bucket in the operating room.”?

That was not so.?

The cancer returned and spread to her brain. Her body did not respond to chemotherapy.?

Margie Baylis (photo provided)

In January 2022, doctors told her the cancer had progressed so fast and far that it could take over her body by the end of summer.?

She could soon “expire,” she recalled hearing. “In the cancer world, we don’t say ‘die.’”?

But staff at the Brown Cancer Center offered her a tumor-infiltrating lymphyocytes — or “TILs” — treatment through a clinical trial. This treatment involves taking a patient’s immune cells, modifying them outside the body and putting them back into the body, thus teaching the body how to “recognize and kill” cancer cells, according to UofL.?

“Obviously chemo wasn’t going to work because we had been doing chemo for … years now and it wasn’t working,” Baylis said. “So we did this TILs thing. It wasn’t easy. It was hard.”?

Baylis’ hair thinned — and then she lost it all. She shed muscle mass and dropped weight during the TILs treatment process.?

But, it worked in killing the cancer in her body. She is now cancer-free.?

Still, Baylis needs to continue driving to Louisville every 21 days for immunotherapy treatments, a drive that can take her up to two hours in the car each way.?

“Good music on the radio helps” with these long days, she said. But it’s still draining. She’d like a facility closer to home.??

“I have good days and bad days,” she said. She lives with depression. But: “I feel like I’m finally starting to get to do what I used to love to do and that there’s help, and give back.”?

Her big passion is fundraising for her community, Baylis said, including through March of Dimes. She used to use her photography business to raise money for scholarships for children, but the cancer that weakened her muscles has made it difficult to get back into that physically demanding work full time.?

The Center for Rural Cancer Education and Research

Smith said people come from all around Kentucky for care at UofL, but in particular a 14-county area in the western and southcentral parts of the state needs better access.?

“We’re looking for ways to increase access across the health care system,” Smith explained. “And cancer, obviously, is one of the areas from our health care system that we’ve put a lot of effort in.”?

After speaking with patients who cited downtown traffic as an impediment to physically reaching care, Smith said, UofL realized it needed a cancer center right off the interstate.?

Dorie Shelburne, the CEO of South Hospital (Photo provided)

“We started looking through the numbers and, great, we can get this done by about 2029 based off of all the other stuff that we’ve got going on,” he said.?

UofL is expanding its downtown hospital as well as opening a hospital in Bullitt County in March. The proposed Center for Rural Cancer Education and Research would be built on the South Hospital campus. In addition to treating patients, UofL said, the center would also conduct clinical trials and research.?

But: “The idea came up that if the state could help us do this, could we pull this off earlier?” Smith said.?

Dorie Shelburne, the CEO of South Hospital, said with state help UofL could begin work 12 to18 months after contracts are signed, putting the project several years ahead of where it would be without that help.?

Shelburne also sees a Bullitt County campus, about half an hour from downtown and outside the outer loop of Louisville, as a way to recruit “world class physicians” who have access to the? nearby city but also can better serve the often underserved rural population.?

Margie Baylis (photo provided)

“If we can do this early, pull this off early, it would be fantastic,” Smith said. “It just brings cancer care out to a different area and a different level of population than we typically serve on our downtown campus. And it makes it easier for the folks to get in.”?

Legislative budget-writers are working with a record state surplus. The budget reserve trust fund reached $3.7 billion in the last fiscal year. In addition to approving a $130 billion state budget, the House also approved $1.7 billion in one-time spending to pay down pension liabilities and build infrastructure.

If Baylis had been able to access a facility like what UofL is proposing during her treatments, it would have made her life easier, she said.?

“I wouldn’t have to maneuver downtown as much and try to figure out the ins and outs of that,” she said. “The benefit of having another facility for people that do live in a more rural area that find downtown hard to navigate is a tremendous benefit not just for us Kentuckians but for some surrounding states.”?

Baylis is focused on loving every day of her life and cherishing the years she feels like she was gifted by her doctors.?

She’s become a self described “concert junkie” (Pink is her favorite). She’s traveled to Hollywood, Egypt and other places.?

“I guess,” she said, “I’m just happy that I get to live.”?

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Biden administration picks airports for nearly $1 billion in terminal upgrades

Jacob Fischler — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 10:00:52 +0000

Passengers walk through a terminal at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, or BWI, on Dec. 22, 2021 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Biden administration on Thursday announced nearly $1 billion in funding for airport terminal improvements, including at BWI. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The Biden administration will send close to $1 billion to airports across the country to upgrade terminal facilities, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Thursday.

The $970 million in grants will go to 144 airports in 44 states and three territories. Earmarked for terminal improvements, Buttigieg and other administration officials said the grants would fund projects to improve the passenger experience and create jobs.

The administration has worked to improve the air travel experience, Buttigieg told reporters Wednesday.

“Part of that better travel experience is to invest in our physical infrastructure to improve the airports that represent the beginning and end of every passenger’s journey and airports that are a key economic engine for workers who show up there every day and communities that rely on those airports to sustain their connectedness and their competitiveness,” Buttigieg said.

The grants will fund a variety of projects, ranging from building new terminals or concourses to making bathrooms bigger, Buttigieg said.

The funds would also help improve baggage systems and security screening areas, expand public transit options, build solar energy infrastructure and increase accessibility, Buttigieg said.

“This funding is real,” said Shannetta Griffin, the Federal Aviation Administration’s deputy administrator for airports. “We are changing lives.”

Buttigieg and Griffin briefed reporters on the grant selections on the condition their comments not be made public until Thursday.

The FAA received more than 600 applications for grants asking for a total of $14 billion, Griffin said.

Infrastructure law

The funding is authorized by the infrastructure law enacted in 2021. The grant selections this week represent the third round of roughly $1 billion of annual grant funding under the program. The law’s airport terminal program provides $5 billion over 5 years.

The total costs for the projects selected this year are more than $10.3 billion, meaning the grants announced Thursday cover an average of about 9.4% of total project costs.

Separate funding is available for aviation operations. The infrastructure law provides $25 billion in funding for airports, including the terminal grants.

Buttigieg highlighted grants to small airports in Appleton, Wisconsin, and on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation that spans portions of North Dakota and South Dakota.

The Appleton International Airport will receive $3.4 million for a $78 million overhaul that includes adding four gates, updating buildings and improving access.

The Standing Rock Airport will receive $700,000 out of $800,000 needed to build a new terminal building near Fort Yates, North Dakota. The general aviation airport, used for recreation and medical emergencies, does not have a terminal.

The largest grant in this year’s selections will go to Fort Lauderdale International Airport in Florida. A $50 million grant will be put toward a $221 million terminal connector.

Large grants will also go to major hubs, including $40 million for Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, $36 million for the Phoenix airport, $35 million for Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia and $26.6 million for Denver’s airport.

Buttigieg will be in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday to announce a $27 million grant for that city’s airport to replace passenger boarding bridges.

Pilot program to add speed cameras to roadway work zones heads to Kentucky House

Liam Niemeyer — Wed, 31 Jan 2024 00:30:27 +0000

Rep. John Blanton, R-Salyersville, speaks before the House Transportation Committee. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer)

FRANKFORT — Adding speed cameras to highway construction zones received a House committee’s approval with bipartisan support Tuesday.?

Under House Bill 192, sponsored by Rep. John Blanton, R-Salyersville,? the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet would create a three-year pilot program starting in 2025 to add speed cameras to work zones in an effort to discourage speeding and prevent potentially deadly crashes.?

The cameras would operate only when construction workers are present. Signage would be installed in work zones notifying drivers of the speed cameras. The cameras would capture the license plates of vehicles speeding in excess of 10? miles an? hour through the zones; a “technician” would assess whether the images show a speeding violation in a work zone.?

In case of violations, the Transportation Cabinet within 14 days would mail a citation to the vehicle owner with the captured image. The first citation penalty would be $75, with subsequent fines in a three-year period $125 each. The penalties could be appealed.

Blanton, chair of the House Transportation Committee, said the citations would be considered “civil penalties” and not handled by local courts like regular traffic infractions, reducing the administrative costs of processing the fines.?

“Let me be very clear — I’m not interested in issuing citations. I’m interested in slowing people down in work zones to protect not just the workers, but quite frankly, to protect other people traveling through these work zones,” Blanton said. “We’ve all been through them. They get narrow. They switch lanes. There’s a reason we need to slow down.”?

Blanton alongside Transportation Cabinet officials pointed to how other states have used speed cameras in work zones, particularly in Pennsylvania.

Rep. Thomas Huff, R-Sheperdsville, one of two votes against the bill in the committee, said he was opposed because of the significant amount of “pushback” he received last year from constituents when a similar bill was being considered. That bill also passed the House Transportation Committee but failed to receive a full House vote.?

The legislation is named after Jared Helton, a contract worker for the Tennessee Department of Transportation from Salyersville who died from injuries in 2019 after a car crash in a work zone.

Kentucky has tens of millions of dollars of backlogged requests to repair local roads

Liam Niemeyer — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 01:50:32 +0000

Bobbi Jo Lewis, the commissioner of the Department of Rural and Municipal Aid in the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, speaks to lawmakers Monday. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer)

Kentucky is?unable to fulfill nearly $40 million of requests from cities and counties to help repair local roads because of a lack of funding, a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet official told state lawmakers Monday.?

Bobbi Jo Lewis, commissioner of the Department of Rural and Municipal Aid in the Transportation Cabinet, urged the House Budget Review Subcommittee on Transportation to put $45 million from the state’s next two-year budget into the Highway Construction Contingency Account.?

Lewis said the contingency account is the only source of state funding, besides a share of the tax on motor fuel, to help counties and cities maintain and repair more than 40,000 miles of locally-owned roads.?

The funding account received over $75 million worth of road repair requests from local governments in the current fiscal year but has only been able to fulfill a little more than $20 million worth of requests. In some cases that’s because some of the roads weren’t in bad enough condition to justify funding.?

At the same time, more than $38 million of road repair requests that did justify state aid weren’t able to be funded because the contingency account lacked money.?

Part of the budget pitch to lawmakers for more money for local road and bridge repairs. (Kentucky Transportation Cabinet)

Lewis said having consistent, adequate funding in the contingency account also can help provide emergency funding for road repairs, pointing to an example of a Breathitt County road whose shoulder had disintegrated leading to a car wreck in October 2023.?

“The car was occupied at the time it went off the side and was caught by the guardrail,” Lewis said, mentioning no one was injured. “Full funding provides the necessary alleviation of hazardous conditions and safety issues within the commonwealth.”

With the contingency account replenished, she said, the cabinet would be able to do projects as they are requested “instead of having to worry about when we have the money to do them.”?

Lewis also said 510 locally-owned bridges across the state have various deficiencies and are in need of repairs and replacements, with $50 million allocated in the governor’s budget proposal to help fix the bridges.?

Rep. John Blanton, R-Salyersville, there are bridges “in bad need of repair” in his Eastern Kentucky district and that he sees plenty of roads that have “slippage.”

“I want to make sure that we’ve got the funding that we need to to address these issues,” Blaton said. “There’s hardly a road that doesn’t have breakage right now, and it’s just slipping off unlike I’ve ever seen in my lifetime.”

Oh deer. Kentucky to create statewide plan to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions.

Liam Niemeyer — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 10:50:23 +0000

More than 3,000 vehicle collisions with deer were reported across Kentucky last year. (Photo by Joe Lacefield, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources)

Kentucky transportation and wildlife management officials plan to use a federal grant to fund a first-ever statewide plan identifying roadways prone to vehicle collisions with wildlife and possible ways to reduce such crashes.?

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program, funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, awarded the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet $1.2 million to create the statewide wildlife-vehicle collisions plan and also launch a pilot “corridor study” to examine wildlife collisions along route U.S. 60 and Interstate 64 between Louisville and Frankfort.

James Ballinger, the state highway engineer, in an interview with the Lantern said the cabinet chose to study the two parallel roadways between Louisville and Frankfort because of the mix of urban, suburban and rural areas along the two routes and the high number of reported car crashes with deer.?

He said there are about 45 reports of car crashes with deer along Interstate 64 between Louisville and Frankfort a year, a number that he believes is underreported.?

“It’s just enough representative sample, we felt like, of the conditions that you see all across the state and especially focused on the whitetail deer collisions that we’re seeing,” Ballinger said. “You can definitely make a more informed decision though if you’ve got better data to work from.”?

Such collisions sometimes go reported because drivers don’t report them, the injured animal wanders away from the crash site or law enforcement and other agencies don’t have the resources to collect wildlife collision data. Past federal research has shown 1 million to 2 million million collisions between cars and large animals happen across the country every year, causing hundreds of deaths, tens of thousands of injuries and billions of dollars worth of property damage.

Across Kentucky, there were more than 3,000 reported car crashes with deer last year.?

In partnership with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Ballinger said, the cabinet plans to collect existing data sources to identify roadways throughout the state where collisions with wildlife are a significant issue.?

He said the statewide plan could lead to efforts to build infrastructure to reduce collisions, such as through the building of installing wildlife crossings over or under roadways. Colorado is receiving $22 million through the same federal grant program to build what will be “one of the largest overpass structures” in North America to prevent vehicle collisions with elk and deer.?

Environmental conservation organizations, which supported state officials’ efforts to apply for the grant funding, also see the work as beneficial to connecting habitats of various species that are cut off by various roadways.?

Greg Abernathy, the executive director of the nonprofit Kentucky Natural Lands Trust, in an email said he hopes the state’s plan on what roadways to prioritize in reducing collisions will align with investments already being made by conservation organizations in the state.?

“Intact connected landscapes are essential to sustaining ecological functions. Overpass and underpass infrastructure help to maintain landscape connectivity as well as traffic safety,” Abernathy said. “??We would like to see the plan consider science and (data) on priority wildlife corridors and landscape connectivity in Kentucky and within the broader (regional) landscape.”

One biologist who worked on the grant application said strategies to reduce vehicle collisions with wildlife also can go beyond building physical wildlife crossings for animals to use.?

Cassondra Cruikshank, an environmental biologist specialist with the Transportation Cabinet, said other strategies to reduce collisions could be as simple as installing more signage, which could flash at night, to keep motorists aware about passing wildlife. Fencing can also be installed to prevent wildlife from crossing in problematic sections of roads, such as blind turns, or funnel wildlife to cross a roadway in a safer area.?

“Habitat fragmentation is a really big issue when it comes to roads and any kind of wildlife, but especially deer,” Cruikshank said.?

She said busy roads, especially if there are “bumper to bumper” traffic jams, can create an “actual physical barrier” at times that animals can’t cross.?

Cruikshank said other states, particularly those in the west, have more “ambitious” plans to build wildlife crossings and have studied the issue of wildlife collisions longer than Kentucky has. But she hopes the grant funding will ultimately begin work in Kentucky on understanding where something like a wildlife crossing, extra signage and more could be helpful.

“Nobody wants to hit a deer. And if we can facilitate people being safer on the road, facilitate wildlife being safer, and nobody has to really give up much of anything — drivers don’t have to go slower — you know, it’s kind of a win-win for everybody,” she said.

Four Kentucky infrastructure projects awarded more than $33 million in federal funding

McKenna Horsley — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 21:55:21 +0000

Four transportation infrastructure projects in Kentucky have been awarded federal grants. (Getty Images)

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is scheduled to be in Lexington Thursday to highlight more than $33 million in federal grant funding for four transportation infrastructure projects.

According to a U.S. Department of Transportation press release, the funds come from the RAISE discretionary grant fund. Funding in the 2023 Fiscal Year will go to rural and urban areas. The projects funded “will help more people get where they need to be quickly, affordably, and safely.”?

The Kentucky’s projects are in Bellevue, Jackson, Lexington and multiple counties in southcentral Kentucky.?

Of all projects awarded grants, 70% will go to regions that are an area of persistent poverty or a historically disadvantaged community. The department received $15 billion in requests while $2.26 billion was available to award.?

Kentucky’s projects and grant amounts are:?

The Community Connections: A Regional Planning Effort Project will receive $600,000 to take inventory of bike and pedestrian facilities, develop a complete street plan in five cities (Franklin, Scottsville, Glasgow, Russellville and Tompkinsville) and explore the viability of an interconnected greenway system as an alternative to motor vehicle travel in the region. Ten counties in the Barren River Area Development District will benefit from the project.?
The Northern Kentucky Riverfront Commons Project in Bellevue was awarded $3,774,940 to plan and design an about 20-mile multimodal transportation corridor to reduce vehicle dependence and reduce conflicts between vehicles and non-motorized users.
The Panbowl Lake Corridor Project in Jackson will receive $21,153,600 for various corridor improvements, such as adding a lane. Widening the corridor is expected to improve freight mobility on KY 15, a key part of the National Truck Network, and increase overall travel time reliability in Breathitt County.?
The Reconnecting Northland-Arlington Project in Lexington was awarded $8,120,000 to replace a railroad bridge overpass on North Broadway, allowing for ADA accessible sidewalks and bicycle facilities and other improvements. The additions are expected to better connect the community by giving more direct downtown access to freight traffic with an increase in vertical clearance and redirecting freight traffic from local roads.?

?Buttigieg said in a statement that the funds help “communities in every state across the country realize their visions for new infrastructure projects.”?

“This round of RAISE grants is helping create a new generation of good-paying jobs in rural and urban communities alike, with projects whose benefits will include improving safety, fighting climate change, advancing equity, strengthening our supply chain, and more,” he said.?

Members of Kentucky’s congressional delegation also praised the funding and projects.?

“When the cities of Jackson, Lexington, and Bellevue asked for my help, I was proud to lend my hand and advocate for their infrastructure needs in Washington,” said Senator Mitch McConnell in a statement. “The health of Kentucky’s economy is closely tied to the strength of our bridges, dams, roads, and railways. These federal funds will support much-needed projects across the Commonwealth that will serve Kentuckians for years to come.”

Congressman Andy Barr, whose district includes Lexington, said in a statement that upgrades for the North Broadway corridor “will significantly enhance economic development and public safety in the Northern side of Lexington for decades to come.”?

“I am proud to have supported this competitive grant application through the Department of Transportation and look forward to seeing the much-needed improvements,” Barr said.

Roads, bridges, trails, ports: White House awards $2.2B in transportation grants

Jacob Fischler — Wed, 28 Jun 2023 09:50:57 +0000

Panbowl Lake in Jackson was formed in 1963 when the North Fork of the Kentucky River was dammed due to the construction of KY 15. The lake is narrow, but deep and about 7 miles long and is abundant in bass and crappie. (Photo by Kentucky Tourism)

The U.S. Department of Transportation will send more than $2.2 billion in grants to state, tribal and local governments under a grant program that was expanded under the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.

In Kentucky, the city of Jackson, the Breathitt County seat, will receive $21.1 million to widen a highway near Panbowl Lake. The area has been hit with severe flooding recently. The project will help improve resiliency to future floods, said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Panbowl Lake was formed in 1963 when the North Fork of the Kentucky River was dammed to accommodate construction of KY 15 which links Jackson and Hazard, according to the Kentucky Tourism website.

Buttigieg is scheduled to be in Lexington Thursday “to highlight a major infrastructure announcement,” according to a media advisory from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The $2.26 billion for 162 projects provides funds for each of the 50 states, two territories and the District of Columbia. It is similar to the allocation for the grant program last year, the first after President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law that added funding for the program.

(Getty Images)

The projects include improvements and expansions of roads, rail, bridges, pedestrian trails and maritime infrastructure.

The Transportation Department has managed a similar discretionary grant program since 2010, though the name of the program and criteria have changed with each presidential administration. Funding levels, set by Congress, also vary year to year, ranging from roughly $500 million to more than $2 billion in each of the two years since the infrastructure law passed.

Under Biden, the department has prioritized projects that advance climate goals, racial equity and safety.

Local input

In a call with reporters previewing the announcement Tuesday, Buttigieg emphasized that all the projects were proposed and planned by local authorities.

“It is particularly focused on communities’ needs,” he said. “We don’t design the projects at headquarters. We are proceeding very much on the idea that the answers don’t all come from Washington, but more of the funding should.”

No project received more than $25 million from the program, the maximum for projects of less than $45 million total cost.? The department selected 22 projects to receive that maximum.

The funding is split between rural and urban projects, White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu told reporters.

Most of the funding — 70% — will go toward either areas of persistent poverty or historically disadvantaged communities. That represented a record high for the program, Buttigieg said.

Many of the communities that received funding had sought federal help for the projects for years, Buttigieg said. The department will work with communities that submitted highly rated proposals that were not accepted in this round to improve their applications for future years, he said.

About 10 projects that received grants this year had applied last year, Assistant Secretary of Transportation Policy Christopher Coes said.

Buttigieg and Landrieu highlighted a handful of projects, including the one in Breathitt County, on Tuesday’s call.

Iowa will receive $24.7 million to rebuild nine bridges in rural areas. The bridges’ poor condition forces detours for residents and commercial drivers, according to a DOT news release. The federal government will pay for most of those bridge repairs, estimated to total about $31 million.

An Atlanta trail project was among those receiving $25 million. The project, which has a total cost of $70.7 million, will add 4.8 miles to the BeltLine Northeast Trail, which is accessible to pedestrians and bicycles. The project will improve access to transit and to jobs, schools and other services in an area with 5,000 affordable housing units nearby.

University of Kentucky safety researchers urge more training for delivery truck drivers

Jamie Lucke — Fri, 12 May 2023 15:00:14 +0000

UPS is a microcosm of what’s happened to workers across the state and country in recent decades. In 1982 and again in 2018, the company established new compensation tiers that meant much lower wages for newly-hired and part-time workers, the latter of whom are now 60% of the UPS workforce. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Terry Bunn

LEXINGTON — A University of Kentucky researcher is recommending more training for drivers of medium- and light-weight trucks based on a study of injury reports.

Terry Bunn, director of the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center, said drivers of smaller trucks who were injured in crashes lost more work time than drivers of heavy trucks injured in crashes.

Also, drivers who were injured in smaller trucks tended to be younger than those injured in crashes involving heavy trucks.

“Heavy-truck drivers have to undergo mandatory training. They have to have the certified driver’s license. They’re under Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations. The light- and medium-truck drivers are not,” Bunn said.?

“And that’s pretty much what I’ve recommended out of this study: Companies need to establish mandatory driver training for their drivers.”

Bunn and three other researchers studied 11,790 first-reports-of-injury filed from 2010 to 2019 with the workers compensation program in Kentucky. Their study?was published in December in the Journal of Safety Research.?

Drivers younger than 25 accounted for 12% of reported injuries in light- and medium weight trucks compared with 4% in heavy trucks.

The workers comp reports also revealed a significantly higher percentage of light- and medium-truck drivers with lost work time due to injuries compared to heavy-truck drivers.?

The period under study was before the COVID-19 pandemic produced a surge in e-commerce and deliveries.?

To ensure valid results, Bunn said, at least five years of data would be needed before updating the study to see what effects, if any, increased e-commerce and deliveries had on injury trends.?

Heavy trucks refer to those weighing more than 26,001 pounds, including semis, coal trucks and dump trucks.?

“Medium” refers to trucks weighing 10,000 pounds to 26,000 pounds; “light” refers to trucks weighing 10,000 pounds or less such as utility vans.?

The most common light and medium trucks in Bunn’s data were delivering retail and wholesale goods.?

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has also recommended training for light-truck drivers, said Bunn, although little research has been done on accidents involving smaller trucks, in contrast to a large body of research on heavy truck safety.

Driving a truck is a risky job. The occupational fatality rate was 27.2 deaths per 100,000 truck drivers in 2019 compared to the overall U.S. rate of 3.5 deaths per 100,000 full-time workers. That year, 471 truck drivers suffered on-the-job fatal injuries.?

One of the UK study’s limitations, Bunn said, was not being able to determine from the workers comp data who had been at fault in a crash. “The next study that needs to be done” would include data showing who was at fault, she said.

The analysis showed that rear-end crashes, running redlights and turning in front of other vehicles were the most common reasons cited for injury crashes involving light and medium trucks.?

The researchers recommend that employers of light and medium trucks provide targeted training to drivers who have been in crashes to address distracted driving and preventing rear-end crashes. “In-vehicle monitoring systems, which help identify risky driving behaviors, might be considered as effective in increasing driver safety,” said Bunn.

Among heavy truck drivers, collision, sideswipe, rollover, jackknife, vehicle upset and unclassified crashes involving sudden stops or starts were the most common causes of injuries. The researchers recommended enhanced driver safety training on speeding on narrow roadways, nearing intersections and downshifting on hills for heavy truck drivers.?

Biden visiting Covington Wednesday to talk infrastructure, jobs in wake of toll-free funding plan for I-75 bridge

Jack Brammer — Mon, 02 Jan 2023 17:23:18 +0000

Brent Spence Bridge spans the Ohio between Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. (Ohio Department of Transportation photo)

This article is republished from the Northern Kentucky Tribune.

President Joe Biden is to visit Covington Wednesday to tout how his economic plan is rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure, using the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project as a major example.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, U.S. Senate Republican Mitch McConnell of Louisville and Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio announced last week that the project between Covington and Cincinnati has been awarded federal funding grants worth more than $1.6 billion.

The money gives the landmark bridge and corridor project the green light to move toward construction without tolls.

The White House issued a release Sunday of Biden’s visit to Covington.?It is believed he will be the first president to make Covington a destination stop since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The release said Biden “will deliver remarks on how his economic plan is rebuilding our infrastructure, creating good paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree and revitalizing communities left behind.”

Biden’s visit will be open to the media and additional details of it are to follow.

It is expected the two governors, McConnell and other political leaders will be in attendance.?Beshear is to deliver his State of the Commonwealth address Wednesday night on the second day of this year’s state legislative session.

Dan Hassert, spokesman for Covington Mayor Joe Meyer, said Sunday night, “This is a big deal for Covington.”

He said the mayor has been working with the president’s office in recent days to make the visit possible.

“We certainly appreciate the president’s leadership to make this happen and all the work of Gov. Beshear.”

Beshear promised during his 2019 campaign for governor that he would try to raise funds for the project without tolls. The project involves building a companion bridge west of the Brent Spence, which was built in the 1960s to carry about 80,000 vehicles a day.? It has doubled that number in recent years since I-75 has become a key freight corridor stretching from Canada to Florida.

There also will be improvements to the current bridge.

Groundbreaking for the project is anticipated in late 2023.?Substantial completion is slated for 2029.

Besides the federal dollars, the Kentucky General Assembly secured $250 million in the state’s two-year road plan that helped the state’s application for the federal funding.

While Northern Kentucky officials have been clamoring for the project without tolls, officials in Louisville?have expressed frustration with tolls on the Kennedy, Lincoln and Lewis and Clark bridges between Louisville and southern Indiana.

Tolls were placed on those bridges because federal infrastructure money was not available when they were built. Area officials have been pushing for more federal dollars to ease the costs of the tolls.