Demolition of the Jefferson Street bridge is officially scheduled to begin on October 29, after the Urban County Council’s authorization last week for Lexington Center Corporation to demolish the bridge and its related infrastructure to make way for the city’s expanded convention center.
The bridge, which extends Jefferson Street between High and Main streets, closed on October 22. The portion of the bridge that will be demolished spans the Cox Street parking lot. The demolition will also include the removal of the bridge’s support structure from north of Manchester Street to Main Street. Jefferson Street will still connect to Manchester Street from High Street on the south side, but the project will require temporary closures to accommodate construction.
The demolition work will also include grading of a portion of the removed street on the Main Street side and the installation of necessary traffic safety features on both the Main Street side of the remaining Jefferson Street and the High Street side of the project.
The alternate route for westbound traffic on both Main and High streets will be Oliver Lewis Way. The alternate route for eastbound traffic on Main Street will be Broadway.
Demolition of the bridge is projected to take five or six weeks, followed by three to four weeks of additional work to demolish the bridge’s abutment near High Street.
The bridge demolition is an early step in the $241 million project to replace and expand the Lexington Convention Center. The three-year project, which was awarded to Messer Construction Company in June, will be built in phases to allow Rupp Arena and parts of the existing convention center to remain in operation during construction.
The new Convention Center will comprise more than 200,000 square feet when completed, including 100,841 square feet of exhibition space, 25,080 square feet of ballroom space and 26,756 square feet of meeting spaces. The entire project is scheduled to be completed by late 2021.
Upon completion, the project is projected to increase the annual economic impact of the center by $58 million, in addition to keeping the Lexington market competitive as a convention destination.