LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- More than four years after a Louisville cab driver drowned when he drove into high water in a dark viaduct, city officials are taking steps to ensure it doesn't happen again.
Witnesses said the Yellow Cab driver was headed west toward a railroad underpass at 13th and West Oak streets in September 2018 when the cab got stuck in high water and flooded. Forty-year-old Abdinasir Siyat was unable to escape, and by the time first responders arrived, the vehicle was fully submerged.
Siyat was pronounced dead at the scene.
Since then, the city has tried to improve safety at the viaduct by installing bright LED lighting. Residents in the California neighborhood welcomed the new lights. In a previous WDRB report, Carol Clark, with the California Neighborhood Leadership Council, said before the lights were installed the viaduct at night was "like a dark, black abyss ... it's like you're just driving down into a black hole. You don't know whether or not you're going to come out on the other end or whether you're going to drop down."
Now, city leaders are moving forward with a high-tech solution from Louisville Metro's Department of Civic Innovation and Technology. The department recently received $2 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of a new program called Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation (SMART).
"We are excited and grateful for this award to implement our ViaSmart proposal," Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said. "This funding will be used to install smart technology at four of our most dangerous, flood-prone underpasses. This will allow us to better manage traffic flows, enhance public safety, and support our Vision Zero goals. Thank you to the Department of Transportation and the SMART program for this important investment."
The system contains high-tech sensors and other technologies to alert drivers when a viaduct is flooded — or if a vehicle is too tall to enter.
Features include intelligent traffic lights, which won't allow vehicles or pedestrians enter flooded underpasses when sensors detect high water. Intelligent message boards will also alert people when the vehicle's height won't clear the top of the viaduct.
Smart street lights will be equipped with bright bulbs that will turn red when an underpass is flooded. Free wi-fi for residents is built into the equipment.
The current plan calls for installing the sensors in the following four underpasses:
- 3rd Street (KY 1020) near Eastern Parkway (US 60A) (a/k/a "The Can Opener").
- 4th Street near Industry Road.
- W. Oak Street between 13th and 15th Street
- W. Oak Street at 9th Street
There are 34 viaducts in Louisville.
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