Lexington mayoral candidate Anthany Beatty doesn't believe increasing two-way traffic in the downtown area would be an improvement. It's an issue that has been debated and studied over the past several years.
Lexington’s Council has so far not acted to convert any two-way streets to one-way. Beatty believes such a change would likely cause traffic gridlock, saying "Two way streets are somewhat problematic as you're trying to expedite traffic, particularly with left turns and all the complicating things that back traffic up and cause more congestion.”
Beatty told members of the Lexington Rotary Club that existing traffic patterns are adding more to the area’s carbon footprint, citing, “More problems for the environment, less traffic flow, more frustration for our citizens because they can't move.”
According to the former police chief, two way streets don't tend to work in cities like Lexington where ther downtown has manynarrow streets.
Beatty told Rotarians he’s also suggesting further examining the costs of constructing a new city hall. He says financing such a project over the long-haul may be similar to current yearly maintenance expenses.
"We may be able to get into a facility now with the right kind of partnership in the construction phase of this to allow us to have a center that would also serve 50 years,” said Beatty. He believes a new City Hall could be less expensive than the $2 to $3 million now being spent to maintain the government center.
