LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) -- One of the busiest intersections in Louisville is getting a makeover, as new construction from Hurstbourne Parkway leading to I-64 started Monday.
But one man who knows the commute all too well explains why it's not drivers who need it most. Antwan Crawdus says, "I get off the bus down by the Chuck E. Cheese. I hop off the 40 and walk down pretty much every day."
Crawdus walks with a rhythm in his step and his eyes always alert. "I've been pulled up on a few times," he says. Soon his walk to work at McDonald's off Hurstbourne and Linn Station may get a bit safer. Construction crews launched the first phase of a road project designed to improve the Interstate 64 to Hurstbourne Parkway interchange.
Andrea Clifford with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says that includes, "Some additional turn lanes so instead of one lane as you're heading south on Hurstbourne to east 64, we'll have dual lefts -- exiting 64 west, dual lefts, right now there's just one left and one right. There'll be an additional right turn lane if you're coming south on Hurstbourne to go west on 64."
Also, there will be a new lane on Hurstbourne in each direction from Linn Station Road to the freeway -- and for Crawdus, a sidewalk. He calls that, "Thoughtful, because dodging the traffic is a lot to deal with."
Teams used a pressure washer to burrow deep into the ground and search for utility lines on Monday. WDRB News has been told they'll eventually remove a water main and install a larger one further from the road.
60,000 cars go from I-64 east and west to Hurstbourne each day. So the vital part of this construction project is how to get a year's worth of work done without crippling the commute.
Clifford says, "Lane closure will be allowed between nine in the evening to six a.m., so we're not going to affect the morning and afternoon commute times."
At $60 million and counting, the last year Kentucky spent this much on road projects in Jefferson County was in 2009, driven by the economic stimulus.
For Crawdus, it's just an up-close look at where his taxes are going: "I would call it my personal sidewalk, yeah."
Mac Construction is heading the year-long project. It's the same company that just finished the Kennedy Bridge repair several weeks early.
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