Here’s what to know about traffic, pedestrian safety at Railbird Music Festival
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Lexington Police expect heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic during the two-day festival.
- Officers will use snow fence to help keep pedestrians off the road and on sidewalks.
- Railbird sold out parking passes, boosting foot traffic and ride-share pickup use.
The Lexington Police Department is expecting heavy amounts of pedestrian and vehicle traffic during the two-day Railbird Music Festival on Saturday and Sunday.
The areas of Red Mile Road, South Broadway and Versailles Road are expected to be gridlocked at times because of the heavy traffic. This will be the police department’s third year of providing traffic assistance for the popular music festival at Red Mile, headlined this year by Tyler Childers and The Lumineers.
Lt. Chris Van Brackel said last year was the first year that event organizers didn’t offer a shuttle bus to and from offsite parking lots, and traffic officers learned a lot about how to manage pedestrian traffic.
“One of the things we learned and people will see: We’re going to be using the snow fence to help try to keep the pedestrian traffic off the road, keep them on the sidewalks,” Van Brackel said. “There will still be folks that are going to be walking down the road, and again, everybody just needs to be patient and aware that might happen.”
Van Brackel said officers could stop vehicular traffic at times to help alleviate pedestrian traffic.
“It’s a lot of pedestrian traffic, and at the end of Railbird each night, just like we do for graduation at Rupp Arena, we’re going to stop all the vehicles and get all of our pedestrians flowing out first so we can avoid that conflict then start flowing the cars,” Van Brackel said.
Parking passes available through Railbird are sold out, meaning a majority of Railbird attendees will be on foot at the end of each night of the festival. There are several parking options available, including paid parking at four University of Kentucky lots and garages, hourly paid street parking near Red Mile and paid parking lots from homeowners and local businesses near the venue.
Free bike parking is available near the festival entrance.
Van Brackel said one of the most dangerous things for pedestrians is assuming that a driver sees them. That’s not often the case, he said, especially after the show when it’s dark and stressful for drivers.
“By slowing down traffic or stopping traffic, we give those pedestrians that buffer of safety that they need while they’re moving along,” Van Brackel said.
There will also be a lot of people utilizing ride-share services. Pick-up and drop-off for ride-share services is located across 1141 Red Mile Road next to bus stop 810, according to Railbird.
Gates for Railbird open at noon both Saturday and Sunday. The first set of each day will begin around 1 p.m., while the last set of each night will conclude around 11 p.m.
Along with the headliners Tyler Childers and The Lumineers, the lineup features country, folk and rock artists such as Mt. Joy, Ella Langley, Zach Top, Muscadine Bloodline and Waylon Wyatt. The Lumineers will begin their set at 9:30 p.m. Saturday night, and Tyler Childers will close out the festival Sunday night at 9:30 p.m.
The full schedule detailing times and stage locations can be found on Railbird’s website.
