KYTC unveils plan to transform Main Street in downtown Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Although companies and employees are leaving downtown, visitors have been coming in by the thousands, especially to Whiskey Row.

On Tuesday, the Kentucky Department of Transportation showed off plans that will transform the road leading to Whiskey Row, Main Street.

The project, called "Main Remade," will convert the street from one-way to two-way between Wenzel Street in NuLu to 2nd Street, right near the bridge.

"This is such an important project because there's so much opportunity to improve safety," Michael Vaughan with KYTC said. "Reconfiguration to make it a little bit safer for pedestrians and cyclists. We hope to have a one-lane cycle traffic going westbound."

It's part of Vision Zero Louisville, an initiative aimed at driving the number of traffic deaths to zero in the next 30 years.

Converting streets to two-ways is designed to slow drivers down and improve walkability. In past projects, officials said these conversions help businesses on both sides of the road because you get curious traffic coming in both directions.

Rebecca Fleischaker with Louisville Downtown Partnership said these projects could help with the push to attract more people to live downtown.

"It will help with services and stores that come around that," Fleischaker said. "And with people, you have to have these amenities on both sides of the street."

Downtown resident Dan Hartlage said he's excited to see the conversions happening on streets around his neighborhood.

"The first challenge is if a one-way street becomes a two-way street, you'd better look both ways when you're crossing," Hartlage said.

Hartlage left suburban life seven years ago for the vibrant life of downtown, which back then, was on the upswing.

On Tuesday night, he was one of dozens inside the lounge at one of the newest additions to downtown, Derby City Gaming. The attraction located at the corner of 4th and Market streets was packed for happy hour with neighbors who came to learn the results of a weeks-long survey completed by the Louisville Downtown Residents Association.

"Things are different than they were pre-COVID, there's no question about that," Hartlage said.

Hartlage and Ameerah Palacios are two of the neighbors who experienced the post-pandemic evolution firsthand. Palacios is the president of the neighborhood association, and hopes the neighbors have a voice when it comes to the city's plans for the area, which has seen an exodus of office workers.

"There is no more group that has more to say than downtown residents," Palacios said.

The number one desire in the survey for neighbors was no surprise: a downtown market.

"There's 4,800 downtown residents with incomes to match that would support a downtown grocery store," Palacios said. "So we 're just looking for the opportunity to prove it."

Palacios points to models in other cities such as a Target in downtown Lexington and Amazon shop in Chicago as examples the city could pursue.

Other wants of neighbors include a movie theater, more casual dining, clothing stores, and more connectivity.

In the future, Hartlage is hoping to see the positive momentum from NuLu trickle past the interstate to revive downtown.

"And I think over time, that's gonna happen," Hartlage said. "Nothing happens overnight."

The Main Remade project will be completed in three phases.