The city is working to reopen the Legacy Trail, Lexington’s longest mixed use trail and its most popular, as soon as possible, Mayor Linda Gorton said today.
“Amazon is projecting we will be able to open the entire trail by early October, a little later than expected, but early enough so people can enjoy it in the fall,” Gorton said.
Work on the entrance and exit from the new Amazon last mile delivery station at 1180 Newtown Pike closed a section of the trail in mid-July. Now, utilities have the trail closed to finish their connections to the new facility, and in anticipation of future work on Newtown Pike.
Riders are welcome to use the portions of the trail on either side of the closure. The closure starts just after the bridge over New Circle, and ends just past the Amazon facility.
“We recognize this is inconvenient. Trails, like roads, are affected by the construction work and infrastructure maintenance that takes place near them, or under them,” said Nancy Albright, Commissioner of Environmental Quality and Public Works.
To keep riders safe, a section of the trail is being relocated where it crosses the Amazon property. The new segment will be further from the road. A culvert is being installed so trail users can pass under one of Amazon’s new driveways to protect riders and pedestrians from Amazon traffic. The developer of the Amazon facility is funding the trail work on its campus.
The trail will be closed again this winter to allow the City’s Division of Water Quality to complete work on sewers. “Rather than keep the trail closed longer now to do the Water Quality work, we’re going to wait until it’s cold so we don’t inconvenience as many riders and pedestrians,” Gorton said. “That way, the trail will be open for the fall.”
The Legacy Trail started in 2007 with the announcement that the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games would be coming to Lexington in 2010. In planning the festivities, Lexington citizens decided they wanted “legacy projects,” projects residents could enjoy long after the Games were gone, to be part of the celebration. The Legacy Trail is one of those projects.
Mayor Gorton completed the last leg of the trail -- along Third and Fourth streets -- in October 2020.
The 12-mile-long, mixed use trail stretches from Lexington’s urban core to the beautiful Bluegrass that surrounds the City. The Legacy Trail will soon connect to Town Branch Commons Trail downtown, completing 22 miles of uninterrupted trails, and a 5.5-mile loop downtown.
