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With the weather turning cooler, and football and fire pit season upon us, it’s time for my fall update on city happenings on Lexington’s Southside.
There is increasing concern about property crimes in our Southside neighborhoods. Car break-ins are on the rise, known as “larcenies from autos” (LFA), but home burglaries are also a serious problem. From June through September, the Lexington Police Department received reports of 96 LFAs and 37 residential burglaries from South Lexington. By comparison, during the previous four months Lexington’s police received reports of 54 LFAs and 42 residential burglaries from South Lexington.
These are crimes of opportunity when thieves find car doors unlocked, garages open, front doors open, or valuables in plain sight. Please remember to remove valuables from your car and lock your doors. Also remember to keep your garage closed and your home locked at all times. A recent technique burglars have used is to snatch purses from kitchen tables.
Preventing crime in our neighborhoods is everyone’s responsibility. We must look out for each other by letting our neighbors know when they have left their garages open at night or when we see something suspicious. Most importantly, please report all crimes and suspicious activity to the police by calling 911 for emergencies and (859) 258-3600 for non-emergencies. The police don’t know your neighborhood has a crime problem if you don’t tell them what’s going on.
On a lighter note, fall is also the time many of our roads are repaved in preparation for winter. In August, the Urban County Council received its annual list of road ratings from our Division of Streets & Roads, which assigns every Lexington road a pavement rating on a scale from 1 to 100. Roads rated below 65 are considered eligible for repaving, and repaving funds are allocated among council districts according to need, based on the total length of roads rated below 65 in each district.
This year the 10th District again had the worst roads in Lexington, ending up with 16.49 percent of all of Lexington’s “bad” roads and a repaving allocation of $507,791.37. This represents only a fraction of the $4.5 million needed to repave all “65 or below” roads in the 10th District. This year we will focus on several neglected neighborhood roads in the Southland, Palomar, Firebrook and Pasadena neighborhoods. I know that many Lexington roads still need repairs, but we have to do what we can until the council is willing to budget additional funds to catch up on our road repaving backlog.
Speaking of roads, after winning a regional award earlier this fall, the double crossover diamond (DCD) interchange at Harrodsburg Road and New Circle Road is up for more transportation awards. The project is one of 10 finalists in “America’s Transportation Awards,” and is a contender for both the People’s Choice Award and the Grand Prize. To cast your vote for the DCD for the People’s Choice Award, please visit www.americastransportationaward.org.
In September, Mayor Gray announced the opening of Lexington’s first mountain bike trail. Located in Veterans Park in southern Fayette County, the trail is almost four miles long and is built to standards established by the International Mountain Biking Association for beginner and intermediate riders. The trail resulted from a very successful public-private partnership between LFUCG and the Kentucky Mountain Bike Association. A hearty thank you to Mayor Gray and the folks at LFUCG and the Kentucky Mountain Bike Association for making this wonderful community asset a reality.
Fall is one of my favorite times of year, but there is also work to be done to prepare for winter. You can find out about fall leaf collection and other upcoming LFUCG programs by following my weekly council newsletter. Enjoy the season.