Lexington drivers commuting between Nicholasville and Tates Creek Roads will face one less detour starting this Sunday. The realignment and reconstruction of the Alumni Drive corridor is nearing completion.
Since May, drivers have found themselves without a key artery running along the south side of campus – and with only limited access to, among other things, Commonwealth Stadium, the Arboretum, and a child care center.
"We know that this project has been a significant inconvenience for many - our neighbors, our community - and we're thankful for that patience," UK Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration Eric Monday acknowledges, adding, "the project is going to be worth it."
Monday says the $5 million dollar revision to the road includes two single-lane roundabouts at College Way and University Drive as well as new bicycle and pedestrian pathways.
"Alumni Drive carried about 18,000 cars [daily] before this realignment," he explains. "It has the capacity now to carry as many as 25,000, but the focus of this project was not as much on capacity. It was more a focus on safety."
Alumni Drive is slated to reopen Sunday at 9 a.m., less than a week before students begin returning to campus for the fall semester.
