LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Residents living along Delong Road continue to express safety concerns despite temporary repairs made by the city over four months ago.
Since December, LEX 18 has been monitoring community safety concerns about Delong Road. While the city has implemented some temporary surface work, residents say they haven't seen meaningful progress toward a permanent solution.
Renee Nimtz has witnessed numerous crashes during her 13 years living along the road.
"It's traumatic," Nimtz said. "You definitely have a recipe for disaster out here."
City officials say that in this year alone, there have been seven accidents between Armstrong Mill Road and Old Richmond Roads. However, Nimtz believes many more incidents have gone unreported.
"It's almost like every other day, more frequent than people realize," Nimtz said.
Nimtz and her neighbors want to see three main improvements: increased road signs, speed bumps, and corrections to road drop-offs.
In February, LEX 18 reported the city's temporary solution of using gravel to fill some gaps along the roadside. Almost five months later, officials have yet to solidify a permanent solution but do have an interim plan.
"What we're gonna do next is see if there's ways we can improve that application to make it more stable and more permanent," said Nancy Albright, Commissioner of Environmental Quality and Public Works.
The city plans to permanently fill the gaps between the grass and the road with additional asphalt before applying a high-friction surface treatment. While they're working to make the road safer, residents note it's a slow process.
"We are really concerned about what we can do from an engineering perspective to help highlight the dangers or the conditions that are out there," Albright said.
Nimtz remains passionate about finding solutions: "All this is happening and I am really passionate about my community, and when it comes to people's safety, you know, we want people to be able to drive out here and enjoy this beautiful road, but we're there, it's not dangerous for them."
