Lexington's Planning Commission recommended against proposed rule changes that would allow large-scale solar projects in agricultural zones. Council will have the final say.
Four individual properties account for as much as $52,400 in unpaid fines.
This week, Councilmembers will get an update on what local enforcement efforts look like.
Learn about how Lexington is working to make streets safer for bicyclists, pedestrians, bus riders, and drivers.
In 2023, the Urban County Council adopted a Complete Streets Policy. This policy aims to create new design standards and regulations for Lexington’s streets to ensure that they are safe for all residents moving in Lexington.
As part of the policy, a Complete Street Action Plan was developed to set target dates for certain actionable tasks to be completed by. Tasks in the action plan vary widely from hiring new staff positions to focus on Complete Streets projects, developing marketing and communications strategies, and updating the City’s street design manuals to create new standards and regulations to prioritize safety for all users.
Nationwide, cities are reevaluating urban transportation. Since the 1950s, transportation networks have primarily been planned in order to move cars quickly. Other modes of transportation, including walking, bicycling, and public transportation, were deprioritized.
As planning car transportation has been prioritized, car-related deaths have grown steadily — and since 2020, they have grown rapidly. Car infrastructure is also expensive to maintain; In the Mayor’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026, $14 million alone is allocated for repaving roadways.
Increased traffic deaths, expensive infrastructure costs, environmental concerns, and more factors have led to US cities exploring ways to design for other modes of transportation besides cars, and Lexington is no exception.
2023 was a peak year for bicycle and pedestrian deaths in Lexington: there were 180 collisions where a car hit a bicyclist or a pedestrian, with 22 of those resulting in deaths. 37 of those were hit and runs.
The Lexington Metropolitan Planning Area (made up of Fayette and Jessamine Counties) had 43 pedestrian or bicyclist fatalities or serious injury collisions, a 17% increase from 2022’s 26 pedestrian or bicyclist collisions. You can find an interactive map of Lexington's pedestrian and bicycle collisions here.
While 2023 was a particularly dangerous year for bicyclists and pedestrians on Lexington roadways, this is not a new problem. In 2014, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Lexington had 143 pedestrians hit by drivers, and had 16 pedestrians killed by drivers from 2011 to 2014.
Nationwide, pedestrian deaths peaked in 2022 with 7,508 pedestrians being killed — the highest number since 1981. In 2007, there were 700 bicyclists killed by drivers; in 2021, that number rose to 966. Generally, bicyclists represent 2% of all annual traffic deaths.
There are several possible explanations for why deaths have risen so sharply, but many attribute street design for fast vehicle transportation as the root cause.
In our On the Table community survey data, the most discussed issue was Bikeability, Walkability, and Accessibility. Of the over 15,000 individual responses, 1,789 people mentioned this topic.
If you want to get engaged in issues around Complete Streets, there several city Boards and Commissions working on the issue whose meetings you can attend, or that you could join!
You can also get engaged with nonprofit organizations working in and around Complete Streets!
In 2023, the Urban County Council adopted a Complete Streets Policy. This policy aims to create new design standards and regulations for Lexington’s streets to ensure that they are safe for road users, including cyclists, pedestrians, transit riders, and drivers.
As part of the policy, a Complete Street Action Plan was developed to set target dates for certain actionable tasks to be completed by. Tasks in the action plan vary widely from hiring new staff positions to focus on Complete Streets projects, developing marketing and communications strategies, and updating the City’s street design manuals to create new standards and regulations to prioritize safety for all users.
Some action items scheduled to be completed by 2025 include:
A Complete Streets Design Manual will also be completed in 2025. This Design Manual will set regulations for how Lexington's streets will be built to accommodate all users.
Major Complete Streets Projects in Lexington
The City of Lexington has completed and is pursuing many Complete Streets projects to redesign Lexington's roadways. Here are some notable projects that have been completed or are in-progress:
In October 2022, Council voted to passed Rethink Parking, a zoning ordinance text amendment (ZOTA) that changed many of Lexington's parking lot regulations.
Notably, Rethink Parking abolished parking minimums in Lexington. Parking minimums are regulations that require developers to add a certain number of car parking spaces to their developments.
As well as abolishing parking minimums, the ZOTA passed by Council also set landscaping and design regulations for parking lots. These aim to make sure that parking lots are safe to walk through for pedestrians, and that there are enough trees and plants in the parking lot to create shade that lowers temperatures and supports the local environment.
You can read more about Lexington's new parking regulations here.
Town Branch Commons is a two-mile shared-use path that moves through the heart of downtown Lexington along Midland Avenue and Vine Street. Eventually, it will connect to the Town Branch Trail via the upcoming Gatton Park on the Town Branch. You can learn more about Town Branch Commons here.
The STREEET Safety Task Force (Shared Travel Requires Engineering, Education, and Enforcement of Traffic) was created in January 2025 by Vice Mayor Dan Wu. The STREEET Safety Task Force aims to address immediate issues and needs regarding safety for all modes of transportation in Fayette County.
The Task Force complements Lexington’s Complete Streets Action Plan, which sets long-term policies for how to improve and redesign Lexington streets. However, the STREEET Safety Task Force will focus on current and immediate gaps not addressed by the Complete Streets Action Plan.
The Task Force is co-chaired by District 10 Councilmember Dave Sevigny and District 5 Councilmember Liz Sheehan and includes other Councilmembers, representatives from Public Safety, Planning, Engineering, the County Attorney’s office, and the community.
Campus to Commons is a recently completed plan that proposes a new design focused on bicycle and pedestrian improvements along Virginia Avenue, Red Mile Road, and Forbes Road from UK’s campus to the new Turner Commons development. No funding has been allocated for construction of any portion of the project as of July 2025.
Connect East Lex is a recently completed plan for the design of a bike trail connector between the Brighton Rail Trail in Hamburg and the Legacy Trail and Town Branch Commons downtown. No funding has been allocated for construction of any portion of the project as of July 2025.
Imagine New Circle Road is a project that redesigns the portion of New Circle Road from Newtown Pike to Richmond Road to be safer for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Lexington received a $22 million grant from the federal government to reconstruct a portion of New Circle Road according to the Imagine New Circle plan. Improvement will be made to the road between Newtown Pike and Bryan Station Road with construction starting in late 2025 or early 2026.
The rest of the Imagine New Circle Road project is currently unfunded. You can read more about Imagine New Circle here.
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