A sketch of the Noah's Ark portion of Ark Encounter.
ArkEcounter.com
(Undated) - A non-profit group is raising separation of church and state concerns over a northern Kentucky road project.
American United for Separation of Church and State is calling on the state legislature to halt the $2 million project to improve Kentucky 36 and Interstate 75 in Grant County, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports.
The project is near the site of Answers in Genesis’ Noah’s Ark-themed Ark Encounter amusement park. Answers in Genesis built and operates the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says the improvements are needed to make the road safe for future increases in traffic when the park opens.
Money for the improvement was allocated in the last highway budget proposed by Governor Steve Beshear and currently under consideration by state lawmakers.
Jon Conn, a spokesman for Americans United, told the newspaper that a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the road project is a possibility.
“We always hope that common sense will prevail and that the legislature and the governor won’t do this,” Conn said.
Last year, Americans United was also critical of Beshear’s plan to offer tourism tax incentives to the park, arguing that it also violated church and state separations. Those incentives will only be awarded if the park is built.
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