Bypass East - The Route We've Been Waiting For?

Nicholasville has seen spectacular growth in it's population over the past few decades.  Nowhere is this increase more apparent than on our roads.

KYTC statistics show over 22,000 vehicles traversed North Main Street every day in 2011.  Stats from 2010 show roughly 30,200 vehicles traverse the Bypass between Etter Drive and Keene Road.

Five years ago, downtown Main Street accommodated 24,000 vehicles per day.

Today, these numbers have only increased.  If you've driven down Main Street lately, you'll notice heavy traffic congestion around 4:30-5:30 pm.  Indeed, Nicholasville now has it's own rush hour.  During this time, a commute from Walmart to Southbrook may require over fifteen minutes; equivalent to driving the same 3.5 mile stretch at a blistering 14 miles an hour.

Years ago, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the Lexington Area Metropolitan Planning Organization teamed up to discuss the feasibility of an alternative bypass on Nicholasville's eastern outskirts.  In 2010, they completed planning.  Right-of-way purchasing started this year and is still in progress.  Construction could begin as early as next fall.

  

The finalized route for the eastern bypass.  The red
marks denote possible I-75 connection points.

Overview
The new bypass will connect with the current bypass (US-27) near Southern States and will bank northeast, reforming a portion of the western Bypass in the process, wrap around Plaza Dr (Applebee's, Zaxby's, etc.), and intersect with North Main Street using a single point urban interchange (SPUI). The four-lane highway will then surround eastern Nicholasville, intersect with Union Mill Road and Sulphur Well Road, and cut through West Place before finally intersecting with US-27 at Danville Loop Road.

The stretch is an estimated 7.8 miles long and will be developed in two phases.

The KYTC and the MPO believe the new route will relieve traffic congestion on Main Street and give south central Kentuckians an alternate route through Jessamine County.  If the theoretical I-75 corridor is given the green light, it would grant Nicholasvillans a shorter and faster route to the interstate and to Richmond.

In addition to traffic reduction, new businesses could spawn along the bypass, spurring job growth and increasing the county's economic output.  The route could attract companies that rely on logistics.  The so-called "I-75 connector" would drastically increase these benefits.

The eastern bypass will not come without a price, however.  The route will run through many parcels of farmland, requiring displacement of some homeowners and the purchasing and destruction of farmland.  Construction will also require rerouting of some water, gas, and power lines.  Most residents affected seem more-or-less content with the plans.  But some are voicing opposition, including those not directly in the route's path. 

The I-75 connector isn't even out of design phase, and has already stirred controversy.  The corridor would have to cut through over ten miles of farmland, and cross the Kentucky River.  The route would likely reduce traffic through Valley View Ferry as well.  Novelists Wendell Berry and Barbara Kingsolver recently appeared at the Lyric Theater with other local artists to discuss the corridor's potential destruction to Marble Creek and the Kentucky River's famous Palisades.

Another price... is the price.  The eastern bypass is slated to cost $111 million, with parcel purchasing costing about $36 million alone.

I-75 corridor costs are yet to be determined.  Columnist Peter Brackney recently reported a figure of $400 million for the entire hypothetical Jessamine/Madison nexus, and argued against the project in favor of expanding existing routes.

Southbrook and West Place
The bypass will cross through Southbrook's bizarre elongated sprawl.  Houses in the route's path have already been relocated.  This grants Southbrook and West Place a critical list of pros and cons, one unavoidable disadvantage being highway noise.

The new bypass could intersect with Cannonball Dr, which would greatly affect Southbrook and West Place residents.

The bypass may intersect with Cannonball Drive.  If so, the route would have a huge impact on Southbrook's logistics.  Residents would have quicker access to Route 27 (Lexington/Danville Road) and South Main Street.  New businesses may build along the new bypass; Southbrook could get its very own convenience store.  However, residents may have to wait at a stop sign or even a red light just to reach the other half of Southbrook... and the last thing Southbrook needs is another accursed stop sign.

"Spewie" and New North Main
The most infamous intersection in town will vanish after the completion of the new bypass.  Plaza Dr will be extended to intersect with North Main Street, potentially creating lots for a few more businesses.  North Main/Lexington Road will recombine into a straightaway, as it ran before the installation of the current western bypass.  The waterpark will remain accessible via the new portion of the western bypass.

The bypass will intersect "new" Main Street with a SPUI and recreate a portion of the western bypass.

The eastern and western bypasses will converge on and intersect with North Main Street in a single point urban interchange.  The bypass will have free movement and North Main Street will have stoplights underneath.  SPUI's are preferred for their wide turns, and ability to be built in a confined area, without wasting much land space.

The Project Map

A portion of the project map showing access roads and
the SPUI.  Click here for the full version.

An existing SPUI at New Circle Rd and Winchester 
Road in Lexington.  Note the shorter ramps.

According to the project map available on the KYTC's website, the interchange will be built with much longer ramps than usual.  The ramps on the western bypass might even have their own bridges over the Norfolk Southern Railway.

Due to the ramps, it appears that service roads will be added to backtrack to Baker Lane and Groggins Ferry. Another will branch off of the eastern bypass to Groggins Ferry near Savage Way.  Martin Luther King Blvd will also get an extension.

The full project map also shows revisions to Union Mill Drive, Sulphur Well Road, and even Cannonball Drive in Southbrook.  The revision to Sulphur Well Road appears straightened.  It's possible that the dangerously lopsided curve past East Jessamine High School could soon be a thing of the past.

Conclusion/Opinion
After living here for nine years, I've seen the rate at which Nicholasville has grown.  The eastern bypass simply has to happen.  It's a shame that the new route will displace many people and farmland, but we must accommodate our rising population and those of neighboring counties to the south.

I'm on the fence about the I-75 connector.  On one hand, Nicholasvillans and specifically EKU students desperately need a more efficient route to Richmond.  The connector would also benefit counties to the south and west by offering a new route from the Interstate.  On the other hand, considering the cost of the new bypass, the estimated length of the connector (over 12 miles), and the intense opposition by potentially affected landowners, the price tag on the I-75 connector would probably be in the hundreds of millions.

The city and county governments are both in favor of the I-75 connector's study phase, and the city government has already approved the project itself to proceed if it's greenlit after the study phase.  If the connector is endorsed by all parties, Nicholasville is going to change a lot in the next decade.  Only time will tell.

References and Useful Links
• Official I-75 Connector Website
• Official I-75 Connector Facebook
• Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, District 7
• I-75 Connector Screening Summary(PDF)