BULLITT COUNTY, Ky. (WDRB) -- Construction of the Bells Mill Road Bridge in Shepherdsville has caused traffic headaches for residents and local fire departments.
Bells Mill Road has been closed for almost two months, backing up traffic on Highway 44 so badly emergency response crews put a plan into action to get to scenes quicker.
The fire chiefs in Zoneton, Shepherdsville and Mt. Washington came up with a plan to fully staff Mt. Washington Fire Station 3 on Sunview Drive, which is close to Bells Mill Road. It was previously a volunteer fire station.
Now, the station is fully staffed with nine people. Each department moved three of its firefighters to Fire Station 3. They work two days and then have four days off, meaning there's at least three people there 24/7.
"By us three joining and doing this, it saves tens of thousands of dollars," Mt. Washington Fire Chief Michael Dooley said Tuesday.
Dooley added Mt. Washington has been wanting to staff that station full time for a while now, but this was the push they needed. Plus, for Mt. Washington to fully staff it themselves would cost more than $900,000 because they would need to hire nine new people.
It's saving money and saving time with firefighters not having to battle traffic for as long of a distance.
"There's still going to be some traffic, but it's not going to be fighting it for 7 miles, 8 miles," Dooley said. "You have a mile or half a mile, you're going to be there."
David Henson, who said he fights the traffic daily for work, said what used to take him 10 minutes now takes him 20 or 30. He also said he's seen a difference in how many emergency vehicles drive past his shop on Bells Mill Road.
"Fairly often, we hear fire trucks or ambulances come by the shop," Henson said. "And now, you don't ever hear them."
Construction on the bridge is expected to be done by May, but, until then, people are rolling with the punches.
"It was just all three of us coming together, saying 'Look, let's put our heads together. Let's fix this problem,'" Dooley said. "And we did."
Dooley said they'll be doing this new staffing for six months as a trial period, and, if it's successful, they'll continue to do it in the future.
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