Lexington man concerned about intersection safety
The intersection of Man O War Boulevard and Alumni Drive is too dangerous, and the city is doing nothing to alleviate it, that is according to a nearby resident.
Lexington, Ky (WTVQ): The intersection of Man O War Boulevard and Alumni Drive is too dangerous, and the city is doing nothing to alleviate it, that is according to a nearby resident. According to police records in the last two years, there has been 93 crashes at this intersection. Jimmy Osborne says he has lived on Dale Hollow Drive for the past five years, and in that time, there has been eight vehicles in his yard after wrecks. He says the intersection is especially dangerous for pedestrians.
Osborne says the most recent and severe wreck took place in August, when a box truck left the road went through the city’s fence, and entered his yard, leaking fluid all over his property. “If I put up a wooden privacy fence, vehicles will drive through it. The problem is the city needs to address the roadway, the intersection and the safety for everyone coming through here,” he said.
Osborne says drivers turn the corner way too quick and drive right through the sidewalk. So, he proposes the city put up a guardrail to help solve the problem for pedestrians and his family. Osborne says it’s just a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt or killed because of this issue. “I had one lady in a Honda Civic,” he said. “She went through that fence right where were standing. She ended up more than 15 feet past that fence in a Honda Civic.”
Osborne shared email exchanges with WTVQ, showing the city’s responses to his requests, including an email from the city’s senior engineer, Andrew Grunwald, claiming a guardrail is not necessary for the area.
“We can just come up and put up more right away fence” Osborne said “It’s not a big deal. It is a big deal because I should be able to safely use my yard without the fear, if I’m out here near the fence a vehicle running off the roadway and hitting me,”
Grunwald says the design is set to accommodate a large number of vehicles in two different directions along with heavy turn movement.
Osborne says made an alternative proposal that was completely unsatisfactory. “What if we take some of your property and we push the fence further back,” he explained of the proposal. “That doesn’t fix the problem. Vehicles will still come off of the roadway, they still endanger pedestrians on the sidewalk. So, they’re not fixing the problem. They try to pretend like it doesn’t exist,” he said.
We’ll continue to follow this story as it progresses.
