LEXINGTON, KY - As construction nears its Wednesday commencement, business owners on the South Limestone approach to downtown are still worried that the concerns they've been expressing for weeks have not been officially addressed as their street readies to completely close through mid-November.
"They were very forthcoming when we've talked to different council members, and the mayor and vice mayor said they'd do what they can to help, but none of these (details) have been agreed on or taken care of and they're about to start digging," said Isaac Kurs, co-owner of the recently opened Soundbar at 208 S. Limestone. "We're really worried."
Kurs said he has been told customers for South Limestone businesses would be able to park for free in the Transit Center Garage about a block away, but less than 48 hours before the road was to close he had not seen anything in writing assuring that, nor had he received further instructions on how exactly that program would work.
"It's weird when they say they're going to do everything they can to help, but everything they can to help needs to be in writing because we need to know exactly what to tell our patrons, where they can park and how they can get to our business," Kurs said.
LUFCG Commissioner of Public Works, Mike Webb, said late Monday that stamps are being made for those businesses to allow for two hour parking validation at the Transit Center Garage.
But Kurs has been concerned over what he considers an overabundance of verbal commitments, and has contacted legal counsel to get details carved in stone so he and his fellow business owners will know what to tell their customers.
"We're not trying to fight this or stop it, all we're trying is to make sure that we get in writing and make sure that they do address these concerns before starting," he said.
Lexington Downtown Development Authority President Harold Tate said a Web site, www.southlimestoneprogress.com, spells out details to business owners' concerns.
"It'll be in writing simply by the fact that it's on the Web page, so that itself they'll be able to see exactly when things are going to occur, where the parking can occur and stuff like that," Tate said Monday afternoon. "So I think the intention is to get as much out there (Monday and Tuesday) so that they can see in writing what is being proposed."
Kurs said any sort of legal action is a final resort, but wants his attorney to be in talks with the city as the Limestone construction gets underway. "At this point nothing's been filed and we would like to avoid it at any costs, it's not beneficial to us. We don't want to stop progress, we want to be part of it, but we have to be considered in order to be part of it. We can't be overlooked, that's our major concern," he said.
Issues Kurs said he is most concerned about include exactly how long Limestone will be closed to public traffic as well as where equipment working on the project will be parked and how it might limit access to his business. SoundBar opened in May after Kur and his business partner spent $750,000 renovating their building.
Webb, who said he had not heard from Kurs' attorney, said Limestone will be completely shut off to the public from the intersection of Avenue of Champions/Winslow/Euclid to Vine Street starting around 2 a.m. Wednesday through a target date of Nov. 15. Limestone traffic will not have access to that intersection. Traffic headed west on Ave. of Champions will be detoured onto Martin Luther King Boulevard.
"I don't think anybody can say to the date (when) its going to be open, but what we did was we put in the contract some penalties and bonuses for certain things," Webb said. "At that point we'd be able to have one through lane of traffic through there."
Periodically, however, after that time the street may only be open for local traffic depending on what other types of work needs to be done.
"I can maybe get deliveries and maybe get my employees coming to work, but if none of the customers can reach me, maybe I don't need deliveries or employees," Kurs said.
As the project continues Webb has asked the contractor to release a seven-day schedule to interested parties on a weekly basis to keep them abreast of the work that is being done and what will be most significantly affected. Webb will also have weekly meetings open to the public, including one on July 21, in the third floor conference room of the Phoenix Building, 101 E. Vine Street to address concerns about the project until construction is done.
Webb said the contractor, ATS, will be working from the ends of the project into the middle which will lessen the burden on major intersections on the project's outer limits, including the Limestone and Avenue of Champions/Winslow intersection which Webb hopes to have reopened by the time students return to UK for fall classes.
The estimated $13 million project, which is part of a larger downtown-wide streetscape plan, has been in the works for years to better link the student population near UK with the downtown in an area that has been designated by the city as "Collegetown." Overhead utilities along corridor will be buried while aging underground infrastructure like storm and sanitary sewers will be repaired or replaced. Once underground work is done the street surface will be completely revamped with wider sidewalks, bike lanes and makers to designate the area as Collegetown.
In addition to the project's Web site, LFUCG has set up a project manager, George Milligan, to answer questions in regards to the project. He can be reached at LexCall, 3-1-1 or 425-2255.