State seeks input to shape Jessamine-Fayette Connectivity Study

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has launched JessFayStudy.com – a new public involvement tool to solicit and encourage feedback regarding new transportation options for those who travel in central Kentucky.

The Jessamine-Fayette Connectivity Study will examine current conditions related to safety and mobility within the study area and will consider how to improve east-west connectivity. The current study will not consider any connections or roadway improvements that would cross or impact the Kentucky River.

No decisions regarding specific roadway alignments have been made and local input will help to shape next steps.

“The public will play a critical role in the KYTC study process by providing local knowledge and feedback that will help inform our decision making,” said Casey Smith, Planning Supervisor for KYTC and Project Manager for the Jessamine-Fayette Connectivity Study. “Our team is currently collecting and analyzing a significant volume of data in order to make comprehensive recommendations on how to improve safety and connectivity within the study area – especially as travel patterns change throughout the region – and we need the public to weigh in as we move throughout our study process,” Smith continued.

JessFayStudy.com offers users visual information, study background, and public involvement tools to provide feedback to KYTC and to support outreach within local communities. Specifically, KYTC has published a public survey that will allow respondents to answer several questions about their travel patterns within the study area, identify problem spots they encounter when traveling through the area, and offer the study team feedback on potential solutions.

A new roadway project typically advances through the following phases:

• Planning
• Preliminary Engineering and Environmental Evaluation
• Design
• Right of Way and Utility Coordination
• Construction

The Jessamine-Fayette Connectivity Study is in the planning phase and is not related to previous planning studies that examined linking US 27 to I-75 with a new crossing of the Kentucky River.

Max Conyers, Director of the Lexington Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (LAMPO), which is partnering with KYTC on the study, said that data related to safety and other travel conditions in the study area indicate the need for infrastructure improvements. “Currently, no major roadways support growing east-west travel in the study area,” said Conyers. “In addition, drivers using local routes within the study area experience a variety of issues, including higher-than-average traffic volumes and narrow lane and shoulder widths,” he said.

Conyers added that significant growth is expected in both Jessamine and Fayette counties saying, “Demographic trends show that the population of Jessamine County is expected to increase by more than 40 percent by the year 2040, and Fayette County is expected to grow by more than 33 percent. The current roadway network will not support this level of growth.”