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[seicer]

http://m.kentucky.com/Lexington/db_295586/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=qvVgDI54&full=true#display
New Circle to be widened from Georgetown to Versailles roads
By Valarie Honeycutt Spears and Josh Kegley
Posted:  11/20/2012 6:10 AM

An $80 million project will widen parts of New Circle Road in northwest Lexington and create a double-crossover diamond at Leestown Road.

Those changes are part of a project that would alter some of Lexington's major arteries to "reduce traffic congestion and operational deficiencies on New Circle Road" and its interchanges, said Rob Sprague, design section supervisor for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

Sprague said the project is expected to begin in the fall of 2013 and continue through the summer of 2016.

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Project includes:

1. Widening KY 4 f rom 4 to 6 lanes from Georgetown Road (US 25) to Versailles Road (US 60). FY 2013+
2. Convert the Leestown Road (US 421) interchange from a diamond to a double-crossover diamond like the Harrodsburg Road (US 68) interchange. FY 2014+
3. Reconstruct the Old Frankfort Pike interchange. The bridge over New Circle Road would be widened. FY 2014+
4. Reconstruct the Versailles Road (US 60) interchange. Remove the US 60 EB to KY 4 NB loop ramp and replace with a flyover. FY 2014+

[hbelkins]

The flyover will be good, because that's a nasty weave if you're trying to get out to the interstate from the BG Parkway, the airport or Keeneland. But I am afraid that the flyover will the the last nail in the coffin of ever extending the BG Parkway out to I-64, which should have been done years ago.

The median barrier will probably have the faux stone fence design like the new one in the Georgetown Road/Newtown Pike area of New Circle.

I foresee a Lexington meet in the fall of 2014 or the spring/summer of 2015. 

[ShawnP]

Agree on BG parkway..........

[smwils1]

Does anyone know the original speed limit on the freeway (limited access) section of New Circle Rd between when it opened and the federal 55 MPH limit kicked in? I have asked people old enough to remember, but no one seems to remember. I'd think it would be eligible for a 70 MPH limit, same as the interstates and parkways at the time.

[seicer]

https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt734t6f3d29_4724_1?q=interstate+parkway&per_page=20

Would this be KY 4 and US 60 on the east side of Lexington?

[wriddle082]

https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt734t6f3d29_4724_1?q=interstate+parkway&per_page=20

Would this be KY 4 and US 60 on the east side of Lexington?

No, New Circle and US 60 (Winchester Road) was originally a 3/4 cloverleaf (missing the NB-WB leaf), with 0 acceleration lanes, prior to the SPUI rebuild.

Other than that, I don’t have a clue where it could be!

[hbelkins]

https://exploreuk.uky.edu/catalog/xt734t6f3d29_4724_1?q=interstate+parkway&per_page=20

Would this be KY 4 and US 60 on the east side of Lexington?

No, New Circle and US 60 (Winchester Road) was originally a 3/4 cloverleaf (missing the NB-WB leaf), with 0 acceleration lanes, prior to the SPUI rebuild.

Other than that, I don’t have a clue where it could be!

No clue here either, as I don't know of any freeway that had dual guardrail as the median.

[seicer]

Looking at it on Historic Aerials, it looks like it is KY 4/US 60 (https://www.historicaerials.com/location/38.04284811181506/-84.45540235176577/1958/17). Not what I was expecting at all!

[The Ghostbuster]

According to Wikipedia's Interstate 64 in Kentucky page, New Circle Road was once proposed to become Interstate 464. Some information is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_64_in_Kentucky.

[Life in Paradise]

According to Wikipedia's Interstate 64 in Kentucky page, New Circle Road was once proposed to become Interstate 464. Some information is available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_64_in_Kentucky.

Rereading that citation and then looking at the map would appear to confirm my initial thoughts that I-64/I-75 were to be the missing part of the circle, and that either the powers at be pushed the interstate further out of Lexington to save money/trouble or the connections from the circle road out to the interstate were never made.  If you look at a map of Lexington, the thru interstate matches up with the non-freeway portion of New Circle Road.

[NE2]

What a load of shite.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Interstate_64_in_Kentucky&diff=prev&oldid=690940095

[hbelkins]

I saw a timeline of road construction projects in Kentucky years ago, but I can't remember where, that mentioned that at the same time the decision was made not to run 64 and 75 through downtown Lexington, it was also decided to route 64 and 65 through downtown Louisville. I don't know how much of this was done locally in the two cities and how much was done at a state level. I don't go into downtown Lexington all that often, but I know it's a pain to get to, especially coming from the east or south. Louisville, by contrast, is easy to get into, as most of my business visits to the city are in places easily accessible from I-64.

[Life in Paradise]

I saw a timeline of road construction projects in Kentucky years ago, but I can't remember where, that mentioned that at the same time the decision was made not to run 64 and 75 through downtown Lexington, it was also decided to route 64 and 65 through downtown Louisville. I don't know how much of this was done locally in the two cities and how much was done at a state level. I don't go into downtown Lexington all that often, but I know it's a pain to get to, especially coming from the east or south. Louisville, by contrast, is easy to get into, as most of my business visits to the city are in places easily accessible from I-64.

I knew if anyone could possibly shed some light on the past decisions in KY, you could.  The decisions for this were probably made when we were both running around in small britches, if even born!

[seicer]

When I lived in Lexington, I would often go to the Central Library that was next door to my downtown apartment. The news clippings I found and probably still have copies of somewhere indicated that there was very strong opposition to a central I-64 route. I remember seeing a map which indicated interchanges and ramp movements in downtown and it would have decimated the historic South Hill neighborhood. There was no political support for it either.

The Louisville mayor who was involved in routing I-65 through downtown later regretted that decision.

[mrsman]

This thread is the first time I've really taken a look at Lexington.

It is interesting to have a near-freeway beltway, but not at all accessible to the Interstates.  Maybe this is a candidate for longest isolated freeway.

Were there ever any plans to build a spur of I-64/75 to the New Circle Road in the north side of town?  By my estimations, it is less than 2 miles along Newtown Pike.

Agreed on the comments with regard to BG Pkwy.  It should be extended north to I-64 (and hence to I-75) or east to New Circle (to serve Lexington) or both.

Lexington needs better access to the regional highways.  IMO, this means some limited highway access from the freeway part of New Circle outward to the regional highways.  Three roadways would be ideal, to the west to connect to the BG Pkwy, to the north to connect to I-64/I-75 (coming from west, north, and east), and to the southeast to connect to the southern I-75.  To preserve the town, there should not be any new highways that pierce the New Circle.  Ideally, all of New Circle should be limited access.

[TheStranger]

This thread is the first time I've really taken a look at Lexington.

It is interesting to have a near-freeway beltway, but not at all accessible to the Interstates.  Maybe this is a candidate for longest isolated freeway.

Actually in the thread that New Circle Road inspired me to create (Isolated freeways & isolated freeway networks - https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=25314.0), I figured out that US 101 south of Eureka at 70 miles is the longest!

But it is definitely noticeable to have a small beltway like this so close to two major interstates AND a Kentucky parkway without having any connections to the longer-distance limited access roads!

I also wonder why that northeast quadrant of the loop was never made full freeway before development ended up consuming the available land there.

Looking at Google Maps right now (4 PM eastern on a Friday), there's quite a bit of congestion on I-75 south and the first surface road that connects I-64/I-75 with New Circle, KY 922.

Agreed on the comments with regard to BG Pkwy.  It should be extended north to I-64 (and hence to I-75) or east to New Circle (to serve Lexington) or both.

IIRC, part of the reason the Bluegrass Parkway remains with its US 60 terminus is that the land north of there is so valuable for horse farming and thus makes right of way acquisition a tough task in that area.

[mrsman]

This thread is the first time I've really taken a look at Lexington.

It is interesting to have a near-freeway beltway, but not at all accessible to the Interstates.  Maybe this is a candidate for longest isolated freeway.

Actually in the thread that New Circle Road inspired me to create (Isolated freeways & isolated freeway networks - https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=25314.0), I figured out that US 101 south of Eureka at 70 miles is the longest!

But it is definitely noticeable to have a small beltway like this so close to two major interstates AND a Kentucky parkway without having any connections to the longer-distance limited access roads!

I also wonder why that northeast quadrant of the loop was never made full freeway before development ended up consuming the available land there.

Looking at Google Maps right now (4 PM eastern on a Friday), there's quite a bit of congestion on I-75 south and the first surface road that connects I-64/I-75 with New Circle, KY 922.

Agreed on the comments with regard to BG Pkwy.  It should be extended north to I-64 (and hence to I-75) or east to New Circle (to serve Lexington) or both.

IIRC, part of the reason the Bluegrass Parkway remains with its US 60 terminus is that the land north of there is so valuable for horse farming and thus makes right of way acquisition a tough task in that area.

It is very odd.  It's interesting that 75/64 provide an outer bypass along the northeast quadrant, the quadrant where New Circle is not a freeway.  If New Circle were connected to the interstates in the north and the southeast, turning the remaining parts of New Circle into a freeway would not be necessary as you already have a Beltway to handle all movements.

All in all, it seems like its about 3 miles from Downtown to I-75/64 along Broadway.  It's reminiscent of Madison, WI, which also is hard to reach by interstate (blame the lakes for that).  There, the Beltline and the Interstates provide a partial beltway around the town.  The Beltline runs pretty close to Downtown, but you still need a 2 mile minimum surface street connection.

[hbelkins]

There's construction ongoing to rebuild the KY 4/KY 922 interchange, which had some tight loop ramps and areas with no merge zones.

Even though KY 922 is the preferred connection for traffic between the interstates and the Bluegrass Parkway, there are actually fewer traffic lights if you use US 27/68 and KY 4 instead of KY 922. The worst part about using 27/68 to connect to the interstate if going east is that sometime's it's hard to merge onto the interstate and then work all the way over to the left lane for the I-64 eastbound exit.

If Keeneland is in session, I won't even bother using US 60 to get to the BG Parkway. I'll stay on I-64 all the way to Frankfort and then use US 127.

[ibthebigd]

I just wonder how many years it will take to get 3 lanes from Versailles Rd to Tates Creek or Richmond Rd

SM-G950U