New Circle Road

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For the former Route 4, see Kentucky Route 4 (1930s).

State Highway 4

Length:

19.283 mi (31.03 km)

West/North end:

East/South end:

Counties:

Fayette

Cities:

Lexington

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New Circle Road is the common name of KY 4, a Kentucky state highway that serves as an inner beltway around Lexington, which is part of the consolidated city-county government with Fayette County.

The state designates the start and finish of the road at its interchange with Nicholasville Road on the city's south side. Exit numbering increases as one travels clockwise.

Roughly three-fourths of the highway is limited-access, with all movements controlled at 10 interchanges. The remainder is a urban principal arterial highway with a heavy mix of driveway entrances and intersections with one single-point urban interchange at US 60 (Winchester Road). The dividing line between the limited-access segment and the urban arterial highway is US 25 (Richmond and Georgetown Road) north and east of the city.

1 Major intersections
2 History
- 2.1 Winchester Road/US 60 Interchange Reconstruction
- 2.2 Reconstructing New Circle Road
3 References
4 See also
5 Further reading

[edit] Major intersections

Note all intersections are listed between Image:Circle sign 922.svg and .

County	Location	Mile	Road(s)
Fayette	Lexington Harrodsburg	2	US 68 Harrodsburg Road
	Lexington Versailles	5	US 60 Versailles Road
	Lexington	6	Image:Circle sign 1681.svg KY 1681 Old Frankfort Pike
	Lexington	7	US 421 Leestown Road
	Lexington Georgetown	8	US 25 Georgetown Road
	Lexington	9	Image:Circle sign 922.svg KY 922 Newtown Pike
	Lexington	9	Image:Circle sign 353.svg KY 353 Russell Cave Road
	Lexington	10	US 27 US 68 North Broadway
	Lexington	10	North Limestone Old Paris Road
	Lexington	11	KY 57 Bryan Station Road
	Lexington Winchester	13	US 60 Winchester Road
	Lexington	14	Image:Circle sign 1927.svg KY 1927 Liberty Road
	Lexington Richmond	15	US 25 US 421 Richmond Road
	Lexington	16	Alumni Drive
	Lexington	18	Image:Circle sign 1974.svg KY 1974 Tates Creek Road
	Lexington Nicholasville	19	US 27 Nicholasville Road

Legend
Crossing, no access	Concurrency termini	Decommissioned	Unconstructed	Closed

[edit] History

New Circle Road, not named after an older Circle Road in Lexington, was constructed in segments from 1950 to 1965 as a circumferential bypass. The first segment to be built, from KY 922 (Newtown Pike) to US 25 (Richmond Road)/US 421, was built through rolling pasture land on a new four-lane urban principal arterial alignment. The first portion to open was constructed by the city of Lexington. To help finance the construction of the highway, driveway access was sold to nearby horse farm owners who hoped to cash in on the highway's future traffic counts for their own ventures ^[1].

It included at-grade intersections at Palumbo Drive, KY 1927 (Liberty Road), KY 57 (Bryan Avenue), Old Paris Pike, US 27/US 68, and at KY 353 (Russell Cave Road), with one interchange at US 60 (Winchester Road).

The remainder of the highway around Lexington was constructed to urban freeway standards with interchanges at US 25 (Richmond Road)/US 421, KY 1974 (Tates Creek Road), US 27 (Nicholasville Road), US 68 (Harrodsburg Road), US 60 (Versailles Road), KY 1681 (Old Frankfort Pike), US 421 (Leestown Road), US 25 (Georgetown Road) and at KY 922 (Newtown Pike). The interchange with Alumni Drive was added in 1987 with the completion of Man-O-War at Alumni Drive.

The roadway consists of four 12' lanes throughout with a 20' raised grass median and a 40' depressed grass median on the urban freeway segment, and a 8'-20' non-mountable median in the urban principal arterial section.

[edit] Winchester Road/US 60 Interchange Reconstruction

The interchange with US 60 (Winchester Road), built in 1961, was sorely out-of-date by the 1980s. Tight 15 mph ramps and a narrow underpass with no acceleration or deceleration lanes made this a dangerous pseudo-cloverleaf interchange. Trucks, too tall for the substandard overpass height clearance, would frequently damage the bridge girders. Work started in the late 1990s to convert this outdated exit into a single-point urban interchange (SPUI). There are two left turn lanes on each ramp, and those are controlled by a single traffic light instead of two. Longer ramps make merging onto New Circle Road easier as well. In the fall of 2000, the new Winchester Road interchange opened to traffic at a cost of $8.1 million ^[2].

[edit] Reconstructing New Circle Road

In 1987, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government recommended a solution to the 6.1 mile section of New Circle Road from Georgetown Road/US 25 to Richmond Road/US 25/US 421. New Circle Road in the northeastern quadrant of Lexington has high traffic volumes, numerous accidents and traffic delays as motorists face numerous commercial access points, congested intersections, poor traffic signal progressions, and a very low level of service made worse during peak hours. None of these recommendations by the urban government were implemented however ^[1].

In 1999, a study of the 14-mile fully controlled access portion of New Circle Road was completed for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. The study focused on an eight and ten-lane alternative. The eight-lane alternative was recommended at a cost of $218 million but no funds have been allocated for that portion of New Circle Road as of this date. That study did not include recommendations for New Circle Road between Georgetown Road/US 25 to Richmond Road/US 25/US 421 other than proposed improvements for the interchanges at Georgetown Road/US 25 and Richmond Road/US 25/US 421.

In August of 1999, the Kentucky Transportation Center at the University of Kentucky College of Engineering completed Research Report KTC-99-55, "Conversion of New Circle Road to a limited Access Facility". The study compared the addition of one lane in each direction with the use of median U-turns and restricted left-turn strategies at selected intersections from Newtown Pike/KY 922 to Richmond Road/US 25/US 421. This was presented to the Lexington Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and is considered to have been the stimulus for the development of the New Circle Road Northeast improvement study that began on December 1 of 1999.

Four alternatives for the segment from Newtown Pike/KY 922 to Richmond Road/US 25/US 421 were presented and a fifth was introduced later after combining several key ideas that the residents voiced their approval of at several public meetings:

No Build Alternative (Cost: N/A)
- Traffic congestion and a high accident rate will deter potential businesses and customers from traveling in this corridor.
- Traffic volumes will increase making the need for roadway expansion a necessity.
- Reduction in system speed, increase in travel time, and a decrease in safety.
- Congestion on New Circle Road will encourage cut-through traffic on streets with lesser capacity.
- No direct residential, commercial, or environmental disturbances, and no construction delays nor the expenditure of funds.

Alternative 1 - Six Lane (Cost: $67,200,000)
- Widening four-lane New Circle Road to six-lanes curb and gutter.
- Eliminating four signalized intersections. The number of traffic signals will decrease from 15 to 11.
- Establishing access to businesses by a continuous right-turn lane and a raised median to prohibit left-turns except by designated mid-block U-turn lanes.
- The alternate provides access to businesses by establishing right-turn lanes and using a raised median to prohibit left turns except via designated mid-block U-turn lanes.

Alternative 2 - Eight Lane (Cost: $81,900,000)
- Widening four-lane New Circle Road (KY 4) to eight-lanes curb and gutter.
- Eliminating one signalized intersection.
- Providing median access points, right-turn entrances, and designated mid-block U-turns.

Alternative 3 - Partial-Limited Access (Cost: $163,800,000)
- Widening four-lane New Circle Road to six-lanes from Newtown Pike/KY 922 to Russell Cave Road//KY 353 and from Richmond Road/US 25/US 421 to Liberty Road/KY 1927.
- Widening four-lane New Circle Road to six-lanes from Russell Cave Road/KY 353 to Liberty Road/KY 1927.
- Relocating Broadway on a separate alignment over New Circle Road immediately south of the railroad tracks and reconstructing "old" Broadway into an access road to New Circle Road.
- Provide grade-separated interchanges at high traffic intersections.
- The elimination of nine signalized intersections. The number of traffic signals goes from 15 to 6.
- The median will be closed at less critical intersections permitting right-in and right-out turning movements. Left turns will be accommodated via median U-turn lanes located at mid block on each side of the intersection.

Alternative 4 - Focus Group Recommended (Cost: $96,140,000)
- The elimination of five signalized intersections.
- Widening the existing four-lanes to six with curb and gutter except between Woodhill Drive and Liberty Road/KY 1927 where there will be eight lanes.
- No changes to the Georgetown Road//US 25 and the Richmond Road/US 25/US 421 interchange, and no changes to the intersections at North Limestone/Old Paris Pike, Bryan Station Road/KY 57 (with the exception of adding dual left-turn lanes from eastbound New Circle Road to KY 57), Industry/Sunshine Lane, Eastland Drive (with the exception of adding dual left-turn lanes from southbound New Circle Road to Eastland Drive), Trade Center Drive, Young Drive, and Palumbo Drive (with the exception of a three-lane median allowing a full left turn lane into Young Drive and dual-left turn lanes from southbound New Circle Road to Palumbo Drive and Palumbo Drive to New Circle Road).
- SPUI's will be constructed at Newtown Pike/KY 922 and Russell Cave Road//KY 353.
- "Medians will be closed at Boardwalk/Colesbury Circle, Meadow Lane, Floyd Drive, Pridemore Court/Jingle Bell Lane, and Family Circle. Left turns will be accommodated at these intersections via mid-block U-turn lanes to either side of each intersection."
- "North Broadway will be realigned to the east of the CSX railroad, bridging over New Circle Road and passing over or under the railroad to tie back into existing Paris Pike. The remaining stubs of N. Broadway and Paris Pike/US 27/US 68 will connect to the relocated road via T-intersections on each side of New Circle Road. The T-intersections will be signalized with dual left turn lanes, dual through lanes, and single right turn lanes. There will be a short signal for right turns on New Circle Road and the two stub ends of N. Broadway and Paris Pike/US 27/US 68 at New Circle Road will have dual right-turn lanes entering and exiting New Circle."
- "Only through and right turn movements will be permitted at the intersection of Liberty Road/KY 1927. Roundabouts are to be placed in the intersection of Liberty Road/KY 1927 at Christian Road and similarly at Creative Drive. The intersections of Christian Road and Creative Drive at New Circle Road will permit only right-turns in and out. Left turn movements will be accommodated via the "bowtie" created by the Christian Road and the Creative Drive loops. Woodhill Drive will continue to be an at-grade, signal controlled intersection retaining all existing movements. An additional left-turn lane from northbound New Circle Road to Woodhill Drive and a through/left-turn lane from Woodhill Drive to southbound New Circle Road will be added to the existing configuration."
- Georgetown Road/US 25 Interchange: Due to the cost of reconstructing this interchange and the relatively low benefit to New Circle Road traffic, this was removed from the New Circle Road project.
  - Recommendation: No-build.
  - Cost: N/A
- Newtown Pike/KY 922 Interchange: Reconstruct the partial cloverleaf interchange into a single-point-urban-interchange (SPUI).
  - Recommendation: Alternative 3.
  - Cost: $15,610,000
- Boardwalk and Russell Cave Road/KY 353: Alternative #4 eliminates the traffic signal at Boardwalk/Colesbury and making the intersection a right in/right out. Left turns from Boardwalk are diverted to Russell Cave Road/KY 353 through Park Place behind Wal-Mart. A SPUI is constructed at Russell Cave Road/KY 353.
  - Recommendation: Alternative 1 Modified (Boardwalk); Alternative 3 Modified (Russell Cave Road).
  - Cost: $7,230,000 (Boardwalk); $13,845,000 (Russell Cave Road)
- Broadway: Relocate Broadway over New Circle Road. The existing Broadway intersection would become a right in/right out intersection.
  - Recommendation: Alternative 3 (Inter Disciplinary Team Alternative 1).
  - Cost: $24,130,000
- Limestone and Bryan Station Road/KY 57: Alternative 4 involves widening to six-lanes. A dual left-turn lane is added on New Circle at Bryan Station Road/KY 57.
  - Recommendation: Alternative 1.
  - Cost: $6,765,000
- Meadow Lane to Winchester Road//US 60: Widen New Circle Road to six-lanes and eliminate the signalized intersection at Meadow Lane. A dual left-turn lane is added on New Circle at Eastland Drive.
  - Recommendation: Alternative 1.
  - Cost: $8,550,000
- Winchester to Family Circle: Alternative 4 involves widening New Circle Road to six lanes and eliminating signalized intersections at Jingle Bell Lane and Family Circle.
  - Recommendation: Alternative 1.
  - Cost: $5,115,000
- Liberty Road/KY 1927: Widen New Circle Road to six-lanes and eliminate left-turns from the intersection. Two roundabouts will be placed on Liberty Road to accommodate the turning movements.
  - Recommendation: Alternative 1.
  - Cost: $7,335,000
- Young Drive and Palumbo Drive: Widen New Circle Road to eight lanes and leaving the existing signalized intersections. A dual left-turn lane is added on New Circle Road at Palumbo Drive.
  - Recommendation: Alternative 1 (Inter Disciplinary Team Alternative 2).
  - Cost: $4,445,000
- Woodhill Drive: Widen New Circle Road to eight lanes.
  - Recommendation: Alternative 2 (Inter Disciplinary Team Alternative 1).
  - Cost: $3,115,000
- Richmond Road/US 25/US 421 Interchange: Due to the cost of reconstructing this interchange and the relatively low benefit to New Circle Road traffic, this was removed from the New Circle Road project.
  - Recommendation: No-build.
  - Cost: N/A