Got concerns Lexington traffic on Nicholasville Road? Here’s your chance to weigh in.
Ever been frustrated by traffic on Nicholasville Road?
Got thoughts on how to make Nicholasville Road a more bike- and pedestrian-friendly corridor?
The city of Lexington wants to hear from you.
As part of a new comprehensive transportation and land use plan for Lexington’s busiest commercial corridor, the city has launched an online survey to get the public’s impressions of the current state of Nicholasville Road and what people want to change. The survey and other information about the Nicholasville Road corridor plan can be found at ImagineNicholasvilleRoad.com. The survey will be open until March 31.
Called “Imagine Nicholasville,” the corridor plan will look at what types of development should go where and transportation needs, which is a first. The city has never completed a long-range plan of the entire Nicholasville Road corridor.
On Wednesday, city planners will host an open house from 6 to 8 p.m. at the community room at Lexington Green, at Nicholasville and New Circle Road. Planners will discuss traffic conditions, some historical data on how the corridor has developed and show how similar studies in other cities have resulted in improvements, said Kenzie Gleason, an administrator with the city’s Division of Planning and the Lexington Metropolitan Planning Organization.
There will also be interactive maps so people can identify problem areas, she said.
The plan is in its beginning stages. Consultants will take the community input, other data and come up with long-term transportation and land-use recommendations. The completed study will be available sometime in the fall of 2020.
“We are focusing on the future corridor as it continues to evolve,” Gleason said. The effort is not about immediate traffic problems — such as the need for a turn lane at a certain intersection or traffic light timing issues. But those immediate concerns will be used to develop long-term transportation changes, she said.
At its busiest point— between New Circle Road and Man O War—80,000 cars travel Nicholasville Road each day. That portion is already at capacity, Gleason said.
That means that corridor has to become more transit, pedestrian and bike friendly.
What will that look like?
“It may include more commercial development with residential components that will encourage people to live where you work,” Gleason said. It will also mean public transportation — Lextran buses — will become a necessary part of the transportation infrastructure.
That doesn’t mean everyone will need to use public bus service on Nicholasville Road, she said. People who work at University of Kentucky Medical Center, Baptist Health Hospital or at the Fayette Mall are likely candidates for public transportation.
“The land-use portion will focus more on commercial development as that corridor continues to evolve. It is changing all the time,” Gleason said.
Consultants hired by the city for the study will also provide concrete next steps to implement the plan once it is completed, including any changes to regulations if needed, she said.
The finished plan will not just sit on a shelf, she said.
“Our intent is that this is not just a guiding document but an implementation tool,” Gleason said. “This is the first of what we hope to be other corridor studies.”
