Awards: ACEC National Honor Award

Major downtown Lexington streetscape improvements were undertaken to redefine the downtown and relieve development pressure on rural areas. The project included reconstructing roadway elements to accommodate future two-way streets while balancing vehicular and bicycle mobility with parking needs, which led to the first federally authorized implementation of a floating bike lane. This cutting edge project also incorporated green infrastructure strategies that intercept roadway drainage to reduce runoff and improve water quality.

The project area includes a large portion of the central downtown area totaling approximately 70,000 linear feet of Main Street, Vine Street, High Street, Short Street and Limestone. Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) that were implemented in the streetscape design include rain gardens, stormwater planters, and pervious pavements. The installation of 29 rain gardens throughout the project area provided a means to improve the quality of stormwater runoff, the air quality, and provided aesthetic benefits to the hardscape area. In addition, 96 urban stormwater planters were installed along the streets to collect the stormwater runoff from the roadways. The stormwater was allowed to enter the planters through grated curb cuts and was dissipated throughout the planters using limestone and river rock for erosion control and level spreading. A large pervious paver pavilion was installed in a central area to provide a functional area for stormwater controls and public gathering.