LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- There were a lot of opinions Thursday night in east Louisville as the city proposes changes to lanes, turning, and parking.
The city hopes to improve safety and cut down on crashes in the area by reconfiguring, or rightsizing, a roughly 3-mile stretch of Brownsboro Road. The plan starts at the corner of Mellwood Avenue and Brownsboro Road and ends at Chenoweth Lane and Brownsboro Road, near St. Matthews.
At some points, the lanes would go from four to two with a turn lane in between.
"We all kind of need to stand together against this,"Â Adam Kelly, who works in the area, said.
The plan would also shorten crossing distances, crossing three lanes instead of four.
"Brownsboro is our main entryway obviously. So this is a big, big deal for us," Kelly said.
Kelly is the general manager of Mesh, a popular restaurant on Brownsboro Road. He worries the proposed changes would hurt business.
"I don't think this is a good move for the community. Just be because I think it'll drive too much traffic into the neighborhoods kind of away from the main road, I mean, artery of Louisville," Kelly said.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) estimates around 9,000 cars a day use Brownsboro Road at Hillcrest Avenue, while more than 15,700 cars a day use Brownsboro Road at Chenoweth Lane.
Ruth Newman likes the idea.
"The straighter the roads and the more you've got two lanes instead of you know, having lanes that are dedicated to like left turns. People are more confused and mixed up and they try to dart around each other when they're turning left. It's a good idea. I just wish that they would put bike lanes or at least shoulders into their plans," Newman said.
But many other residents sat in a crowd of emotion, hand raising and shouting on Thursday, unhappy with the plans. At issue: more traffic with fewer lanes and more problems with school pick-up. Neighbors were also unhappy because they were the last group to be included in the conversation, following nearby mayors, schools and businesses.
"We have to have much more structure, when we have these meetings where people's emotions are so on the surface. We need to have better structure, better facilitation, and not just let it go out of control, because there are always people that are going to monopolize and then there's going to be you know hard feelings and it's just gonna get worse and out of control," Newman said.
Regardless of the final plan, Brownsboro Road will be getting fresh pavement, sometime this fall.
"I see the spirit that they're going for but this town, I don't know is built for all the residents that it has for the infrastructure properly. So you know, I don't know that taking any of our roadways down a couple of lanes is a good idea," Kelly said.
Louisville has several other reconfiguration projects planned for this year.
For a list of those roads, click here.
To see plans for rightsizing on Brownsboro Road, click here.
To submit your own feedback to the city, click here.
For more information on rightsizing, click here.
Related Stories:
- 'Rightsizing' planned for Brownsboro Road in Louisville this fall
- ROAD SAFETY | Several Louisville streets expected to be 'rightsized' this year
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