LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Construction, bumper-to-bumper traffic and hundreds of crashes on along Bardstown Road are frustrating and dangerous for drivers near the I-265 interchange.

Debbie Pottinger has lived in Fern Creek for more than 30 years, and she said traffic is terrible.

"It's gotten so much worse. I mean, I remember when we first moved out here, you could come out of our subdivision and never wait," Pottinger said. 

Traffic has made their once quaint neighborhood anything but. 

"Now we can't even back out of our driveway and get to the end of our subdivision without sitting waiting on all these cars," she explained. Pottinger said it can take 20 minutes to get a mile down the road. 

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet agrees traffic on Bardstown Road is an issue. So it is getting input on what needs to be done to help improve conditions on what is said is one of the busiest state highway corridors.

"The entire goal of the Bardstown Road Planning Study is to improve safety, reduce congestion," said KYTC spokesperson Morgan Woodrum. 

KYTC is studying Bardstown Road, also known as U.S. 31E, from the Bullitt County line to Beulah Church Road. 

It's mostly used by people driving between Louisville and Mount Washington. The stretch includes the Gene Snyder interchange, which is another headache for many drivers.

"I had to sit there two to three times before I can get 300 feet down to make a left turn," said Todd Crouch

Safety is also an issue KYTC is considering. From 2018 to 2023 there were more than 1,000 crashes on that stretch of road

Driver Sam Phillips is tired of the traffic. "Sitting in lights. People pulling out in front of you, and they are still doing all this construction out here, so it's gonna get, as we say in eastern Kentucky, 'get worser.'"

An open house at Bates Elementary on Tuesday evening gave people a chance to look at the study, talk with the project team and provide feedback. The hope is to use the information to consider what the transportation needs are for Bardstown Road, what improvements would cost and how it would benefit the area.

An online survey is available for the public to provide feedback. It needs to be filled out by July 9, 2024. Click here.

A second public meeting is planned this fall and a final report is scheduled to be published in April 2025. After that, KYTC will decide what, if anything, needs to change. The cabinet said altering roads requires a lot of step. Drivers likely wouldn't see changes for five to ten years. 

To see the study overview along with maps of the area, click here.

Related stories: 

Copyright 2024 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.