THESE PROJECTS ARE--ARE MORE
THAN JUST HIGHWAY DESIGN.
THEY'RE MORE THAN JUST MOVING
UTILITIES OUT OF THE WAY.
THIS IS ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
AND A SOCIAL EQUITY
TYPE OF A PROJECT.
IN A WAY, IT'S KIND OF
AN ENGINEER'S DREAM,
I GUESS.
NARRATOR:
NEWTOWN PIKE IS A MAJOR EXIT
OFF INTERSTATE 64 AND 75
INTO LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY.
ALREADY A MULTI-LANE ROADWAY
FOR SEVERAL MILES
BEFORE REACHING THE DOWNTOWN
AREA, ONCE IT DID REACH
THE CITY CENTER,
IT DID NOT CONTINUE.
THAT'S WHERE IT RAN
INTO DAVIS BOTTOM.
PLANS TO ALLEVIATE
TRAFFIC CONGESTION
BY EXTENDING THE NEWTOWN PIKE
AROUND THE DOWNTOWN
HAD BEEN STARTED AND STOPPED
REPEATEDLY OVER THE DECADES.
THE CHALLENGE WAS TO ADDRESS
THE CRITICAL TRANSPORTATION NEED
WITHOUT UNFAIR BURDEN
TO THE LOW-INCOME, HISTORIC
AND COHESIVE COMMUNITY
OF DAVIS BOTTOM.
THERE WERE PLANS FOR THE
ORIGINAL NEWTOWN PIKE PROJECT
TO GO THROUGH THIS WHOLE AREA
THAT DATE BACK
ALL THE WAY TO THE 1930s.
THE DAVIS BOTTOMS AREA
WAS GONNA BE WIPED OUT.
MAN: MY FATHER AND HIS FAMILY
MOVED DOWN HERE,
AND THAT WAS IN 1942.
IT'S BEEN 5 GENERATIONS
OF DEMUSES
THAT HAVE LIVED DOWN HERE.
IT STARTED WITH MY DAD--
UH, WITH MY GRANDMOTHER,
GRANDFATHER, MY DAD, I,
MY--MY KIDS,
AND NOW I'VE GOT
A GRANDDAUGHTER.
I'M HAZEL, COME FROM IRVINE
WHEN I WAS 3 YEARS OLD.
I'VE LIVED HERE MY WHOLE LIFE,
SO I THINK THAT'S HOME.
IN THE SEVENTIES,
THERE WAS AN ATTEMPT
TO PUT AN INTERSTATE DESIGN
THROUGH THIS NEIGHBORHOOD,
AND THE NEIGHBORS ACTUALLY
STOPPED THAT ROAD PROJECT.
NARRATOR: THE LONGER THE PROJECT
WAS TABLED, THE GREATER
THE TRANSPORTATION NEED BECAME
FOR DOWNTOWN LEXINGTON.
BY THE MID 1990s,
THERE WAS RENEWED INTEREST
IN PURSUING
THE NEWTOWN PIKE EXTENSION
TO ALLEVIATE CONGESTION.
IN 1998,
FUNDING FOR THE PROJECT
WAS PROCURED.
A LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL
AGENCY PARTNERSHIP WAS FORMED.
THIS PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPED
A SET OF GUIDING PRINCIPLES
THAT ADDRESSED
THE TRAFFIC CONGESTION,
MULTIMODAL, AND SAFETY ISSUES
WHILE ALSO EMPHASIZING
COMMUNITY OUTREACH,
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, HOUSING,
AND NEIGHBORHOOD AESTHETICS.
AND I LIKE TO CALL
THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES DOCUMENT
OUR CONSCIENCE FOR THE PROJECT.
IT BECAME THE CONSCIENCE THAT--
THAT GUIDED EVERY DECISION
THAT WE MADE.
NARRATOR: FEDERAL REGULATIONS
UNDER THE NATIONAL
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT
REQUIRED THAT
AN ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
BE PREPARED FOR THE PROJECT.
WE DID FOLLOW
THE NEPA PROCESS.
UH, YOU KNOW, WE WERE
MADE AWARE
THAT THIS WAS
A SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCE,
BUT WE STILL HAD TO GO OUT
AND DO THE COMMUNITY IMPACT
ASSESSMENT AND THE
SOCIO-ECONOMIC EVALUATIONS
AND TO DETERMINE
AND DOCUMENT
WHAT THE SITUATION ON
THE GROUND WAS AND IDENTIFY WHAT
THE POTENTIAL IMPACTS MIGHT BE.
NARRATOR: A COMMUNITY IMPACT
ASSESSMENT WAS CONDUCTED
TO HELP THE TEAM UNDERSTAND
HOW THE PROJECT
COULD IMPACT
THE DAVIS BOTTOM COMMUNITY.
IN THIS CASE, WE WERE
LOOKING NOT JUST FORWARD
WITH DIRECT, INDIRECT,
AND COMMUNITY IMPACTS.
WE WERE LOOKING BACKWARDS
TO SEE WHAT
THE SCOPING AND THE PLANNING
OF THE PROJECT HAD ALREADY DONE
TO THE COMMUNITY,
POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE.
MAN: THE PROJECT
HAD BEEN LOOMING OVER THE
NEIGHBORHOOD FOR SO LONG,
A LOT OF THE HOMES
THAT WERE RENTAL HOMES
WERE IN DECLINE BECAUSE
THE LANDLORDS DIDN'T REALLY
SEE A NEED TO IMPROVE THEM
OR KEEP THEM UP, MAYBE, TO THE
STANDARDS THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE.
NARRATOR: THE COMMUNITY IMPACT
ASSESSMENT CONCLUDED
THAT THE IMPACTS TO DAVIS BOTTOM
WERE DISPROPORTIONATELY HIGH
AND ADVERSE,
THUS MITIGATION
WOULD BE REQUIRED
TO OFFSET THESE IMPACTS
IN ACCORDANCE
WITH ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
EXECUTIVE ORDER 12898.
VARIOUS DESIGN AND MITIGATION
STRATEGIES WERE DEVELOPED
TO ADDRESS COMMUNITY IMPACTS
IDENTIFIED FOR THE PROJECT.
THESE INCLUDED A BOULEVARD
CONCEPT FOR THE ROAD,
AN URBAN VILLAGE
TO REPLACE HOUSING
AND RELOCATE RESIDENTS
WITHIN THE COMMUNITY,
A NOISE WALL REQUIRED BY HUD,
IMPROVEMENTS
TO A NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER,
REDEVELOPMENT
OF A COMMUNITY PARK,
AND SUPPORT FOR
A NEIGHBORHOOD LIAISON
AND SOCIAL WORKER
DURING THE PROCESS.
WHITWORTH: BECAUSE OF THE
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ISSUES,
IT ALLOWED US
TO USE MITIGATION FUNDS,
UH, FOR A VARIETY OF THINGS
THAT WE MIGHT NOT NORMALLY
THINK OF OR INCORPORATE
INTO A NORMAL HIGHWAY PROJECT.
MAN: WE WERE AFRAID THAT THE
LAND--ONCE THE ROAD WAS BUILT,
THAT THE LAND IN THE AREA
WAS GOING TO BE BOUGHT UP
BY PROSPECTORS OR DEVELOPERS
AND THAT THEY WOULD
COME IN AND THEY WOULD TEAR A
LOT OF THE EXISTING HOUSING DOWN
AND THEY WOULD REPLACE THAT
WITH MORE EXPENSIVE HOUSING.
NARRATOR: THE PROJECT TEAM
BROUGHT IN URBAN PLANNERS
AND ARCHITECTS TO DEVELOP
THE URBAN VILLAGE PLAN.
AS THE TEAM WORKED ON THE PLAN,
THEY RESEARCHED OPTIONS
FOR KEEPING THE NEW HOUSING
AFFORDABLE FOR THE RESIDENTS
AND MANAGING THE LAND
WHERE THE NEW URBAN VILLAGE
WOULD BE DEVELOPED.
THE OPTION THAT BEST SUITED
THE PROJECT'S GOALS
WAS THE COMMUNITY LAND TRUST
CONCEPT.
WHICH IS ULTIMATELY
WHAT WE DECIDED TO GO WITH
BECAUSE IT PROTECTED
THE PROPERTY,
IT KEPT IT AFFORDABLE
BY USING AN ENTITY
TO MANAGE THE PROPERTY
AND HOLD IT IN TRUST.
LOGSDON: ONE OF THE THINGS THAT
MAKES A LAND TRUST REALLY UNIQUE
IS THAT IT PROVIDES SUSTAINABLE
AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
NARRATOR: THE VISION
FOR NEWTOWN PIKE
IS BECOMING A REALITY
FOR THE CITY,
THE NEIGHBORHOOD,
AND THE ROADWAY.
THE PROJECT FEATURES DEMONSTRATE
HOW TRANSPORTATION PLANNING,
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT,
DESIGN, AND MITIGATION
CAN IMPROVE LIVABILITY WHILE
ADDRESSING TRANSPORTATION NEEDS.
THE FIRST PORTION
OF THE NEWTOWN PIKE EXTENSION
WAS COMPLETED IN 2010.
IT EXTENDED THE END
OF THE NEWTOWN PIKE SOUTH
INTO LEXINGTON.
THE REMAINING PHASES
OF THE PROJECT
WILL CONTINUE SOUTH AND CONNECT
TO THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY.
THE FIRST PHASE
OF THE NEW URBAN VILLAGE,
CALLED DAVIS PARK,
WAS COMPLETED IN 2014.
IN 2015, ADDITIONAL
HOUSING UNITS
ARE SCHEDULED FOR COMPLETION.
TO SEE THE ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD
AND THE--THE FOLKS THAT WE
HAD WORKED WITH SO LONG,
TO SEE THEM HAPPY MADE ME
EXTREMELY HAPPY THAT DAY.
I--I JUST--I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN
MORE PLEASED WITH ANY PROJECT
THAT I'VE EVER WORKED ON
IN MY ENTIRE CAREER
THAN TO GO DOWN
TO THE, UH, GROUNDBREAKING
AND THEN THE, UH,
THE RIBBON-CUTTING WHEN WE,
UH, WHEN WE FINALLY HAD
THE HOUSES COMPLETED.
WHEN I FIRST COME
DOWN HERE, YOU KNOW,
I WAS LIKE, "WOW."
IT'S, LIKE, JUST--
LIKE I HAD MOVED
SOMEWHERE ELSE,
NOT ON THE SAME STREET,
YOU KNOW, AND THEN I WAS
SITTING DOWN HERE
ONE NIGHT, AND I WAS
LOOKING, AND I WAS LIKE,
"OH, I'M LOOKING
AT THE LEXINGTON,
KENTUCKY, SKYLINE."
I THANK GOD I LIVED
TO SEE IT.
WOMAN: I THINK THE NEWTOWN PIKE
EXTENSION PROJECT IS
A VERY UNIQUE PROJECT BECAUSE
IT'S A PROJECT WITH A HEART.
IT LOOKS AT THESE
DISPLACED RESIDENTS
NOT AS JUST PEOPLE THAT HAVE
TO BE MOVED OUT OF THE WAY,
BUT PEOPLE THAT HAVE--
THAT THEY WANT TO WORK WITH
AND WALK ALONG BESIDE OF.
I THINK THAT
THE DISPLACED RESIDENTS
ARE THE HUMAN FACE
OF THE PROJECT.
SEPULVEDA: IF I MAY SAY, THIS
HAS BEEN THE MOST CHALLENGING,
BUT YET THE PROJECT
THAT I HAVE LIKED THE MOST
IN ALMOST 35 YEARS
IN FEDERAL HIGHWAYS
'CAUSE IT'S ABOUT PEOPLE,
AND THERE'S A CHANCE
TO DO SOMETHING RIGHT
FOR A COMMUNITY.
