Decades in the making, three sections of Clays Mill widening complete

City of Lexington officials celebrated the completion of the widening of several sections of Clays Mill Road, a much-used connector road on the city’s southwest side.

Councilwoman Jennifer Mossotti, whose district includes most of Clays Mills Road, Vice Mayor Steve Kay and Councilwoman Amanda Bledsoe attended the official ribbon-cutting at Wellington Park on Tuesday. Plans to widen Clays Mill have been discussed for decades. Three of four sections of the widening have been completed. A section from Keithshire Way to Waco Drive was completed this month.

The widening of the road from New Circle Road and Waco to Harrodsburg Road should begin construction in 2018, city officials have said. Bledsoe represents that area of Clays Mill Road.

The completed 3.7-mile section of Clays Mill Road averages 15,000 to 20,000 cars a day. Transportation planners estimate that number will increase to 25,000 to 30,000 a day in 2020.

“After 10 years and millions of dollars that 3.7-mile section is finally finished,” Mossotti said at a council meeting later on Tuesday.

The three completed sections have cost more than $11.6 million, in local, federal and state funding. That figure does not include design costs. The final section from Waco to Harrodsburg will likely top $13 million, city officials said.

The city also celebrated the opening of a new pedestrian bridge in Wellington Park. The bridge, which at one point was used on the Legacy Trail, sat in Wellington Park unused for several years. Mossotti persuaded the city to move the bridge to another section of the park so it could connect two trails.

This story was originally published September 20, 2016 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Decades in the making, three sections of Clays Mill widening complete."