By Marjorie Kirk
Midway City Council members Daniel Roller, Libby Warfield
and Sara Hicks met with three members of the Versailles City Council and three
Fiscal Court magistrates Oct. 4 to discuss contentious items in the goals and
objectives for the county’s comprehensive plan, which the planning commission
approved Sept. 8 by a vote of 5-3.
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media
Representatives from
Midway, Versailles and the Woodford County Fiscal Court have proposed changes
to goals and objectives approved by the county Planning Commission, including
removing the Versailles bypass project.
State Department of Highways map |
The intergovernmental group proposed that the objective
specifying the bypass expansion read more generally: “Pursue projects that
minimize traffic on main streets and narrow residential streets including, but
not limited to an alternative route,” which could be the bypass.
References to the bypass remain in the details of the plan,
Council Member Dan Roller noted after the meeting when asked why Versailles
representatives were willing to accept the change.
Traffic congestion in Versailles has been the impetus for
the bypass project, which Gov. Matt Bevin removed from the state’s road plan
during budget cuts early this year.
The planning commission has one member from Midway, Rich
Schein, who argued during its September meeting that the bypass, as well as
other projects, should be left out of the goals and objectives. He said building the bypass was not the desire of people in
Woodford County, and that it would bisect the county’s main parks.
Schein reiterated his objections Monday as the Midway City
Council held a public forum on the commission’s plan, which it had sent to the
local legislative bodies for approval.
Mayor Grayson Vandegrift commended Schein and the other
dissenters. “It is bizarre to me that the commission passed these goals and
objectives when all three bodies immediately realized there was a problem and
they would have to come back and fix it,” he said. “That leaves me scratching
my head.”
If the bypass is built, traffic would be diverted from
Versailles, but at the risk of increasing traffic on Midway Road, US 62. Possible northern ends of the bypass include going directly
into Midway Road, a bit farther north on Frankfort Road (US 60) or the
intersection of the existing bypass and US 62. Representatives from Midway object to putting more traffic
on narrow Midway Road.
“I don’t support doing so without trying other sound
suggestions which to date have been ignored and which might avoid dumping the
problem on their next-door neighbor,” Vandegrift said.
One transportation objective proposed by the commission calls
for planned to “discourage thru tractor-trailer traffic from certain routes,
including downtown Versailles and Midway Road.” The intergovernmental panel proposed that the objective be
to “discourage and divert” big trucks from both roads.
The panel also found issue with one of the objectives for
general land use and development, which called for “justified expansions” of
cities’ urban services areas rather than the current “some limited
adjustments.” In its written report, the panel said that “was replacing one
unclear term with another.”
Magistrate Mary Ann Gill proposed that the objective be
“Manage the location of the urban services boundaries to meet the needs of the
cities, considering the community as a whole.” The panel reported that it did
not reach a consensus on that point, and Vandegrift said it will need to meet
again.
Vandegrift said the creation and success of the
intergovernmental panel would be a step toward his goal of collaborating and
meeting with the Versailles City Council and the Fiscal Court on a regular
basis. The panel included half of each city council and three of the nine
Fiscal Court members. He said Versailles officials like the idea but at least some magistrates do not.
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