Nicholasville, KY Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

Article III of Chapter 19 is Nicholasville's pedestrian safety ordinance, adopted as Ord. 1072-2019 on 9-23-19. It is not a citywide jaywalking ban. It applies to the arterial roadways listed in § 19-43 and to the first two hundred feet of any roadway that intersects with an arterial roadway, measured from the point where the two roads meet. The list includes U.S. 27, North and South Main Street, Broadway Street, Richmond Ave, Keene Road, John C. Watts Drive, Third Street and Martin Luther King Blvd, among many others. Section 19-40 defines a pedestrian as any person afoot or in wheelchair.

Section 19-41(a) is the crossing rule. A person crosses an arterial roadway only in a crosswalk. Where there is no crosswalk, the crossing must be at an intersection with a traffic control signal or other device in place. Where there is neither crosswalk nor signal, the crossing must be at an intersection. Subsection (b) bars anyone other than a person in or on a vehicle from being upon an arterial roadway or approaching a vehicle there, except one legally parked at the curb or shoulder. Subsection (c) bars standing on an arterial median unless the person is legally crossing in a crosswalk, and staying on the median through two consecutive opportunities to cross is prima facie evidence of a violation.

Section 19-42 exempts subsections (b) and (c) for four groups: a person legally crossing the roadway; a person engaged in law enforcement or rescue activities, including assisting an injured or disabled vehicle or person; a person entering a stopped vehicle as an invited passenger where lawful, including taxicabs or public transportation; and a person engaged in emergency repair or maintenance of a vehicle. The legal-crossing exception does not cover pedestrians who stay on the median through two consecutive opportunities to cross. Under § 19-43(c), city departments review the arterial list annually and recommend additions or removals in the interest of pedestrian safety.