UNION, K.y. — Northern Kentucky residents will get another opportunity to weigh in on potential changes for Frogtown Road in Union, where proposed improvements could come at the expense of some residents losing their homes.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is hosting an informational meeting Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Scheben Branch of the Boone County Library to discuss modernizing the stretch of road between US-42 and US-25.
The goal is to bring the road up to current design standards, but the project has left many residents concerned about their future.
Watch our conversation with residents and KYTC:
What is happening?
KYTC has proposed two designs aimed at safety and connectivity improvements.
Alternative A is a 3-lane design. Alternative B is a 2-lane design, and it was born out of feedback provided two years ago.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet put together this comparison chart between the two options:
DISTRICT 6 Chief Engineer Bob Yeager said it’s not a decision between one or the other.
“It isn't just A or B, it could be something in between there. So getting the information from the public, from the people that are going to use it, the people who live on it. This is extremely valuable to us, to see exactly what they'd like to see,” Yeager said.
Why is this happening?
Frogtown Road has outgrown its original design, KYTC said.
The state road was once a quiet rural route and is now handling significantly more traffic from trucks and residents from new subdivisions. The road also connects communities to Ryle High School and St. Timothy Roman Catholic Church.
"Taking out the curves, the dangerous spots, widening the road. And that's the one thing that we heard a lot about, was it with trucks using it, the trucks were taking up more than their lane and forcing people off on the shoulder. And that's not safe," said Yeager.
When is this happening?
The process is as follows: preliminary design (the stage the project is in now), line and grade meeting, and then a detailed design.
During the detail design stage, the state can ask for right-of-way funds if they’re available.
Yeager said they are currently not available: “There is no next phase at this point.”
Residents seek alternatives
The presented options require the relocation of either 20 or five residential homes.
For Jean and Matt Paul, who would be forced to vacate their home under the current options, the project is particularly frustrating. Their home is in the path of the expansion despite vacant land in the Triple Crown subdivision directly across the street.
“There is a logical way, if you look at that land, that they could avoid most of the homes that they're talking about taking,” Jean Paul said.
Paul and other residents said they were open to a route that runs south of the current road. It would put a road in their backyard, but they say they are ok with it.
The Pauls moved to their home just two years ago after checking with the seller about potential road projects. They said they were told by the KYTC any potential work was “at least 10 years out.”
"We have no official notification from anyone. Everything we've heard has been from our neighbors knocking on our door and giving us information," Jean Paul said.
"People need to understand that these aren't houses that are being taken. These are homes," Jean Paul said.
“It needs attention”
There’s no argument from residents that the road is in need of upgrades. It’s narrow and windy. Trucks routinely go over the yellow line. Cars speed around the curves faster than the 35 mile per hour posted speed limit.
When asked about how people drive on the road, longtime resident Ken DeMaria was blunt: "Like they're nuts."
DeMaria, who has lived on Frogtown Road for 50 years since it was a gravel road, believes the proposed solutions don't match the actual problem.
"It needs attention, but it doesn't need to be widened. We don't need sidewalks," DeMaria said.
DeMaria is in the proposed right-of-way for the project. His driveway has a piece of asphalt as a ramp to the road, which he says has been elevated by a few inches every time it’s paved. Some parts of the road are sinking, which he attributes to erosion.
He said he opposes the project’s scale and is instead advocating for a lower speed limit with a truck ban on the road. He also said he wouldn’t be opposed to a slightly wider footprint.
“We’re in limbo”
The uncertainty has left residents like the Pauls feeling like they’re in limbo, unable to complete home improvement projects they've started.
"I've started residing the cabin, and we've got two sides done, and I've stopped and don't know what I should do, because I have no idea what's gonna happen,” Matt Paul said. “It’s kind of like living in limbo ever since we've been here.”
For residents like Michael Taulbee, the uncertainty is causing significant anxiety.
"In our mind, we thought it was going to be our retirement home," Taulbee said. "This whole project is causing, you know, a lot of anxiety for us because of the fact... we don't know."
KYTC acknowledges the difficult position residents are in, but noted that the project currently isn't funded beyond the design phase. Construction could be two, five, or even 10 years away.
"We don't want to leave people in limbo. We can give you the best advice there is. But if you add on your house, or you put in a pool, that increases your value, that's included in whatever we might do, any offer we might make to you," Yeager said.
“We tell people to go ahead and live their lives,” he said.
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