8664

Here in Louisville, traffic is not horrible. sometimes it can get bad when there are special events, such as Kentucky Derby, Thunder over Louisville, or the Kentucky State Fair, but overall its pretty good most days. Now there is an exception to this rule and that would be what we call "Spaghetti Junction", this is a God Forsaken junction of three major Interstate Highways, 65, 64, and 71 that merge into a twisted behemoth of steel and concrete that spans 5 square miles and causes cataracts and premature graying of the temples among most of its daily drivers.

In recent years, the City of Louisville and the State of Kentucky have been trying to secure funding for something called the Ohio River Bridges Project. This project includes the Addition of a new Downtown Bridge to add 6 more lanes to I-65 and a reworking of Spaghetti Junction to increase its total size to 23 Lanes, and finally the creation of an East End Bridge that would finally connect the I-265(Gene Snyder Expressway) Beltway. This is a logistical nightmare for more than a million reasons including the fact that this project is important to both the economies of Louisville, as well as the State of Kentucky and Indiana.

If you ask me, i don't like any of this, i think that the 8664 plan is far superior and that it would save billions of dollars and many headaches, as well as open the area West of Downtown to Billions more in Real Estate redevelopment. Louisville has a chance here to come out of this a far superior city.

That being said, i do not believe that the local Government will proceed with the 8664 plan and may well even add more nightmares to the existing project. This may be because the shear size of the project would be a boon to the local economy with all of its jobs that it would create, I say if that is the reason, lets do something even more significant, lets bury Interstate 64 ala the Boston Big Dig.

Now i don't mean the entire section of I-64, but rather under Cherokee Park, and Under the Waterfront region of Downtown Louisville, there would also be a possibility of burying Spaghetti Junction if they did this properly which would allow for the restoration of the historic Stock Yards and Butcher Town section of East Downtown Louisville. I also say, lets Take the 1-65 Bridge and rebuild it completely, demolish the old steel behemoth and make way for a modern, beautiful, new 12 lane suspension bridge to match the plans for the new East End bridge. This would be Louisville's premier new Downtown Icon. Expensive? Yes. Unnecessary? Yes. But ask yourself if the Ohio River Bridges Project falls under those classifications already, the answer more than likely is Yes. So 8664, i applaud you for giving us a cheaper alternative with a clear vision for the future development and expansion of downtown Louisville.

Here are some pictures: