LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A scheduled weekend closure of Interstate 65 in downtown Louisville has been postponed due to the possibility of unfavorable weather. 

That's according to a news release from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. 

The WDRB Weather Center's current forecast calls for the possibility of showers and thunderstorms through the weekend. 

Work to perform bridge joint replacements on I-65 at "Hospital Curve" was scheduled to begin Friday and continue through the weekend. A complete closure of I-65 Southbound lanes on the Kennedy bridge that would have diverted drivers crossing the bridge into Kentucky to I-71 or I-64 has also been postponed. 

According to KYTC, the project includes full replacement of expansion joints to improve safety, help prevent recurring potholes, and reduce the need for future maintenance closures. It will also replace joints on both the southbound and northbound lanes at mile point 135.6, about a mile south of the bridge. 

Some of the work can't be done alongside traffic for safety reasons, according to KYTC. That requires a full closure of I-65 at the repair site.

A new work schedule hasn't been released. 

Work on the northbound side will be scheduled for another upcoming weekend, the state said.

Besides a harrowing rescue of a driver whose semi cab was dangling over the Kennedy Bridge, there were two tractor-trailer wrecks in the area on Kentucky Derby weekend. One of those crashes was attributed to the slick road surface. In the other, the driver was described as driving too fast for the conditions.

A 44-year-old Florida truck driver, Ahmed Ibrahim, died from smoke inhalation and thermal burns after he crashed into a guardrail on I-65 South at Jefferson Street last September.

And Jeffery Walker, of Arkansas, broke his right ankle and sustained other injuries when he jumped from the cab of his semitruck, which crashed on I-65 South at the Jefferson Street ramp. The truck caught fire before falling off the overpass.

Walker said he escaped by kicking the passenger door until it opened, then sliding down the semi's trailer before jumping about 20 feet to the ground below.

"I don't want to die," Walker recalled thinking. "I don't want to burn."

No other injuries were reported.

The I-65 split with the Jefferson Street ramp had two crashes in 2023 and one in 2022, according to the state data based on police accident reports. 

The overpasses and bridges in the area were rebuilt about a decade ago as part of the $2.3 billion Ohio River Bridges Project, but there have been safety fixes since the new roads opened. In 2019, Kentucky officials added pavement markers on the ramp from I-64 West and I-71 South to I-65 South that give drivers more time to adjust as the ramp's lanes narrow. 

More Top Stories:

Arrest made in murder of missing Louisville woman found 'obviously deceased' near Buechel

Brooks Houck's mother used burner phone when Crystal Rogers was killed, state claims

Kentucky facility begins cultivating state's first medical cannabis inventory

Copyright 2025 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.