The dividing line between the limited-access segment and the urban arterial highway is US 25 (Richmond and Georgetown Roads) north and east of the city.

New Circle Road suffers serious traffic congestion during rush hour due to the lack of other freeways running through the city.

The interchange with Alumni Drive was constructed in late 1984 at a cost of $2 million with the extension of what was then Mount Tabor Road southeastward towards Man o' War Boulevard.

Tight 15 mph (24 km/h) ramps and a narrow underpass with no acceleration or deceleration lanes made this a dangerous pseudo-cloverleaf interchange.

[3] In 1987, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government recommended a solution to the 6.1-mile (9.8 km) section of New Circle Road from Georgetown Road/US 25 to Richmond Road/US 25/US 421.

The study compared the addition of one lane in each direction with the use of median U-turns and restricted left-turn strategies at selected intersections from Newtown Pike/KY 922 to Richmond Road/US 25/US 421.

This was presented to the Lexington Area Metropolitan Planning Organization and is considered to have been the stimulus for the development of the New Circle Road Northeast improvement study that began on December 1 of 1999.