City and state leaders gathered outside VMI’s Corps Physical Training Facility Wednesday morning to celebrate the completion of the North Main Street improvement project, a $4.1 million upgrade that expanded sidewalks, added a bike lane, and widened the roadway at the city’s north entrance.
The project, funded through VDOT’s SmartScale program, was years in the making and marks the final piece of a decade of improvements along the Main Street corridor by VMI and the city.
Mayor Frank Friedman, who served as master of ceremonies, called the upgrades a testament to “planning, preparation, inconvenience, dust, debris, dollars, and hard work” that culminated in a safer, more welcoming gateway into town.
Virginia Secretary of Transportation W. Sheppard “Shep” Miller was the keynote speaker and praised the project as an investment in both safety and quality of life. “This is more than just an infrastructure upgrade,” Miller said. “It makes Lexington more welcoming, not just for drivers, but for cyclists, pedestrians, and those who want to explore your charming city.”
Miller pointed to the project’s funding through SmartScale, the state’s cost-benefit scoring system for transportation priorities, and said it represented a smarter, more transparent way to choose projects. “Highways and projects used to be [decided by] a bunch of folks sitting in a room and sort of trading and jockeying what was going to get done across the Commonwealth,” he said. Now, projects are decided by a score of cost versus benefit.
“Now when we see projects that we really need to get done, we’ll get them done.”
He also highlighted how the improvements connect Lexington’s neighborhoods, schools, and institutions. “It’s not just Route 11, it’s Main Street,” Miller said. “It connects VMI, Washington and Lee, the Chessie Trail, and the surrounding community to downtown. It’s how families get around town and how fans walk safely to VMI games.”
Speakers from the business and nonprofit community — including Chamber of Commerce director Tracy Lyons and Healthy Green Neighborhoods Coalition representative Jamie Gooden — framed the project as a boost for economic vitality and community health. Col. Jeff Boobar, representing VMI’s superintendent’s office, called it “a fitting culmination” of nearly a decade of redevelopment along the post’s Main Street frontage.
The ribbon-cutting included local officials, VDOT leaders, and seventh graders studying civics at Lylburn Downing Middle School, who Friedman encouraged to see the project as an example of civic leadership and collaboration.
To watch a video of the ceremony, follow this link: https://youtube.com/shorts/1dtOt_jqGLk?si=MuUEXZTLL76nXxqA
