Our third and final public meeting for Eastern Parkway was held on Tuesday, January 28, 2020 at Audubon Traditional Elementary School in their main gym. It will be held from 6:00-8:00pm.
Date: January 28th, 2020, Tuesday
Time: 6:00-8:00pm
Location: Audubon Traditional Elementary School
We appreciated everyone coming out to share their ideas and further hone the concepts. Please see below for the material and online survey to continue to engage our team:
Additional Resources
We have created a RESOURCES page (link in the top menu) to give you more information about specific countermeasures, including the FHWA guidance on roundabouts. Please visit there now to learn more about some of the advantages to these innovative intersections.
The Public Survey is now closed.
We appreciate you taking the time to provide the design team with our input. We will carefully review and hone our planning concepts for display during the draft document release this spring.
Review the material from Public Meeting #3:
The entire presentation is available for download HERE. This includes all exhibits and materials covered at the 3rd Eastern Parkway public meeting.
19 Comments
Dutc · January 22, 2020 at 6:35 pm
Where is the agenda and proposals for the meeting on January 28? Thanks
sewellm · January 28, 2020 at 4:09 pm
Good morning Dutch. We are going to cover the overview of the project, goals and vision as defined by Louisville Metro, public input received since Public Meeting #2, and revisions to each alternative based on that input including a new alternative at Bradley. We look forward to reconnecting with you this evening.
Mike
Sheree Lally · January 23, 2020 at 10:57 pm
We’ve lived on Eastern Parkway and Barrett for 45 years. We’ve watched it become like a highway — dangerous in many ways. It wasn’t meant to be like that when originally planned and neighbors long deceased told us stories of it’s beauty years ago. The only beautiful part of Eastern Parkway today is the tree-lined median with the sidewalk in the center where people can walk and ride bicycles safely. I would love to see that extend to other parts of it even if it means re-routing some traffic because of reducing the lanes to two. It would truly be a beautiful addition to the entire area. BTW the ugly yellow and black arrow signs have only increased the look of a speedway. Does someone really need an arrow to show them that there’s a cross street? If they are driving, you would assume they can see. What if every cross street had such hideous signs glaring over? Infrequent wrecks still occur and, even now at this moment, I’m looking out the window at a big car bumper in my yard. AND the garbage cans placed at our corner in the last year have only encouraged garbage being thrown around. We never had garbage in our yard until now when people sitting at the red light are throwing fast food bags, soft drink cans, diapers, plastic bags and other unsighly things DAILY all over our yard.
sewellm · January 28, 2020 at 4:12 pm
Sheree – We definitely appreciate your comments. There are definite safety concerns throughout the corridor, which is why it is one of the pillars for how we are approaching the revitalization and renewal of Eastern. Unfortunately, we are still beholden to national standards on signage, however your comment is well received. If there are opportunities for alternative signage that would still meet engineering standards for the project, we will be happy to evaluate them. On garbage – while this project can’t fix everything, we would encourage you to reach out to Metro directly for concerns on service and maintenance to help alleviate unsightly trash in your area. Being a good steward for the things in our right-of-way should be important to everyone that is fortunate enough to use this corridor!
Brandon · January 29, 2020 at 12:57 am
I love the ideas for the changes. I did forget to ask that the concrete median strips at the actual intersections or turn lanes be eliminated. You see, currently, those small strips at the turn lanes provide an area for panhandlers to stand all day. You see it everyday at Eastern & Crittenden where someone will stand on that concrete strip at the turn lane. I am definitely for the beautification of the medians however I’m wondering if it is possible to eliminate the strip about 50 ft West of where Emil Avenue is up to Crittenden. This way, there will still be beautiful median available at Emil but there won’t be a place for someone to stand at the turn lane where the light is at Crittenden. Look at the intersections of Preston & Shelby. I know it’s not a turn lane but without a current concrete sliver right now, there’s no panhandlers standing in the middle of the road. It’s just too dangerous for someone to be standing on a median in the middle of where traffic is turning so eliminating the strip at the turn onto Crittenden would eliminate middle of the road panhandleing which has become a big issue on Eastern… Thanks.
Mike Sewell · January 29, 2020 at 1:59 pm
I’m glad that you like the progress we are making. Be sure to share what you like about the options on the survey – we need the good and the bad so we can continue to make them even better.
On the median @ Emil: There will more than likely continue to be some form of center channelization or median there. Unfortunately near intersections like this it is almost always good practice to keep people in the right place as they approach a busy spot with lots of decision points.
Sorry to not have a better solution to present on the median issue, but I am making a note to take a closer look as we continue to hone these options.
I appreciate your time and your thoughts on the project.
Tom H · January 29, 2020 at 12:55 pm
I live on S Preston St. I don’t have a good feeling about the proposal to close Shelby St and direct all traffic onto S Preston. Morning traffic commutes rely heavily on S Shelby St to access I-65 North. This seems it will make traffic even worse during rush hour.
Also, what about Lynn Street? Will that also become a 2 way street? To access alley parking many within the 2100-2200 block utilize Shelby to Lynn from Eastern Parkway. I would prefer a peanut configuration at Preston/Shelby like at Bradley. Keep Shelby St open!
Mike Sewell · January 29, 2020 at 1:48 pm
Thanks for sharing your concerns Tom. As far as morning rush hour, as I mentioned yesterday we will always keep a “no-build” option available for every intersection. If it is deemed that it will be the most beneficial and still accomplish or make progress toward the goals of the project, it will continue to be considered.
On Lynn Street – that is outside the scope of this project, however looking at the planned development my opinion would be that it could be beneficial.
On alley access, I agree with you. The peanut option does make it far easier to continue to use the alley for access.
Thanks for your time and sharing your thoughts.
Jerri · January 29, 2020 at 5:25 pm
Where will the full sized proposal maps from last night’s meeting be posted?
Mike Sewell · January 29, 2020 at 6:53 pm
They were posted to the Public Meeting #3 post located here:
http://www.louisvilleparkways.org/2020/01/15/eastern-parkway-public-meeting-3/
It is also accessible from the main page, large red button near the header image.
Tom H · January 29, 2020 at 5:30 pm
This is what Louisville Business First is saying:
The team also came up with a plan to modify left turns and create a bus pullout area at the intersection with Preston and Shelby. Sewell said the bus pullout is a designated space that buses can use to separate from the main roadway during stops to reduce slow down and frustration between bus operators and other motorists.
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I do support the bus pullout. This causes frequent traffic backups at this intersection. I do see that S Shelby St would benefit from traffic being redirected but it then places all the burden on S Preston St which is unfair to the people who own homes on that block. I encourage anyone who lives within this block to contact your Metro Councilman an oppose this plan to close Shelby St.
Mike Sewell · January 29, 2020 at 6:56 pm
Thanks for the post as well as your support for the TARC approach. We hear you on the Preston and Shelby street intersection. That is the primary reason we included the reminder that the no-build option is still very much on the table. There are incremental things that can be done though to limit cut through traffic so that the residential area of Shelby doesn’t necessarily have the same higher speed cut-through while still providing meaningful exposure of the great things the Schnitzelburg neighborhood has to offer. We are still workign through this with them.
Aaron Ellis · January 29, 2020 at 7:28 pm
I am all for slowing down traffic. It is crazy how people drive and how many accidents there are on Eastern Parkway. I support round abouts as well. My main concern is how many trees would need to be taken down to complete this project. I do not support reducing the tree canopy.
Mike Sewell · January 30, 2020 at 12:41 pm
I really appreciate your comments Aaron. The entire design team is on the exact same page as you. The last thing that any of us want is to impact the tree canopy. It is early in the process, and normally the true impacts aren’t realized until preliminary design, however we are taking additional precautions in the planning phases to make sure that options that can potentially be moved forward will strive to minimize any impacts, and if impacts occur we will recommend a replacement plan and strategy.
Chris · January 29, 2020 at 11:06 pm
I’m open for change and would love to see what can happen. I’m having a hard time understanding some of the mock ups. Are you proposing a green space that blocks current access to homes at the corner of eastern and poplar level?
Mike Sewell · January 30, 2020 at 12:43 pm
Thanks for taking the time to engage with us Chris. No, we are not proposing changes to access for residences and businesses along Eastern near Poplar. We are only looking to reclaim some additional green space from the very long right turn lane to further enhance places to make the parkway more beautiful. I hope that helps clear things up. If not, I will be here! Thanks again.
chris higdon · January 30, 2020 at 1:59 pm
Thanks for responding, so to clarify the mock up showing I have zero access to my house and garage is not correct. Additional green space will be added along the right turn lane and all properties in that turn lane will continue to have driveway access to Eastern Pkwy. Thanks for the continued dialogue.
Mike Sewell · January 30, 2020 at 2:19 pm
Yes indeed. You will continue to have the same access you have now. That is part of the problem with quick sketches. Somethings get overlooked. We will make sure to update this before we get the options in our draft plan. Thanks again.
Tamiflu · July 21, 2020 at 10:09 pm
Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. and his firm originally envisioned the parkways — Northwestern, Southwestern, Algonquin, Southern, Eastern and Cherokee — as tree-lined corridors linking the city’s flagship parks — Iroquois, Shawnee and Cherokee. Developed over a 50-year period from the 18 until the 19, the parkways now connect 24 Louisville neighborhoods and eight Metro Council districts. These green corridors were intended to accommodate carriage, equestrian, bicycle, and pedestrian traffic through a linear park experience. However, over the past several decades, it’s become clear that the comfort and safety of the parkways have declined and conditions have strayed from Olmsted’s original intent.