Louisville lands $21M+ in federal cash to improve road safety. Here's how it'll be used

Rae Johnson, Louisville Courier Journal
·4 min read
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Louisville is slated to receive a $21.4 million boost that aims to "reconfigure 10 roadway corridors to be safer, calmer, and more inclusive," according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The "Rightsizing Louisville for Safe Streets Project" is part of a $24.7 million federal grant awarded to Kentucky for improving roadways. The new funding to go toward 10 projects in the city is part of a national "Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program," with Louisville among 510 recipients of the $810 million investment to push to prevent deaths and serious injuries on roads across the country, a release Wednesday said.

Louisville could use the cash for any number of projects, including installing bike lanes, roundabouts, sidewalks, crosswalk enhancements and pedestrian refuge islands among additional infrastructure improvements, according to the release.

Data from the city's application for the "Rightsizing" project said roadway fatalities were on an upward swing from 2016 to 2020. A total of 77 roadway fatalities were reported in 2016, and by 2020, that figure had jumped to 97.

The "Vision Zero Louisville Safety Report," a report that analyzes local traffic deaths, also found the number of fatal car crashes had jumped by 22% from 2013 to 2017 and pushed for adjustments to 10 Jefferson County highway corridors.

“Every year, crashes cost tens of thousands of American lives and hundreds of billions of dollars to our economy; we face a national emergency on our roadways, and it demands urgent action,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement. “We are proud that these grants will directly support hundreds of communities as they prepare steps that are proven to make roadways safer and save lives.”

Mayor Craig Greenberg described the investment as a "game changer" at a press conference that afternoon alongside Kentucky Transportation Secretary Jim Gray.

"A project like this really is so much about quality of life and quality of place," Gray added. "... When a community puts a premium on quality of life and quality of place, then that community is going to have economic vitality and energy."

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Other parts of Kentucky will receive an additional $3.3 million to improve roadway infrastructure in 14 communities across the state, including Elizabethtown, Danville, Corbin and Lake Cumberland.

"Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program" is funded by the Biden administration's bipartisan infrastructure law, a bill that promises to "rebuild" the nation's "crumbling infrastructure." In this instance, the money is targeting "high-crash sites in cities and counties" as part of the transportation department's "comprehensive strategy to reduce roadway deaths," the release said.

In a statement, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he'd personally written to Buttegieg to advocate for Louisville's grant application and said a local rise in roadway deaths in recent years has been a "worrying trend" that the new funds should push back against.

“The bipartisan infrastructure law I supported promises to help cities around the country reduce traffic deaths and I’m glad it’s already deploying resources to Louisville to help our community," McConnell said.

How will Louisville use the new funding?

A map that shows 10 roads in Louisville in line for improvements following a $21.4 million federal investment. Feb. 1, 2023
A map that shows 10 roads in Louisville in line for improvements following a $21.4 million federal investment. Feb. 1, 2023

The grant application for Louisville's "Rightsizing" project, estimated to cost over $26 million in total, outlines a few key elements and specific projects for increasing roadway safety throughout the city.

The proposal calls for improvements to 10 notable roads in Louisville that were cited in the Department of Transportation release:

  • Wilson Avenue

  • W. Oak Street

  • E. Oak Street

  • Berry Boulevard

  • Crums Lane

  • River Road

  • Zorn Avenue

  • S. 22 Street

  • Southern Parkway

  • Louis Coleman Jr. Drive

The proposal put forward by the city had called for street rightsizing, crosswalk visibility enhancements, lighting investments and improved signage and striping on all 10 of those streets, along with additional work, including bike lanes on all 10 except Louis Coleman Jr. Drive.

The changes fall in line with two elements of the transportation department's "National Roadway Safety Strategy" and focus on roads and speed, the report said.

Rightsizing – "repaving and restriping the road" – was cited as a primary focus, with potential benefits including reducing crashes, calming traffic and offering more space for pedestrians and bikes. Improved lighting was another focus, with the report arguing it could reduce nighttime pedestrian injuries, along with bicycle lanes, which the proposal said have the potential to reduce crashes by 30% on the nine selected roadways, and walkway and crosswalk repairs and replacements.

A look at several bridges at Waterfront Park, which borders River Road. July 12, 2019
A look at several bridges at Waterfront Park, which borders River Road. July 12, 2019

The investment could have a visible impact near downtown Louisville. The proposal calls for medians and pedestrian refuge islands on River Road near Waterfront Park, which the report argues could decrease pedestrian injuries by 56%.

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Contact reporter Rae Johnson at RNJohnson@gannett.com. Follow them on Twitter at @RaeJ_33.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville road safety projects land $21+ million federal grant