Construction continues for sidewalk project in Lexington

April 12, 2022

WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News Staff,

LEXINGTON, Tenn. — A project is underway for the City of Lexington. Construction has started for phase two of new sidewalks in the city.

“In 2018, the City of Lexington was awarded a multi-modul contract through the State of Tennessee. We are excited about the master plan for the pedestrians so they can travel to and from the business district to downtown,” said Robbie McCready, City of Lexington Public Works Director.

McCready says phase two of the project began Monday, starting at North Main Street and West Church Street, and will end in front of Fast Pace Urgent Care on West Church Street.

“Phase one came from Beech Lake to the Sonic intersection in town,” McCready said. “This phase is going from Sonic to Fast Pace. It will be a huge connector for our downtown businesses.”

The sidewalk project has a total of five phases, and so far, the city is in phase two of five. And in each phase there will be sidewalks on both sides of the street and pedestrian friendly crosswalks.

“It is going to have pedestrian improvements, intersection improvements. It is going to work in conjunction with our new traffic system where we can do daily pedestrian counts as people move through the city. We can recruit businesses with actual counts,” said McCready.

95% of the project is funded by a grant from the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

McCready says with that, not only can they help Lexington grow, but they can expand on making the city more accessible to pedestrians.

“We do a really good job of planning for traffic. Over the years we have not done a really good job of planning for pedestrians. It is going to put our citizens into a healthier place mentally because they can get out and walk more and also be safe.”