SHEPHERDSVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Heavy traffic in Bullitt County is causing headaches for drivers and longer response times for first responders.
Main arteries of Shepherdsville like Kentucky State Road 44 have seen a lot of congestion over the last few weeks.
Over the weekend it got so bad that police said calls that should’ve taken five minutes to respond to ended up taking around 40 minutes.
“When you have three arteries that all connect to each other, and there’s no real way around them, you’re stuck," said Tracey Key, deputy chief of Zoneton Fire District.
Those three arteries in Shepherdsville include Kentucky Route 44, Preston Highway and Interstate 65.
When construction begins on any of those roads, it tends to cause traffic backups. That includes last weekend when two lanes of I-65 South were closed for several miles.
“Everything just gets gridlocked, last weekend you couldn’t even get anywhere near Shepherdsville, it was just pathetic really," Key said.
Key said these backups can be detrimental for law enforcement and first responders.
“Our average response time here in Zoneton is roughly four and a half minutes," Key said. "When you throw in the problems that we’ve had this past weekend and a couple weekends that have gone past, that times up to 7, 8, or 9 minutes and for us that is unacceptable."
That’s why Zoneton has agreements with other local fire districts.
“Thankfully, our mutual aid and automatic aid agreements are pretty robust out here and we have partnerships with fire departments in Metro in areas where we’re gridlocked," Key said.
Shepherdsville officials said they believe part of the issue is the Bells Mills Road bridge closure, which around 10,000 cars travel on every day, but haven’t in weeks and won't for several months because of repairs.
The bridge connects SR 44 and Preston Highway. City officials said they aren’t responsible for that project but the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is.
“Out here in Bullitt County, according to the census, we grow roughly 2,000 people a year and the infrastructure is not keeping up," Key said.
Key said the fire districts can only do what they have control over, which is helping each other out.
“That is the part of this whole mess," Key said. "That we can control and ensure that top-notch service is still provided."
The I-65 project that caused a lot of the congestion over the weekend is officially over.
The $2.5 million Bells Mill Road project is aimed at strengthening the bridge’s superstructure to handle increasing traffic. Officials said, weather permitting, construction is expected to be completed by mid-May.
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