The closing of a portion of Lexington’s Legacy Trail to accommodate a significant private sector expansion created discussion at city hall Tuesday. Utility work is expected to impact the popular trail through the end of the month.
A section of the Legacy Trail was shut down just over three weeks ago to facilitate utility improvements tied to construction of an Amazon delivery station along Newtown Pike. Lexington Council Member Chuck Ellinger, a biking enthusiast, said many cyclists like minimizing their time on roadways. “It really basically is right in the middle of the trail. And there’s not a safe way to go around it because of the way the shoulder sits up there and how busy Newtown is it’s hard to set up some barriers to protect the people,” said Ellinger.
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton says Public Works Commissioner Nancy Albright worked hard to try to figure out a detour route, but it just wasn’t feasible. “I mean if a new building a new business is coming in that’s hiring 500 people, it’s pretty important to get those utilities in. And they want to be up and running this fall. Amazon does. So, Commissioner Albright looked at many possibilities and none of them worked,” explained Gorton.
The mayor and Ellinger both said communication of the closure could have been handled better. Lexington is already home to an Amazon fulfillment center on Mercer Road.
If you appreciate access to this important content during this global pandemic, please help us continue to provide public service journalism and information to Central and Eastern Kentucky communities. Please make your contribution to WEKU today.
