LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A busy street in downtown Louisville known as the 9th Street Divide will start seeing some major changes after years of discussion. 

City leaders have discussed the reconfiguration of the 9th Street for nearly 10 years. While changes are finally on the way, officials want to hear from the public before work starts.

In 2022, the city received a federal grant to help fund the construction. The Reimagine 9th Street project was even mentioned by President Joe Biden during his northern Kentucky visit in 2023.

Ninth Street, also known as Roy Wilkins Avenue, is also surrounded by one-way streets, many of which were designed around the 1960s and 1970s.

As part of the $25 million project, Muhammad Ali Boulevard (formerly Walnut Street) and Chestnut Street will be converted from one-way into two-way. The work will stretch from 9th Street to Shawnee Park. Planners are considering seven different roadway concepts from Broadway to the Interstate 64 ramp. 

"It does need to (have) stop signs and people go way too fast, especially coming off the highway. Yeah, they really need stop signs," said Imarie Richardson, who has lived at Beecher Terrace off 9th Street for two years and said the area has gotten too busy for how it's currently configured.

The goal is to change the way 9th Street is from Main Street to Broadway in an effort to make things more efficient, safer and more community friendly.

"Because 9th Street is as wide as it is right now, we are going to pinch the road down a little bit to basically better fit the actual conditions that are happening out there," Michael King, director of the Louisville Metro Office of Planning, said. 

Paths, bike lanes, and lawn areas are all being considered. But in order to do that, the center median would have to go.

"Right now, it's like a major thoroughfare. It is not conducive for people coming across 9th Street because it is so wide and the traffic is moving so quickly," Walter Shannon, who works in the city's Portland neighborhood, said. 

Shannon has owned an art gallery just a block away from the area for 20 years.

"We've seen a lot of things happen and a lot of things that were planned that didn't happen, so I hope that this project does happen and I think that it can't do anything but help," he said.

The city held a public meeting last winter showing the different options for how the area could eventually look. There are two options, and the final project would likely have aspects of both.

"You take those two extra lanes and that median space, and then you shift it, probably to the west side of the street, and then that is what we will be able to create this really neat public realm," said King.

Along the corridor, options for development include markets, open plazas, retail shops and parks are included in the project. Plans also call for new street lighting and landscaping.

The city expects to start construction on the two-way conversions by early 2025. The first phase of the project will change Muhammad Ali and Chestnut to two-way streets from 10th to Shawnee Park. 

"I have big hopes. I have high hopes for the area," Richardson said.

The final design for 9th Street is expected by May 2026, with construction beginning that August. City officials said the project could be finished by August 2028.

Residents got to view diagrams of what the project could look like.

An open house held Wednesday evening at Central High School allowed residents and neighbors to take a look at project plans. 

"I think safety is the first concern, because a lot of people in my neighborhood don't have vehicles, so they walk or they take the bus, and so it is critical that this is a safe place to cross the street, whether you have kids or whether it is just you," Gabe Jones, who lives in the city's Russell neighborhood, said.

Download PDF Reimagine 9th Street

If you couldn't make it to the open house, you can fill out a survey online by clicking here.

The city plans to hold another public open house for the project next summer before final plans are scheduled and submitted.

To read more about the project, click here. You can also look at the project, and the different options, by clicking here or on the PDF embedded in this story.

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Louisville's 'Reimagine 9th Street' project on course to be finished in 2028

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