Josh Richardson | Daily Times

A car travels south out of South Shore, Ky., on Ky Route 7, near where the state plans to improve the road to avoid landslides.

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By FRANK LEWIS

PDT Staff Writer

State Rep. Tanya Pullin, Ky-98, says nearly $1 million in upgrades to Ky Route 7 in the South Shore area of Greenup County will be lent by the state Transportation Cabinet this year.

Pullin said the funding includes $960,000 in the 2012 state Road Plan to improve the area of Route 7 at Morton Hill.

Allen Blair, a spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Highways, said the area where the work will be done is about four-tenths of a mile from mile post 19 just beyond downtown South Shore.

“That area needs some slope correction. It’s basically a landslide repair,” Blair said. “It will basically be setting the hillside back away from the highway.”

Blair said because of the terrain in that area, any type of landslide will affect the highway.

“I’m sure that is the danger, and that is what we’re trying to reduce,” Blair said. “We’re trying to improve that section of the road, which has been a problem. We have had some concern over that, not only for ourselves, but for the residents of that area.”

Transportation Cabinet officials said the work at Morton Hill will be lent by the end of the year.

“I’ve been working with the Transportation Cabinet on the upgrade of Route 7 for several years,” Pullin said. “It is something we’ve needed for a long time.”

Frank Lewis may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 232, or at flewis@heartlandpublications.com.