Traffic re-design proposed for Bardstown Road to improve safety
LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - Big changes could be coming to Bardstown Road and Baxter Avenue after a safety study uncovered the dangers of the corridor.
The plans were unveiled to the public for the first time Thursday night.
The safety study looked at Baxter and Bardstown from Broadway in the north, to the Watterson Expressway in the south.
"This stretch of road is really one of the most dangerous in the city if not the state," Metro Councilman Brandon Coan (D-District 8) said. "This corridor has two car crashes per day, every day, on average, and nine pedestrian crashes per year."
The statistics he quoted came from the safety study, which looked at crashes on the corridor over the past five years.
Each redesign plan would include taking out the lane lights which show x's or arrows based on which lanes are being used during the day.
There are three options the city has come up with on how to remove the lane lights.
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The first would be to remove the lane lights but keep parking restrictions along the road during the morning and even rush hour.
The second is to remove the lane lights and allow parking all day on one side of the street only. This would convert the road to one lane in each direction with a two-way turning lane in the middle.
The third option, which is recommended by Metro government, would remove the lane lights and allow parking on both sides of the street all day, except near intersections. It would convert the road to one lane in each direction at all times and put in one-way left-turn lanes at intersections with stop lights only.
If the third option is agreed upon by the public and government, the changes above would go into effect along Baxter and Bardstown Roads from Broadway to the Douglass Loop. Between the Douglass Loop and Taylorsville Road, there would be two lanes of traffic in each direction with a two-way left turn lane in the middle. From Taylorsville Road to Tyler Lane there would be no change to the road itself, and from Tyler Lane to Brighton Drive there would be two lanes of traffic in each direction with a two-way left turn lane in the middle. (See the map for an illustration.)
The third option would also include improved crosswalks, and a new crosswalk in front of Yankee Noodle, at the Baxter-Bardstown split.
While the plan would get rid of the no parking zones during the morning and evening rush hour, parking would be metered. Also, it would eliminate all street parking south of the Douglass Loop.
There would also be the addition of pull off areas for TARC buses, where possible.
Nothing is final yet. The public still has time to weigh in on the plan. Click or tap here to take the public survey.
The city would start with the easy fixes like improving and adding crosswalks. There will also be improved lighting installed along the corridor.
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