LOCAL

One of Louisville's busiest roads will likely be renovated. Here are 5 things to know

Ben Tobin
Louisville Courier Journal
A map of the section of Eastern Parkway under consideration.
  • The city and an engineering and design firm are exploring ways to improve Eastern Parkway.
  • The Eastern Parkway Transportation Study is funded by a federal grant matched with KYTC toll credits.
  • A city official estimated that renovations will cost $10 million per mile and take about 10 years.

After months of anticipation, the Eastern Parkway Transportation Study project team will soon release designs for improvements to one of Louisville's busiest roads.

Louisville Metro Public Works and engineering and design firm Gresham Smith will hold their final public meeting on the study at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Audubon Traditional Elementary School Gymnasium.

At the meeting, the groups will share design concepts for enhancing the safety and mobility along the 3.85-mile stretch of Eastern Parkway, running from Cherokee Park to Hahn Street.

Here's what you should know about the renovations before the final meeting:

Renovations are meant to modernize

Eastern Parkway goes way back — Frederick Law Olmsted's firm began initial on the corridor in the in the late 19th century, and construction was completed in 1912.

And like any major infrastructure that was designed more than 100 years ago, Eastern Parkway needs a bit of a face-lift. Original designs likely did not account for the nearly 17,000 motorists using the road daily along with walkers and bicyclists.

The goal of renovations would be to adjust to modern users while keeping the parkway's original intent of providing a "pleasant experience to get you from where you live or where you work to recreational facilities," Louisville Metro Public Works project manager John Swintosky previously told The Courier Journal.

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Different sections will have different designs

With its recommendations for improvements to Eastern Parkway, the project team is not taking a "one-size-fits-all" approach.

At a public meeting in September, Mike Sewell, an official with Gresham Smith, shared ideas for how to renovate seven different intersections along the parkway.

Though Sewell said then that the ideas are not firm plans, suggestions ranged from adding roundabouts to reducing lanes to altering the width of the road.

In a a recent interview with The Courier Journal, Swintosky said the project team has received hundreds of comments on its website. While some of the proposals for sections will be unchanged, Swintosky said, others will look different.

There were "some intersections where we had quite a few alternatives where people wanted something different," Swintosky said.

Tree canopy, bike lanes among priorities

Since the project team held its first public meeting in July, preserving the trees along Eastern Parkway has been a top concern.

Robert Rollins, an arborist of 36 years and owner of Greenhaven Tree Care in Louisville, told The Courier Journal in July that he estimated there are a little more than 1,300 trees along the 3.85-mile stretch of the parkway under consideration for renovation.

According to Swintosky, with the renovations, "we are recapturing the green space that was originally part of the treeline corridor."

Other project team priorities include drainage and pedestrian improvements. The addition of bike lanes has also been a popular topic in previous meetings and on the project team's website, which has received more than 400 comments on enhancements.

Bike lanes will be part of the Tuesday meeting's discussion, as "there's always been an interest from the public for bicycle road improvements where they aren’t really presently defined," according to Swintosky.

Gavin Arterburn makes his way down the Eastern Parkway tree-covered median sidewalk.

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Next up: Publish the study in summer

After the final public meeting on Tuesday, the project team plans to publish the Eastern Parkway Transportation Study in June, according to Swintosky. 

Those who aren't able to attend the meeting will have a few weeks to continue posting comments online at wikimapping.com/EasternParkway.html before the project team "starts putting everything together," Swintosky said.

The study is funded through a $500,000 federal Transportation Alternatives Program grant awarded to Louisville in 2017 and matched with Kentucky Transportation Cabinet toll credits.

Future funding is uncertain

The Eastern Parkway Transportation Study will lay out ways in which the corridor can improve. But there is no funding in place yet for those improvements, according to Swintosky.

Swintosky said it will probably take 10 years to finish everything, and he estimated that renovations will cost $10 million per mile.

The bulk of the money for a project like this would likely come from a federal transportation grant, Swintosky said. 

But before then, the project would need funds from the city for a design phase. And with increasing pension costs and a tight budget, the city might not be able to provide those funds for the time being, according to Swintosky.

“What we hope happens is that through public initiative and political will, that resources will be budgeted into the design phase," he said.

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Contact Ben Tobin at bjtobin@gannett.com and 502-582-4181 or follow on Twitter @TobinBen. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: subscribe.courier-journal.com.