What is the Lexington-Area MPO Bike & Pedestrian Plan?
Quick Summary
The Bike & Pedestrian Plan is a document made by the Lexington Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), which oversees regional transportation policy in Fayette and Jessamine Counties.
The plan is produced by the MPO, in partnership with Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, and the Jessamine County Fiscal Court. The 2017 update was written by Alta Planning + Design.
You can read the plan here.
What does it recommend?
The Lexington-Area MPO made the following recommendations:
7 high-priority key bike & pedestrian improvement projects in Fayette County: North Limestone, Town Branch Commons, Tates Creek Road, Alumni Drive, Old Vine St/Central Avenue, Man O' War Boulevard, and Liberty Road.
Developing a bikeway network throughout Fayette and Jessamine Counties that puts bicycle facilities in "low-stress" environments, with the goal of increasing bicycle use. This includes 216 miles of bikeways in Fayette County, and 68 miles in Jessamine County.
Pedestrian improvements in Lexington along the northern side of New Circle Road, Russell Cave Road, and Richmond Road, as well as smaller-scale improvements throughout Lexington and Nicholasville.
A framework for creating more comprehensive strategies to improve bike & pedestrian safety through programs and policies.
Why does this matter?
The goal of the document is to recommend infrastructure improvements, in Fayette and Jessamine counties, to make walking and biking safer and more accessible. These infrastructure improvement are then prioritized for implementation by Fayette and Jessamine counties.
If you walk or bicycle anywhere in Fayette or Jessamine counties, this plan affects you.
What is the context?
The MPO has undertaken many transit studies that guide their work. For instance, a 2016 study in Jessamine County identified the need for greater access to sidewalks for children walking and biking to school.
For bicycle projects, there is much data that suggests that most people will only ride bicycles near car traffic if a high-quality bikeway is present. This data has prompted the MPO to design more “low-stress” bikeways that accommodate all ages and ability levels of users. The total mileage of proposed projects is 218 in Fayette County and 79 in Jessamine County.
For pedestrian projects, much of the feedback to the MPO has been about making sidewalks accessible to all users, and about improving the safety of pedestrians crossing roadways. This feedback has prompted the MPO to propose filling in missing sidewalks and developing shared use trails, with a total mileage of 103 in Fayette County, and 36 miles in Jessamine County.
How can I get involved?
If you are interested in bicycle and pedestrian safety in general, you can get involved in one of the following ways:
Contact your council member.
Attend a meeting of the Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC). These meetings generally happen on the first Friday of every month from 12 PM - 2 PM. They take place in the 7th-floor conference room of the Phoenix Building (101 E. Vine St. in downtown Lexington). The full city meeting calendar can be found here.
Check out the other projects the MPO is currently working on here.