When we go to Lexington, most of us travel the road known as Paris Pike. When we travel this fourteen-mile road we don’t usually think of it as anything special, just a road. But, it is one of a kind: Paris Pike is actually one of Kentucky’s most famous roads. I’m sure you are wondering, “why is it famous? It’s just a straight road.” Well, this “straight road” actually resembles a small town win and a big city loss.

Paris Pike is so special due to it being a blend of a highway and a country road. It has as many lanes as a small highway, yet it also has things you never see on a highway such as trees, bushes, and brick walls. Paris Pike is this way due to its use of being a small straight lane that caused many fatalities and crashes due to it being too small and narrow for the traffic going through it. Due to the Kentucky Transport Center (KCT), they wanted to improve the road to a highway to improve the road and not have this dangerous way to Lexington, yet the community of Paris didn’t want a giant highway cutting through their town and destroying nature along with it. Due to this disagreement, there was a twenty-year court injunction between the two. Eventually, the community and The Kentucky Transport Center (KCT) finally came to a conclusion where they had vegetation but it could also be the main road that everyone could travel on. Due to this Paris Pike is one of the most scenic byways in the nation and one of the safest.

So, next time when you are traveling Paris pike and you are just trying to get to Lexington just think, the community went through a twenty-year court junction to have this site seeing road. This really teaches us to not take the simple things for granted and to always be thankful for what we use on a daily bases.