Iconic Bardstown Road traffic signals to be auctioned off by Louisville

On Tuesday morning, Maggie Harlow reflected on what it was like to learn to drive on Bardstown Road — especially when it came to navigating the large lights that hung above the street for approximately three decades.

"When I got my driver's license, I had to learn the mysteries of navigating the red and green arrows on Bardstown Road," said Harlow, the president of Signarama and mother of rapper Jack Harlow. "It was a rite of passage for all Highlands teens. It was a bittersweet experience for me to watch Bardstown Road go through this recent transformation."

The lights were removed in May of 2022 following "a series of safety studies" by Louisville Metro Public Works, Mayor Craig Greenberg said.

Now, those iconic traffic signs are available in an auction after sitting in storage for nearly two years. Greenberg announced the project alongside Harlow, Councilman Ben Reno-Weber and Public Works leaders Jennifer Causimer-Kern and David Hayes.

Harlow came up with the idea, Greenberg said. State Sen. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, the former council representative for the area, also suggested an auction or public art installation for the lights when they were removed, according to WDRB.

There are small signs at a starting bid of $150 and larger ones at a starting bid of $350. Greenberg originally said there would not be a minimum bidding amount on the individual lights, but this was a "miscommunication between teams," spokesperson Kevin Trager said.

The smaller signs have red and green LED lights that can appear in an "X" or arrow shape. The larger ones — which weigh about 150 pounds, according to Hayes — have the same red and green light options but also include white lights in a turn arrow shape.

Lights will come out in two batches: 25 auctions will start Wednesday and conclude on March 5. The last 30 will go up on March 5 and will run until March 19, Trager said.

Half of the proceeds will go toward repairing the sidewalks along Bardstown Road, Greenberg said. The rest of the money will be allotted to the Complete Streets Coalition, a group dedicated to improving Louisville's roads and sidewalks.

"We're keeping materials out of landfills," Harlow said. "We're keeping the Highlands spirit alive, and we're raising some funds for our beloved city streets."

Reno-Weber, the Louisville Metro Council representative for the Highlands, said this is an example of residents partnering with the government to execute ideas.

"I'm more excited about what this signals in terms of the way that we engage citizens and governments, and the way that we think about how we overlap things that make financial sense and benefit for our city, and the things that we want to accomplish as a community," he said.

Reno-Weber also gave a shoutout to Streets For People, a nonprofit aimed at making Louisville's streets safer and "who have been really driving our thinking about this as a community."

'An urgent priority': Louisville, DOJ begin negotiating terms of federal consent decree

The bidding went live at govdeals.com on Tuesday, but all 55 lights were listed as a bulk bid for $13,650. This was a mistake, said Scottie Ellis, communications director for the mayor's office.

However, someone had already bid on the bulk light listing, which posed an additional challenge. Members of the Office of Management and Budget worked with the website to take the listing down Tuesday afternoon, Ellis said.

Due to "technical difficulties with the auction website" the individual lights went up on a new page Wednesday, said Trager.

Reach reporter Eleanor McCrary at EMcCrary@courier-journal.com or at @ellie_mccrary on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville puts iconic Bardstown traffic lights up for auction