FCPS graduations will cause traffic in Lexington. How to avoid ‘gridlock’
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- Lexington police expect downtown gridlock during six FCPS graduations at Rupp Arena.
- Police will provide 27 officers to help alleviate traffic around the ceremonies.
- Graduations occur at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Lexington police expect downtown Lexington to be a “gridlock” Thursday and Friday when six high school graduations take place at Rupp Arena.
Six high schools in Fayette County Public Schools will have their graduation ceremonies at Rupp Arena on Thursday and Friday. The ceremonies will take place at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. each day, with Frederick Douglass, Henry Clay and Lafayette have graduations on Thursday. Tates Creek, Bryan Station and Paul Laurence Dunbar will do their graduations on Friday.
Lexington police will provide 27 officers to help alleviate traffic before, during and after the ceremonies. Officers will be at Rupp Arena at least 12 hours each day assisting with traffic during what Lt. Chris Van Brackel thinks is one of the most challenging events to manage.
“The easiest thing we do at Rupp Arena is a basketball game. Because of season tickets, it’s a seasoned group of people that are used to how everything works at Rupp Arena,” Van Brackel said. “High school graduation is completely different.”
A high number of people from outside Lexington will be at the ceremonies and will be unfamiliar with how traffic flows in the High Street and Vine Street corridors, creating more congestion than usual, Van Brackel said.
Drivers also increasingly drop off family members at the curb of Rupp Arena for graduation ceremonies, creating more backup in the right lane. Van Brackel expects High Street traffic to back up past Martin Luther King Boulevard.
“You add that to the normal afternoon traffic and it will just be a lot longer travel time for everybody that can’t avoid that area,” Van Brackel said. “If you can avoid it, that’s what we’re encouraging everybody to do, is to stay away from that High Street, Vine Street corridor.”
Traffic will be especially difficult during the transition times, when one graduation is ending and another is about to start.
“That’s double what we would normally get at Rupp Arena,” Van Brackel said. “We just know that’s going to cause a bigger backup with that many people and cars trying to get in and out of the same area at the same time.”
Van Brackel said those planning to attend the graduation ceremonies should plan to leave early and be patient. If people get to a ceremony early, Van Brackel said they should expect difficulties finding parking since the lots might be full of people attending the prior ceremony.
Pedestrian safety is also a concern. Van Brackel said officers might shut down traffic in certain situations to allow pedestrians to cross the road immediately after a ceremony ends, but pedestrians are encouraged to make sure it’s safe to cross leaving the sidewalk.
Areas away from Rupp Arena are also expected to have more pedestrian traffic, as some graduation goers will park further away to avoid the traffic.
“Driving is a team sport, so we need to work together and be a little bit more careful and watch for folks where it’s a new area for them,” Van Brackel said.
People who live or work downtown should also be patient during the heavier than normal traffic the next couple of days. Van Brackel said people who travel to and from downtown should consider getting creative with their route planning and take a path with less traffic.
“It might be a little bit longer on the odometer, it’s still going to be shorter on the clock to avoid that area,” Van Brackel said.
