LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A south Louisville road is getting a makeover. City leaders are working to reimagine the intersection of Taylor Boulevard and Winkler Avenue with safety in mind.
Jane Benson lives in south Louisville — surrounded by loved ones. She says her sister lives relatively close to Churchill Downs and her mother lives nearby, in the Algonquin area.
“My whole family does actually,” Benson said. “So, we’re all in here together.”
For the last 30 years, she has been a customer of the Walgreens in the Algonquin neighborhood that is catty-corner to the Taylor Boulevard and Winkler Avenue intersection.
Her go-to store is in a convenient spot, but on a road prone to accidents and crashes.
“I notice that they (cars) come around this corner ... a lot of times people go too fast,” said Benson. “There either should be a caution slow sign or make that street sign more visible.”
Metro Council members say they are working to address this concern and more.
“Careless driving is rampant and it’s everywhere,” Councilman Kevin Triplett, D-15, said. “More and more you’re hearing about people requesting, in fact, insisting on speed humps in their residential neighborhoods and areas.”
Completed rightsizing projects around Louisville.
Many parts of the city have been revamped around the safety of cyclists, pedestrians and drivers, but for busy and extended roadways such as Manslick Road and Taylor Boulevard, Triplett said “We can’t put speed humps, but rightsizing is a quality engineering maneuver option for us to curb dangerous speeding and dangerous traffic.”
Right Size Before and After Migrating
Rightsizing, also called reconfiguration, are strategies used to make streets safer, calmer and more inclusive, according to Metro. The rightsizing strategies reduce vehicle speeding and weaving between lanes while making streets more inclusive and comfortable no matter the mode of transportation.
Grinstead Drive in Louisville was made safer and more inclusive through rightsizing.
One year after rightsizing, Grinstead Drive, between Cherokee Road and Cherokee Parkway, saw a 67% decrease in crashes and a 78% decrease in injuries. Grinstead Drive, between Stilz Avenue and Peterson Avenue, saw a 39% reduction in crashes and an 85% decrease in injuries.
2600 block of Grinstead Drive facing east, 2011, Google Street View.
2600 block of Grinstead Drive facing east, 2019, Google Street View.
New bike lanes were also added to Grinstead Drive to encourage biking and walking versus driving.
In the spring, Southern Parkway, between 3rd Street/Oakdale Avenue and Woodlawn Avenue/Kenwood Way, was under construction to improve safety at the same as a scheduled repaving. Four travel lanes were turned into two travel lanes, a center turn lane, dedicated left turn lanes at major intersections and marked shoulders.
Before rightsizing, there were 218 crashes along a 1.3-mile stretch of Southern Parkway between 3rd Street/Oakdale Avenue and Woodlawn Avenue/Kenwood Way between Jan. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2019. That includes a crash that killed a 20-year-old when they lost control of their vehicle and hit a tree in 2019.
An online public meeting was held on April 26, 2021 to discuss the planned rightsizing project and an in-person public meeting was held on April 28, 2021 at the gazebo at the intersection of Southern Parkway and Woodlawn Avenue.
Taylor Boulevard and Winkler Avenue, between Berry Boulevard and 3rd Street is the latest installment. Crash data shows in the 1.7-mile stretch 732 crashes occurred in the area between July 1, 2016 and June 30, 2021, three fatalities — two were pedestrians — 299 injuries, and over 10% of all crashes occurred at the intersection of Taylor Boulevard and Central Avenue according to Kentucky State Police data.
Benson hopes to see a similar result, if not better.
"I think it would prevent a lot of crashes from happening here," she said about rightsizing, and with family within biking distance, she'd like to eventually ride without apprehension.
"I have a few weeks off and I want to take advantage of the nice weather and get out and get some exercise,” she added.
If interested in the discussion, there will be two information sessions regarding the upcoming right sizing of Taylor Boulevard/Winkler Avenue:
- A virtual meeting will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.
- Information to join the WebEx will be posted soon here.
- An in-person meeting will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 10 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the South Louisville Government Center (2911 Taylor Blvd, Louisville, KY 40208)
- Additional information will be available soon.
View striping plans here.
Rightsizing Qualifications:
For an area to be considered eligible for rightsizing, streets must have:
- Four or more lanes
- An average daily traffic (ADT) of less than 20,000 vehicles.
Other criteria include:
- Crash data
- Left-hand turning movements
- Speeding and lane weaving
- Presence or need for bicycle and pedestrian facilities
- Economic development opportunities
- Community needs
Related Stories:
- Meeting held to address 'rightsizing' of Southern Parkway
- City planning to transform 'dangerous' portion of Southern Parkway in south Louisville
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