There are a lot of issues with Lincoln Street in Winchester.

The short answer is it doesn’t meet current standards and guidelines.

The street is too narrow for two-way traffic.

The lots are too small to fit the current zoning ordinance. Some of the lots are too close to the railroad tracks.

Many of the houses along the street are vacant or in poor condition, some even considered dilapidated. The utility lines are outdated and need to be replaced.

For a one-block street, there are a lot of major, expensive problems.

But the City of Winchester and Habitat for Humanity have a plan.

If all goes according to that plan, Lincoln Street will be remade over the course of the next several years.

A proper two-lane street will be built. All new utility lines and infrastructure will be installed. Lots will be combined and redrawn.

Most importantly, seven new homes will be built and some others will be brought up to code.

It’s a major undertaking and one that’s too big for just one entity.

The project has been on the city’s wish list for many years. Winchester Mayor Ed Burtner said the project was actually started by the city’s Urban Renewal Board, which has overseen at least five other neighborhood rehabilitation projects around the Poynterville community since the late 1970s.

“The board wanted to go into another neighborhood and the one they had their eye on was Lincoln Street,” Burtner said. “The housing stock has been in decline for several years. Some of them were demolitions the city has done and some private owners have done.”

In the early 2000s, then-mayor Dodd Dixon had a special city commission meeting in the middle of Lincoln Street, Burtner said, and the commission voted then to make it a one-way street.

In 2017, the commission began pursuing the project in earnest and applied for a $1 million community development block grant for the project. In March 2018, the grant was approved by the Kentucky Department of Local Government.

As part of the grant, the city pledged $632,000 for infrastructure improvements and Habitat pledged another $400,000.

Winchester City Manager Matt Belcher said the first phase, which would rehabilitate one side of the street, is still in its early stages.

“We continue to do all the work required for the release of funds,” Belcher said, which includes working on the archaeological survey and analysis of the property by the University of Kentucky.

“A lot of that has to be approved by the Kentucky Heritage Council,” Belcher said. “This is all part of the up-front work so we can start. Once we have all that, then we can start doing appraisals and start talking to property owners about acquisitions. Once everything is bought, then we can start construction.”

In all, the project will involve 30 properties between Flanagan and East Hickman streets, including vacant lots and abandoned homes. Seventeen different parcels would need to be obtained, and the city donated a lot it owned at 20 Lincoln St. for the project.

Charlene Stone, interim executive director for Habitat for Humanity for Madison and Clark Counties, said the agency will build at least five new homes along Lincoln Street. With owner involvement, the houses usually take about six months to complete.

“We at Habitat are very excited to be involved with the project,” Stone said in a statement.

Multiple home developments are not new to Habitat, Stone said.

“Habitat for Humanity of Madison and Clark Counties has actually completed a 26-home project in Berea called Hope Estates,” she said. “The project began in 2002 with the final home being built in 2009. (It is) an amazing project that truly brought people together, as will the Lincoln Street Project.”

Homeowners and residents will be offered assistance for moving, down payments or relocation. They will also have top priority to repurchase their lots when the project is completed.

Initially, only the west side of the street will be reconstructed, but will include all the infrastructure including water lines, sewer lines and demolishing the street, Belcher said.

“It’s kind of like starting over,” Burtner said, for both Lincoln Street and the Urban Renewal Board. “With this project, we’re shifting  to the other side of town.

“I think you’ll see good structures. You’ll see homes built on the west side of the street. In my judgement, you may see additional building and development before we get to phase two. I’m hoping that’s the case.” §