New Circle was almost ‘Municipal Midriff,’ see the 70-year history of the road
Editor’s Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and kentucky.com each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city’s history — some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange.
On August 18, 1949, construction on a new beltway around Lexington started.
New Circle Road, or Kentucky Route 4, was envisioned as a way to avoid driving through the city to get from one side of Lexington to the other.
When it started it was called Circle Pike, Lexington Circle Road or the Belt Way. In a column written by Jay Jay on July 30, 1950, some readers had sent in suggestions for a new name for the road — “Belly Band,” “Municipal Midriff,” “Bluegrass View Boulevard,” “Clay Circle,” “Outer Loop,” and “Burley Belt.”
Over the course of the next 17 years, the road was built encircling the city.
The first segment went from Newtown Pike to Richmond Road, and was constructed by the city as a two-lane connector road. After it opened, it quickly became clear that the two lanes needed to be expanded to four.
It was also clear after the highway portion of the road opened that it would need to be expanded as well.
In 1987, the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government recommended a solution to the congestion the road suffers during rush hour, but none of those recommendations were implemented.
An early study that was part of the “Urban County Government’s Year 2000 Transportation Plan” found that the road should be widened to six lanes by the year 2000.
In 1997, the section between Tates Creek Road and Nicholasville Road averaged more than 60,000 vehicles per day, up 256% from what it averaged in 1967.
While it was originally built through farmland and seen as a way to contain urban growth and make travel from one side of Lexington to the other more convenient, the road now provides access to thousands of businesses and homes. The growth of the road has prompted continual study into how to relieve congestion and continue to upgrade it.
Have a question or story idea related to Lexington’s 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@gmail.com.