LEXINGTON, KY -Business, a beast that requires constant care and feeding, is not well-suited to accommodating ideals. There never is an ideal time when a business, small in particular, can afford a prolonged decline in patronage. But according to some business owners along Lexington's South Limestone corridor, that dreaded decline now looms in the immediate future and is of deep concern. For others, the city's plan to choke off traffic between Avenue of Champions (Euclid) and Vine for the better part of a year while a package of long discussed and planned upgrades take place amounts to an inconvenience to endure in the interest of some permanent improvements.
City officials said they will temporarily close all or at least a significant portion of the stretch of South Limestone between downtown and UK beginning in July and continuing through late in the year in order to accomplish simultaneous projects designed to make the street more attractive and pedestrian friendly.
The bundle of projects will replace failing sanitary and storm sewer lines, establish a dedicated bike lane, install streetlights similar to those on Vine and Main streets, bury utility lines and install wider sidewalks, according to Michael Webb, Commissioner of Public Works and Development. "Doing projects simultaneously saves money and reduces the impact," he said in a statement. "Generally, the cross streets (High, Maxwell and Euclid) will be open. An ambulance access lane will be open on South Limestone to serve Good Samaritan Hospital."
Webb said the ultimate goal of the project is "to improve pedestrian and bike access to encourage more interaction between downtown and Transylvania, and downtown and the University of Kentucky. Plans are to line the street with trees, rain gardens and markers made of limestone with a lighted element at the top, used as a means to identify Collegetown, which ultimately will link UK, downtown and Transylvania."
Among businesses along the corridor concerned that the choke-off in traffic threatens their futures is Beth Hanna, owner of Hanna's on Lime, a popular downtown breakfast and lunch spot. "Until two days ago, no one had told the business owners --we had not heard from anybody from the city-- that the street would be closed to through traffic from July of '09 through July of 2010, with complete closure for four to five months within that time frame. You're talking about small businesses that won't have any vehicular traffic for a year, which will basically put a lot of us out of business."
"This is our busiest time of the year, for all of us starting in July," fretted Isaac Kurs, co-owner of the Soundbar/Blu Lounge which opened last month next door to Hanna's after costly renovations. "For us on a personal level it's just that we put all this money in the new building and our first year is the most important for us, the one that decides if we make it or break it that's really a big concern for us." Kurs said
"If they close Limestone, we won't make it," said Lisa Hendley-Betz, owner of Failte, the Irish Import Shop across S. Limestone from Hanna's and Soundbar. "I think it's going to be a great thing when it's done, but unfortunately I don't think my business will be here to see the aftermath of it."
"We started public meetings on this project for those businesses in the winter of '08," said Susan Straub, spokeswoman for Mayor Jim Newberry. "We have gone door to door. We sent certified registered letters for property owners and went door to door for businesses for the last meeting because people were not coming."
A more supportive point of view was heard from business owners in the next block to the south. "Honestly, I like the idea," said Mamadou Savane, owner of Sav's Grill & West African Cuisine, located on the corner of South Limestone and Maxwell. "I did see the plan and I love it. It's an improvement and I'm sure it will be inconvenient for people for awhile, but once it's done, we're all going to benefit from it."
Across the street and to the south is the record shop CD Central where owner Steve Baron also views the project as a temporary inconvenience for a permanent improvement. "In general, I'm willing to put up with a little pain for the longterm benefit. I think the project, in general, is going to be a real boon to the merchants on this street and to the city. This is something that every consultant has said - that we should improve Limestone to make it this pedestrian-oriented corridor between UK and downtown, to Transy, if possible. Link all these institutions. I'd love to see better sidewalks, nicer street lighting, bicycle lanes and all of those amenities that they've talked about doing. So, I don't want to do anything that would be an obstacle to accomplishing that goal. The only thing I would ask the city is to do it in such a way, if possible, to minimize the impact on the businesses because anything they do to discourage people from coming downtown is going to hurt us."
"We share the concerns of the businesses in the area and will do everything possible to assure that they can receive their deliveries, that there is pedestrian access and to address concerns," said Commissioner Webb. He noted that businesses on North Limestone had similar concerns when those blocks were closed during the construction of the new courthouses "and, while it was difficult, the city was able to work with them to resolve many concerns. We anticipate using the lessons we learned from that project to do the same for the businesses located along South Limestone."
A product of the Streetscape Task Force established to prepare the city for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, the project puts to the test our community's willingness to actually "walk the walk," as so many have championed in recent years. The businesses along South Limestone will need all the patronage they can get during the street's re-do. Those who support the improvement plans can do so by making an extra effort to brave the construction zones and patronize the local businesses within them.
Bids on the project are scheduled to opened during the week of June 15. It was not yet clear whether city traffic planning officials will establish detour routing around the impacted area.
-- Business Lexingon's Susan Baniak and Erik A. Carlson contributed to this report.