LEXINGTON, KY. (LEX NEWS) — Community members gathered Tuesday to weigh in on potential safety upgrades to a stretch of North Broadway in Lexington, where state officials say serious crashes have been a recurring problem.
The survey focused on North Broadway between Kingston Road and Main Street. Residents and nearby community members shared feedback with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet at the Dunbar Community Center, where several redesign concepts were on display.
Over the past five years, North Broadway has averaged one fatal and four serious injury crashes annually, according to the Transportation Cabinet.
Tyler McDaniel, who lives near North Broadway, said he supports the proposed changes.
"I think these concepts for this redesign of the stretch of North Broadway are really great. I think some of them would be a big adjustment for folks who live here, but overall they seem to be really amazing for like reducing collisions, reducing pedestrian accidents, and I just, I really love all of the implementation of things that will, will sort of slow the speed of traffic," McDaniel said.
Not everyone at the meeting was fully on board. Matt Miniard, a developer in the North Broadway corridor, raised concerns about the current proposals.
"In review of the plan, it has some fundamental flaws that don't take into account storm water runoff at peak times and until that problem is resolved, the North Broadway project should be studied further," Miniard said.
Casey Smith, project manager for Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 7, said the study is aimed at finding solutions that reflect how the corridor is being used today.
"The intent of it is to evaluate the land use, the context of the area, and coming up with strategies or solutions on how to make North Broadway a better fit for how it's being used today as Lexington has grown, we have noticed that there's even more pedestrians running along Broadway as well as cyclists," Smith said.
Smith cautioned that no money has been committed to any of the projects at this stage.
"Right now this being a study, being an evaluation, there's no funding that is committed toward any of these projects," Smith said.
Officials say the studies could take years before any changes come to fruition.
If you missed the meeting and want to learn more, click here.
Ana Medina is committed to covering stories in your community that matter to you. If you have an idea, reach out to her at ana.medina@wlex.tv
