KENTON and BOONE COUNTIES, KY
Apr. 2 2009
PART 2






Our side trip in the abandoned KY 236 area near the airport continues. The abandoned road seen here runs southwest off what used to be KY 236. I'm pretty sure this is the road for the now-defunct trailer park.






In one of the little groves of woods near the above photo, this ROAD CONSTRUCTION AHEAD sign was mostly buried in leaves and dirt.




In the same area, I'm not exactly sure what this is, but I think it's an abandoned portion of Tower Drive.




Looking southeast on KY 236, where this relatively new portion splits from the abandoned stretch.




West on KY 236, approaching where it goes under KY 212. KY 212 (the main airport access road from I-275) isn't a full freeway, but it has a freeway-style interchange for KY 236.




Looking back east on KY 236 under KY 212. The BGS on the right for KY 236 looks like it has to be from the 1970s (which was probably when this setup was built).




I'm guessing KY 212 was built around 1973. It's a divided highway, and this is biking north on the freeway-style ramp from KY 236, and then on KY 212 almost to I-275.




Looking west on I-275 where KY 20 (Petersburg Road) goes over it. Look closely where I-275 goes over that hill, and you can barely see several reddish-brown posts - one on the left, one in the center (behind the left lane of the freeway's right-hand side), and another just creeping up on the right. Those are the approach lights for the westernmost north-south runway of the airport. The runway was very new - maybe 2006 or so.




West on KY 20 as it goes through what appears to be one tunnel. Actually it goes under a narrow overpass (just before this), then the long tunnel, then another narrow flyover. The tunnel goes under the approach just north of the aforementioned runway. The narrower bridges are for some access roads paralleling the runway. This was almost a new setup, of course, dating only from the mid-2000s. KY 20 even uses a new roadway here.




This is by far the better of the 2 videos in this set. This clip has us biking northeast on KY 20 from Riverview Drive (near KY 212) to KY 8. Airport traffic thins out almost immediately, as this becomes a winding, backcountry road. In fact, there were no cars going northeast on this stretch in this clip after the shoulder ended. Also, the portion before the shoulder's end was probably built in the 1970s when I-275 was built, while the part of KY 20 past this point was older. If you turn right on KY 8 at the end of the clip (as I did), that was once part of KY 20 all the way to Covington.

The stretch of KY 20 in this video was closed indefinitely in 2010 because of its declining condition, and in the following years, it was occasionally closed periodically.




From KY 8, this is looking back up at KY 20. Note the Allowed Cloud against trucks. Because SUV's are legally trucks, I saw that rule being violated fluently.




East on KY 8, entering the unincorporated Boone County hamlet of Constance. Lately, Kentucky has been posting signs saying "CITY LIMIT" for rural villages like this, even though they are not cities.




Continuing on KY 8 in Constance. What interested me was that very old wooden house straight ahead. As a bonus, there's an interesting wooden shed in the foreground on the left.




East on KY 8 at the junction with KY 371 (Amsterdam Road). The highlight here is the county line marker, as we cross from Boone County back into Kenton County. The marker itself is probably the post that's leaning off the left edge of the photo.




Last but not least, this is looking up KY 371 from KY 8 towards Villa Hills. A bit further up ahead is the sewage treatment plant that was the source of the insufferable Mineola Stink (so named because it wafted over Mineola Pike). The Mineola Stink was a horrible chemical odor that marred this area starting in the 1980s and may still be present (though I didn't detect it on this trip). It would absolutely knock your socks off. It was like inhaling the fumes of spoiled peanut butter, only much stronger.

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