Viaduct construction begins June 2

Demolition and construction of the Danville viaduct will begin June 2 and is scheduled to be completed by Sept. 1.

Traffic will be detoured at Maple Avenue and Main Street to Fourth and Main streets, south to the U.S. 150 bypass. The alternate traffic route will be Maple Avenue to U.S. 127. Both are seven-mile detours.

Harding Street will be closed several times, each for less than 15 minutes, while the viaduct is demolished.

The viaduct will be replaced and U.S. 150 will be resurfaced from Maple Avenue to 100 feet past the bridge. If it isn't completed by Sept. 1, the contractor will be penalized $5,000 a day until it is complete.

The $1.8 million contract was awarded to American Contracting and Services Corp. in Jeffersonville, Ind.

The viaduct was built in 1949. Recently the concrete has started to break away, the result of age and salting of the roadway.

It will be rebuilt with the original architectural features, church windows and arched piers. More room will be added in the left turn lane at Maple Avenue.

The Kentucky Department of Transportation included the features, expanded the turn lane and picked the construction dates based on feedback from Danville residents.

The original finish date was in the middle of October, but the project was pushed up to include as little of the school year as possible.