After years of pressure and requests from Boyle County officials, turning lanes are being installed at a dangerous U.S. 150 intersection.

Workers with the state Transportation Cabinet District Seven are in the process of paving U.S. 150 between Stanford Road and the Lincoln County line, and turning lanes at Chrisman Lane are being added as part of their work.

It’s not been a quick or easy project to accomplish, according to members of the Boyle County Fiscal Court. Magistrate Jack Hendricks said it’s taken 10 years to get the turning lanes added. Hendricks now represents the magisterial district where the U.S. 150-Chrisman Lane intersection is located, but the fight to get turning lanes goes back to prior arrangements of magisterial districts, when it was Magistrate Phil Sammons’ intersection.

“I’ll give him credit — he couldn’t get it done, but I did,” Hendricks ribbed Sammons playfully Tuesday, as he thanked Sammons, Judge-Executive Harold McKinney and Boyle County Engineer Duane Campbell for their diligence in fighting for the project.

“Magistrate Sammons did start the process; the judge and Duane stayed on top of it all the way,” Hendricks said. “I think it’s a great thing for our citizens because everybody out there has known how dangerous that was trying to turn off of 150 when people are running 60 to 90 miles and hour and they’re trying to slow down and turn onto Chrisman Lane.”

Sammons said he was glad to see the project finally happening.

“About four years ago, there was a state employee … who made the comment in open court that they were going to do the turn lane going into Chrisman Lane that year … they never did do it,” Sammons said after Tuesday’s fiscal court meeting. “Why? I don’t know … The judge and our county engineer worked with District Seven and really worked real hard and they finally got it done. And Magistrate Hendricks kept aggravating everybody and they agreed to do it with some extra money from another project.

“I’m glad it’s done; the people out there deserve it.”

Magistrates heard in March that it was possible the state would finally tackle adding the turning lanes after adding the project to the next year’s six-year plan.

At that time, Bret Blair, an engineer with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, said the project was “low-hanging fruit.”

“It’s not a very expensive project, but it’s a good project that will benefit a lot of people,” Blair said in March. “The last couple of years, we’ve pushed it a lot. It just hasn’t gotten the love it deserves.”