LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Police are preparing for the possibility of another chaotic weekend on Bardstown Road, though there's no guarantee a street takeover will happen.
On Thursday, business owners along Bardstown Road called a meeting, inviting Louisville Metro Police and Louisville's mayor. During the meeting, LMPD said they’re monitoring the situation closely and will be ready if crowds gather again.
"This weekend and moving forward, there will be a significantly larger police presence starting in the early evening,” Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said.
The response comes after last weekend’s unrest, when a crowd swelled into the street, sparking multiple fights. LMPD deployed its Rapid Response Team and arrested two women and a 16-year-old girl. Much of the mayhem was recorded and shared on social media.
Will Smith, who works along Bardstown Road, said what’s happening now is far from how things used to be.
“It hasn’t always been this way, right?” Smith said. “When I was coming up, we didn’t have the street takeovers. I think it’s a multitude of problems — social media, TikTok — everything’s hilarious, everything’s viral.”
Smith thinks a long-term solution could be making part of Bardstown Road walkable.
“If the issue is the street takeover because of traffic, then make it walkable. Put our lovely cops out here on horses. They do it in other cities,” he said.
The area has seen sporadic violence in recent years. Just last summer, a shooting one block south of the most recent crowd left three people shot — two of them died.
“People are concerned about short and long term impact on their businesses,” Greenberg said. “We do not want Bardstown Road to just become a road that has only late-night nightclubs. That is not healthy for any neighborhood in our city. There needs to be a healthy balance of bars, restaurants, stores and residents all peacefully coexisting together.”
As the weekend approaches, one thing is certain: more police officers will be on Bardstown Road, ready if another crowd forms.
Previous Coverage:
Weekend chaos on Bardstown Road prompts some businesses to close early
Businesses frustrated after another 'street takeover' on Bardstown Road near the Highlands
Louisville police to increase weekend patrols in the Highlands after large crowd
Late night crowd temporarily closed Bardstown Road in the Highlands, police called to respond
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