Mayor Addresses Vision Plan Progress at Chamber Breakfast

“Strategic insight; a bland term for a great idea,” began Mayor Steve MacDougall as he addressed members at this month’s breakfast, sponsored by Budget
Blinds of Lexington and Chapin. “Strategic insight means to look into the future and to prepare for it.” A task our mayor, town officials and council
members are taking to heart.

First, Mayor MacDougall spoke about the accomplishments from the original Vision Plan, which
was first adopted in 2012. The Vision Plan is a roadmap for development in the Town of Lexington over the next 20 years by prioritizing and leveraging
public investments. So far completed projects include: Lexington Square Park, Lexington Farmers
Market, Snowball Festival, Paw Park, 1-20 & Sunset Blvd Interchange Beautification Project, Downtown Commercial Façade Program, Main Street Beautification,
Adaptive Computerized Signalization System, Corridor Beautification and Front Porch Welcome signs, Phase 1 of the Unified Traffic Plan, Sidewalk Installation
and Replacement and of course the Icehouse Amphitheater.

The next big project for the Town is to begin the one-way pair project on Highway 6 at
Church Street and Maiden Lane to improve traffic flow on Main Street. Other short-term priority projects include expanding the Commercial Façade Grant
Program, installing additional front porches, updating landscaping and tree ordinances, installing way-finding signage, expanding parking at the Palmetto
Collegiate Institute, making improvements to Virginia Hylton Park and redeveloping Liverman Hospital.

Mayor MacDougall also talked about a few of the long term priority projects that are also in the Vision Plan. These projects include completing the walking
trail around Old Mill pond, creating a comprehensive history program with collaborative agencies, creating a higher education center in town, pursuing
iconic development on Lake Murray, constructing a second Lexington Paw Park and skateboard park.

Of course traffic is the major concern for the Town and is one of the top priorities in the Vision Plan. Town officials have developed the Lexington Traffic
Improvement Plan which includes projects all over town with the goal of alleviating traffic congestion. The projects are prioritized based on several
different metrics such as, existing traffic volumes, crash rates, traffic analysis, project cost, traffic safety improvement, constructability, permitability
and economic/community impacts. Looking at these metrics will help officials determine which project(s) make it to the top of the list. The adaptive
signalization program will also grow to include I-20 and Hwy 6 and I-20 and Hwy 1 as well as several signals on Hwy 378 all the way down to Lexington
Medical Center.