Can anyone say nightmare?
That’s basically what the Limestone corner of campus will turn into in a few weeks.
Just in time for dorm move-in and the start of UK’s fall semester, the Fayette Urban County Council decided Tuesday to accept the construction bid that will close South Limestone from Euclid Avenue to Vine Street to bury utility lines, replace sewage lines, add bike lanes and work on other beautifying projects.
While prettying up the area with rain gardens and trees is not necessarily a bad idea, what with the 2010 World Equestrian Games just a year away, closing down an important stretch of one of the busiest roads in Lexington very well could cause more trouble than the project is really worth. The shut down is not just bad for businesses like Sav’s Grill and Hanna’s On Lime that thrive on the availability of street parking and advertisement to cars passing by, but for the piles of traffic that will be diverted to Broadway, Martin Luther King Boulevard and Rose Street.
The 50,000 to 60,000 cars that breeze past the South Limestone businesses daily will be forced to bombard Broadway or use cramped two-lane roads like Rose Street to go downtown, which will inevitably cause traffic pile-ups on Euclid/Avenue of Champions. And when Big Blue Madness hits this October, the side streets around UK will flood with cars trying to get in and out of an already virtually inaccessible campus.
While things will be rough for all of us during the construction period, we can’t forget those who may suffer the most — the small businesses. Since many of the businesses on the stretch have no parking available and will be mostly dependent upon foot traffic, the UK community will play a large part in keeping these places afloat.
Pick up your favorite music at CD Central, have a drink at Soundbar and get a taste of Africa at Sav’s Grill. These business owners need our support now more than ever.
I’m very concerned about the impact this will have on the small businesses on Limestone. There would be concern even in a thriving economy. In this economy, the only question for these businesses is: how many will go under?
I’ve lived in cities that did this and local government claimed the effect on businesses would be minimal but it wasn’t. Vice Mayor Gray at least tried to get alternatives considered.
Oh yeah, as mentioned in the editorial and article, watch for a MAJOR traffic tie ups as a result.