Mayor Greenberg says Louisville will form its own transportation department

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville will now have its own department of transportation.

Mayor Craig Greenberg made the announcement Tuesday as part of his weekly briefing, saying it will allow Louisville to cut through red tape when moving forward with infrastructure projects.

"We've been getting the money," Greenberg said. "We have not been using the money. We have not been investing the money."

Greenberg said since he took office there's been a backlog of more than $100 million of funded projects. Under the new transportation department, Greenberg said new dedicated project managers will be appointed to oversee those projects from start to finish.

The department will be housed in the city's department of public works and will work closely with TARC, the parks department and federal and state agencies.

City leaders said they've modeled the department after other cities that have also adopted their own municipal department of transportation, including Nashville, Seattle and Chicago.

Metro Councilman Anthony Piagentini said it will especially help his district in east Louisville. He said the last Census report showed that district grew by 30%, but the infrastructure didn't keep up.

"I'm excited about what the department of transportation can do to separate out the day to day functions of public works," Piagentini said. "They're doing their best to fill the potholes and pave the roads but to also have people that are thinking on terms that are well beyond what we will be here."

Greenberg said there's a long list of projects the city wants the new department to tackle, including 4th Street, the Belvedere and reimagining 9th Street, but he added there's no one project that will take precedence.

The city is hiring for the 11-person department and is specifically looking for project managers and project engineers.

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