[su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/EIyTgtdNqGE” height=”340″]

VIRGIE, Ky. — Starting Monday, residents in Virgie who travel along KY 610 may need to find a new route to travel.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is rehabilitating the bridge on that road in Pike County between Penny Road and Save-A-Lot Grocery store.

The bridge will be closed to all traffic starting on August 13th.

“We know its going to put a damper on work traffic and school traffic,” said Highway District 12 Pikeville Section Engineer Vince Hayes. “But we’re going to get this done as soon as we can.”

The bridge is slated to get a complete makeover.

“We’re taking the deck and beams off, removing those structures and replacing them with new box beams. This bridge is one of the worst in the county and it definitely needs some work,” added Hayes.   

An alternate route is 1.5 miles longer than going through the construction work zone. This would be taking KY 610 to KY 122 to KY 2167 to the intersection of U.S. 23.

On the other side of the bridge, travelers can take Penny Road to U.S. 23 and back track those roads.

“It will be a lot better and safer in the long run,” Hayes said. “We know we’re getting this started right as school starts. Its a bad time, but the bridge really needs work done to it and we’re going to totally rehab it.”

The contractor has until November 30th to put traffic back on the bridge.