Some Hardin County residents may need to sell their homes to expand roads for battery plant traffic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Some Hardin County neighbors may need to turn their homes over to the state to make way for growth.

The new electric vehicle battery plant in Glendale is bringing big changes to the small town, which includes expanding rural roads to accommodate more traffic

Glendale roads .jpeg — Roads in Glendale, Kentucky, on Aug. 16, 2023. (WDRB photo)

Highways in Glendale are mostly narrow two lane roads with sharp curves and steep hills.

They weren't designed for the heavy traffic Glendale is going to see when 5,000 employees start working at the plant as early as 2025.

"You certainly have the historic Glendale area, which we were trying our best to preserve as much as possible," Chris Jessie, spokesperson for Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 4, said. "We try to preserve residential impacts as much as possible."

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet proposed several ideas to reconfigure the roads near the plant to reduce traffic.

One of those potential plans would create a North-West bypass of Glendale.

But to create that bypass, up to eight homeowners would have to sell their homes to the state, through right of way acquisition.

BlueOval SK Construction (Drone) — The plant in Glendale, Kentucky, is expected to open in 2025. July 18, 2023. *(WDRB Photo)*

Those homes are near Craine Lane.

"We're glad to talk to those people, again, talk to a few of them that did call email or some way of communicating with us," Jessie said. "So again, those calls are welcome we want to talk to folks."

One of the residents whose home could be taken didn't want to go on camera but told WDRB, "I think I will die if they ask me to leave."

Previously, building a North-West Bypass was thought to be impossible because KYTC believed the homes were in a historic district.

But KYTC said it learned the historic district boundary expansion is not a valid boundary, and is actually not protected. Project leaders stressed that this is just an idea and may not even happen.

KYTC plans to wrap up its study on the preferred plan this fall. It would then head to the Kentucky General Assembly for funding.

There will be a survey online in the coming days for residents to give their thoughts.

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