HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – The Christian County Board of Education discussed the future traffic impact on Lovers Lane and surrounding roads, which was previously brought to light at a Fiscal Court meeting.
During the Feb. 20 meeting, Superintendent Chris Bentzel initiated talks by presenting a traffic map for the new Christian County High School campus. The map highlighted the intentionally designed flows of traffic for students with vehicles, drop offs, and busses with three entry points from the main roads.
Unique features for traffic include gated entry to the student parking lot, a separate bus lot and special needs bus entrance, and a looped drop off and pick up driveway that can accommodate around 250 cars in three lanes to keep traffic off the main roads. When school is in session, they will have additional support from their school SRO force to assist with traffic delegation.
It was emphasized that traffic studies of the surrounding roads were done far before construction began. While potential concerns about Lovers Lane were brought up at the Feb. 11 Christian County Fiscal Court meeting, Bentzel stressed that bus traffic will be minimal in that area, aside from students who reside in the neighborhoods.
“I understand there’s a lot of change in this and concern, but we do this every day with a much smaller area in Glass Avenue,” said Bentzel to the board, adding that he feels very confident about their plan.
As far as Lovers Lane is concerned, Bentzel said that the road project to expand it and potentially add turning lanes has already been approved for funding by the state. This project is completely separate from CCPS.
Rain and finishing date
As far as general construction is concerned, the recent floods have put the structure to the test. Representatives from Alliance Corporation assured the board that the completed structures did not experience any flooding and the area properly drained. However, after the snow melts, they expect the work site to be extremely muddy which may impact the usage of large equipment.
“Obviously the weather and the cold and the rain and everything is slowing us down,” said Tim Geegan with Alliance. “I wish we were further ahead, we can only do what we can do due to weather.”
He clarified that all in all, he is pleased with their progress and are on the right path to handing off the school in April of 2026.
This spring completion date allows teachers and staff to have ample time to feel comfortable in the space before the school year starts. Final furnishing and trainings will likely also take a significant amount of time when the building is complete. Geegan noted that once the district has hold of the school, they will still be around putting together final touches.