Shepherdsville neighbors raise concerns about traffic impact of new patio homes

SHEPHERDSVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Traffic along Highway 44 is already a headache for Bullitt County residents, and some fear a new development could make it even worse.

The Saint Andrews Crossing subdivision in Shepherdsville sits on a busy stretch of Highway 44, which is constantly plagued with traffic. Just across the street, developers are already turning dirt to put in new patio homes.

Larry Deacon has lived at Saint Andrews Crossing for 16 years, and said it's already hard enough to get in and out of the neighborhood.

"You have those people trying to get out and you have a lot of these people trying to get out, plus all the other people," Deacon said. "You almost need a traffic guard at every intersection."

While people who live near the project are concerned, Shepherdsville Mayor Jose Cubero invites the increase in housing.

"Any time we have a development on 44, we got to have an in-depth conversation. We need housing desperately, but we don't want to put large subdivisions on 44 due to the traffic that's out there," Cubero said.

That's why the city approved about 50 patio homes in that area.

"When we looked at this project, we looked at it as something that was suitable for the community, would not make a large impact on 44," said Cubero.

Now, city officials are looking at ways to combat the traffic headaches on Highway 44.

"Bullitt County is in the top five fastest-growing counties in the state and because of that, we need infrastructure yesterday," said Cubero. "We understand, we hear you and we're working behind the scenes to work with our state legislature to see where money can be allocated to work quickly and quicker than we have in the past."

Proctor Builders, the developer of the project, said they understand the frustration with Highway 44 as Shepherdsville residents themselves.

They recently purchased the land and rezoned it to put in patio homes on the first 14 acres and custom homes at a later date.

"There was a public hearing to hear the concerns of the town. Bullitt county planning and zoning would have record of any concerns mentioned and we donated an easement to the state to put in a turning lane here, as well as a shoulder. The state would have to take this land and use it appropriately," said Proctor Builders.

The developers have several other developments in Bullitt County including Proctor Woods.

"We are actually reducing traffic with the patio homes versus the previous R1 zoning. If we had stuck to that we could have put 56 homes there. Typically, each home would have up to four cars per household. Patio homes typically are elderly 55+ with one or two vehicles," said the developers.

As for fixing the issue with Highway 44, the develops say to contact state officials.

"The problem with Highway 44 is that out-of-town developers have purchased tracks of land and over developed them with four houses per acre and crammed as many in as possible. We don't do that. Additionally, Highway 44 is a state road, we encourage all Bullitt County taxpayers to contact the state road department and lobby to get this stretch of road fixed. This should have been done 30 years ago," said Proctor Builders.

Cubero said he doesn't know of a completion date for the patio homes, but construction could start in June.