$1.6 million grant will improve infrastructure in rapidly-growing Bullitt County

BULLITT COUNTY, Ky. (WDRB) -- State grant money totaling $1.6 million will help improve issues in one of Kentucky's 10 fastest-growing counties.

Bullitt County will use the money to fund three projects that will help support continued growth through expanded internet service, resurfaced roads and extended water services.

"We have to try to control that growth," Bullitt County CFO Keith Griffee said about matching the population increase with improved infrastructure.

The Bullitt County government has aimed to control the growth by prioritizing improvements around the county. The state grant will help fund some of the county's most needed projects. $1,090,982 is being directed toward a project that will expand high-speed internet in Bullitt County, providing Bardstown Connect to provide the service to 1,061 unserved households in Bullitt and surrounding counties.

The county was awarded a grant from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet for $79,200 to resurface nearly 2 miles of Holsclaw Hill Road from state Road 1526 to the Jefferson County line. It is a frequently traveled road with more than a dozen residents in need of improved road conditions.

"We have to have the roads, we have to have the water and we have to have the internet," Griffee said of the infrastructure needs to support growth in the county.

Aside from road and internet improvements, Mt. Washington will use $480,833 to expand clean water access to more than a dozen residents on Foster Lane.

The grant money is allowing the city to begin a project that will connect the 14 residents to city water.

"Even though this property is not in the city of Mt. Washington, it is in our county," Mt. Washington Mayor Barry Armstrong said. "We're out to help not only our citizens, but anybody we can that surrounds our city."

The funding for necessary projects in the county only reach the tip of the iceberg for what's required of infrastructure to match the massive growth.

The county government said the projects will begin in the next few months, providing a positive start for the direction in which Bullitt County must go.

"We can put things on paper. We can look at these things and say, 'OK, we've got to get this done,'" Griffee said. "But until you put a shovel in the ground, you're not going to move forward. These are all shovel-ready projects that are ready to go. These are things that are going to get done."