HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – An ambitious plan to beautify and upgrade a portion of West Seventh Street heading into downtown Hopkinsville was presented during a community workshop to a handful of residents. Still in the very early stages, this proposal includes shrinking lanes to accommodate for larger sidewalks and possibly building a roundabout to properly create a “gateway” into the historic district.
Hosted by Community Development Services, Bell Engineering Vice President Bob Pickerill and Landscape Architect Mark Arnold walked community members through a detailed presentation about the intention behind the proposed project. The engineering group was contracted in 2025 and has been working upward of six months on this design.
Roadwork is currently planned by Kentucky Transportation Cabinet just beyond this section of road, which motivated the elaborate design in order to tie in with the surrounding upgrades.
Decreasing driving lanes to increase sidewalks
The general idea is to blend together the residential homes, commercial businesses and other buildings like churches on the street to successfully transition drivers into downtown and give them an impressive introduction to the area through signage, lighting and landscaping. This plan includes overhauling the southbound sidewalks, which are currently very narrow and in poor condition, with utility poles currently making it hard for pedestrians to pass through.
In order to make room for these expanded sidewalks and improve traffic conditions, they suggested a lane size reduction, while maintaining the same number of lanes. According to Arnold, the extra wide lanes that are currently on Seventh Street encourage people to speed.
Their data shows that the “road diet” method decreases crashes by 47% and decreases speeding by 70% as upward of 10,000 vehicles travel down this road through downtown on a daily basis.
To increase walkability, utility poles will be moved to the edge of the sidewalks, with aesthetic landscaping and light poles to match downtown.
He ensured the public that the city would maintain the landscaping after the project is complete, and it will not decrease the size of anyone’s yard. Residential driveways that are anticipated to be impacted by the project will be redone, and designated entrance points will be established for churches and businesses on the road.
Roundabout proposed to mitigate traffic
A major piece of this plan is the intersection of Seventh Street and Ninth Street behind the Christian County Justice Center. It currently has a traffic light in place, but Bell Engineering is leaning toward the concept of a roundabout to create a continuous flow of traffic and encourage drivers to slow down.
The way traffic is currently flowing into downtown, 90% of vehicles traveling on Seventh Street turn right onto Ninth Street, which would be a simple nonstop merge if a roundabout is created. The opposite end of the roundabout would exit at the other side of Seventh Street before looping around.
Aside from practical reasons, Arnold shared that a roundabout would create a visual gateway into the downtown area, with elaborate landscaping and possible a “Welcome to Hopkinsville” sign displayed in the 60-foot island in the center.
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Residents voice concerns about plan
It was said that KYTC prefers the roundabout plan vs. reworking the intersection with a traffic light. They anticipate that this plan will be safer for pedestrians since they will have less of a distance to cross as compared to the current 30-foot intersection with two-way traffic.
The small crowd of residents that attended the presentation were quiet up until this point, with multiple people questioning not only the literal logistics of a roundabout but debating whether or not it is necessary at all. During the workshop, they also presented an alternate plan with no roundabout.
Concerns about the need to acquire additional land and possibly blocking businesses at that intersection arose, along with doubts about the promise of pedestrian safety and the ability to successfully mitigate traffic. Representatives will Bell Engineering acknowledged the concerns and said they would be considered as they move forward with the project.
No funding secured, community survey available
Mayor Knight shared during the meeting that this project has been a priority since he first took office, however multiple phases of proposals will still be required by the engineering company before a master plan is established.
A lack of funding is also preventing them from forwarding the project at this time. It was determined that the roundabout version of the design would be slightly more expensive than a lighted intersection, estimated to cost between $4-$5 million.
Engineers are working with the city and CDS in the hopes that grants will become available eventually to help further the project. Although KYTC has approved the plans, since the project will be on a state road, they have not offered any funding support.
As they move toward next steps, an online survey is available for residents to participate in so CDS and engineers can best gauge what the public prefers in regard to design.
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