When will the city finally get the message about South Limestone?

Underground Ink and Piercing is the first casualty of the South Limestone construction and it doesn’t look like it will be the last. Other businesses, including Bombay Brazier and Hanna’s on Lime, are taking notice that their overall business has declined and that future closings will most likely further enhance this problem.

“It’s difficult for people to get down here if they don’t know where they’re going,” Beth Hanna, owner of Hanna’s on Lime said. “And with Maxwell closing… that’s another set of problems for us.”

This is a problem, Lexington. In the current economy, businesses are already starving for patronage and revenue.

The city of Lexington should not be putting other businesses at even more of an unfair disadvantage by closing streets around them for extended periods of time.

Look at Bombay Brazier. The store has already closed their doors for the latter half of last week. Not only are they missing out on the minimal amount of business they can still draw, but their employees are not working and earning the wages they count on.

What do a few days’ wages mean?

It could be that bill that needs to get paid, that now will go unpaid. It could be a couple of day’s worth of groceries that will remain on the shelf.

These business closings caused by the construction go beyond the typical loss of business; they effect many different groups of people – employees, owners, families of employees, etc.

Underground Ink moved down the street to avoid being plagued by the street closings. But not every business can just pack up and relocate to beat the lack of business.

Sure, the road construction is supposed to be for a good cause. Curbside rain gardens will definitely make streets look nicer and the infrastructure improvements will help modernize the area, but at what point is this Streetscape Master Plan to be considered too costly for businesses on South Limestone?

How many more businesses will have to close or move in order to get the point across to Lexington-Fayette County Urban Government officials that they are doing a disservice?

That is a bigger disservice than marginally including and informing Limestone business owners about the plans and subsequent construction.

At this point, there isn’t a towel big enough to clean up this spilled milk, but Lexington officials must take a look at alternative ways to get this construction done in a way that is not detrimental to businesses in that area. Are the improvements honestly worthwhile if there aren’t any businesses or workers to keep the area thriving after the improvements are completed?

First it was CenterPointe, now it’s South Limestone. At what point will the city improve itself, instead of tearing itself apart?