Wayne County Outlook

Posted September 11, 2013 at 2:17 pm

A portion of KY 90 in Wayne County is reduced to one-lane traffic during work for restoration of two bridge decks.

The work began on Tuesday, September 3, according to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

Traffic is reduced to one lane at mile point 8.863 (Beaver Creek overpass) and also at mile point 19.507 (Meadow Creek overpass) for bridge deck restoration.

Temporary traffic signals are in place on north and south approaches for lane closures.

The restoration is expected to last two weeks for the Beaver Creek overpass and approximately four weeks for the Meadow Creek overpass.

The starting date and duration of the work may be adjusted for inclement weather or other unforeseeable delays.

Drivers should expect delays and are encouraged to allow extra time in reaching their destination.

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Kentucky now has 149 permanent prescription drug disposal locations in 97 counties, creating more opportunities for residents to safely dispose of unused, unneeded or expired medications.

Wayne County is included in those sites, with a 24-hour disposal location at the Monticello Police Department.

The permanent disposal boxes are monitored and are located in law enforcement buildings.

Individuals can deposit their unneeded medications into the boxes with no questions asked.

The agencies will ensure the drugs are disposed of in an environmentally safe manner.

“This is a perfect example of the state working with local communities to attack a problem,” Governor Steve Beshear said.

The governor has worked with lawmakers and other state officials to reduce the impact of prescription drug abuse on Kentucky families.

He signed House Bill 1 in April 2012 to require health care professionals to use the state’s electronic prescription monitoring program and to require that pain clinics be owned by medical practitioners.

“One in five of our Kentucky teens has abused prescription medication for an off-label purpose, and that abuse is starting in the home when children have access to their parents’ unused or expired pain medications,” Attorney General Jack Conway said.

The disposal boxes are funded by the Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse Policy (KY-ASAP), Operation Unite, Kentucky League of Cities, and state and local law enforcement agencies.

The prescription drug disposal boxes address vital public safety and public health issues: medicines left in home cabinets are susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse.

According to Van Ingram, executive director of the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, more than 60 percent of the adolescents who use prescription drugs for off-label purposes reported that they obtained the medications from family and friends, often from the drugs not being properly disposed of or stored in the home.