Brace yourself: Big changes coming to New Circle Road for drivers and pedestrians
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet wants to widen part of New Circle Road.
In a project estimated to cost $33.5 million, New Circle Road from Trade Center Drive to Woodhill Drive could see an additional two lanes, making the road six lanes wide as early as 2028.
“The purpose and need for this project is congestion, safety, pedestrian facilities and safe access for economic development; something for the area to grow,” said Lauren Meighan, a transportation engineering supervisor with the cabinet.
Along with widening the road, the project will tackle creating safer intersections for New Circle at Liberty Drive and Woodhill Drive.
Still in the design stages, Meighan said the project could include “innovative intersections,” which look for ways to move traffic without a traditional four-way stoplight.
“Traditional intersections at Liberty and Woodhill have proven to not be very safe, with fatalities at Woodhill and lots of congestion at Liberty,” Meighan said.
“The traditional traffic light just does not work.”
A traffic report from the Lexington Police Department released in 2017 identified East New Circle Road between Palumbo Drive and Woodhill Drive, which is a section included in the widening project, to be the most dangerous place to drive in Lexington.
Proposed alternatives to a four-way stoplight include an overpass and a “bowtie intersection,” which uses roundabouts on adjacent side streets to move traffic instead of a stoplight. Meighan said the alternatives are necessary because those intersections see a lot of crashes.
The project also would make changes to pedestrian infrastructure, which is currently non-existent on that stretch of the road. Proposed designs include a pedestrian bridge or pedestrian underpass, which are tunnels that run under the road to keep foot traffic off the highway.
Meighan said a final design will be completed before right of way acquisition and utility relocation begins in 2026.