Lexington’s ‘heart and soul’ still dormant

Lexington is going back to the past as it looks for ways at slowing down drivers to encourage discovery of its downtown.

A package of road improvements may be revised to make Main Street more a shopping mecca and less a drive-through to other destinations.

“We want people to come downtown instead of zipping through,” Mayor Randy Halfacre said.

One way to do that may be to scrap a portion of a plan adopted in 2005 to convert Main and Butler streets into one-way freeways, an idea recently recommended by a town advisory panel.

But Halfacre said town leaders may keep traffic flowing both ways on those roads, to appease merchants and residents downtown.

It’s the latest turn in a decade-old struggle that often pits downtown revival against easing traffic congestion that can extend for more than a mile on Main Street and surrounding roads during weekday rush hours.

The one-way plan was adopted in 2005 to ease bottlenecks on three major commuter routes that converge in the center of Lexington.

But it remains unpopular. Retailers say the proposed one-way streets would frustrate downtown revival by making it inconvenient to shops, since many drivers would essentially bypass Main Street. Residents are concerned one-way streets would push commuters into neighborhoods for shortcuts.

No quick relief for downtown traffic congestion is in sight.

While Town Hall has the $12.5 million to start initial improvements to ease congestion, state transportation officials recently pushed back work on widening intersections of three downtown streets at U.S. 378 (Columbia Avenue locally) until this fall. That’s a year later than planned. All the roads are state-maintained, so the delay is beyond the control of town leaders.

Amid the wait, town leaders are urging truckers to use alternate routes, like Gibson Road and South Lake Drive, to alleviate road jams downtown. It’s a campaign that may be extended to commuters, Halfacre said.

A change of heart on the flow of traffic through downtown is a start to help Main Street, but more needs to be done, some merchants say.

The Historic Lexington Business Association was formed last fall to market an area with about a quarter of its 100 stores empty to specialty retailers and shoppers.

Magnets like coffee shops and restaurants are missing, organizers say.

“Until we get something to come to, people won’t come,” said Connie Stuckey, owners of Mae’s women’s apparel.

The advisory group also dusted off a 10-year-old idea of creating paths for walking, jogging and bicycling across downtown.

That project went nowhere amid a fight among town leaders over a sales tax on dining that was intended to pay primarily for the trails and a performing arts center. The tax was short-lived, repealed in 2005 after less than two years.

Since then, Town Hall has tried to drum up interest in Main Street with concerts, festivals, free Wi-Fi, a farmer’s market and utility hook-up fee breaks for new businesses.

None have proved the key to revival as local outlets of national chains flock to sites on U.S. 378 on the east side of the community of 18,000 residents.

Dreams of a publicly-built arts center and a privately-operated center for small conventions on Main Street also are dormant.Halfacre promised to keep experimenting rather than give up on downtown redevelopment.

“The heart and soul of a community is its Main Street,” he said.