Metro Council to introduce ordinance to reopen Iroquois Park loop to traffic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Iroquois Park is an almost daily refuge for Darrell Manley, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I see deer, there's coyotes up here, red fox," he said. "I mean, you know, I come up here at 5:30 in the morning. I walk the park for four or five times a week."

But now, as the pandemic fades and normal starts returning, Manley is confused. Much of the loop around the park is still closed to cars.

"Well, I think it's ridiculous," he said. "There's no reason for those barricades to be up."

The closure was put in place last year at both Iroquois and Cherokee parks to limit crowds, but now, Manley and others say it's time for change at Iroquois Park.

"Open it up," he said.

Responding to calls and emails from constituents, some Metro Council members are now trying to do that. 

Councilwoman Amy Holton Stewart, D-25, will file an ordinance Monday to reopen the Iroquois Park loop, known as Rundill Road, to a lot of vehicle traffic. It's expected a bipartisan group of council members will sponsor the measure.

Earlier this week, Louisville Parks and Recreation said a decision on whether to keep the loops in Cherokee and Iroquois parks closed could come by the end of this month.

However, several council members — some of whom spoke on condition of anonymity — said they are tired of waiting and plan to support the legislation to open the loop. One said some constituents say they will sue the city of the loop is not reopened soon.

Holton Stewart said the closure at Iroquois Park is unfairly preventing those who can't walk or bike from enjoying the park.

“It’s just an injustice to them," she said. "This is about equity."

Carmen Thompson, who uses the park often, has a mixed reaction.

"I hate to think that someone wheelchair-bound couldn't use the park, but I think there has to be a solution, because it's just not safe with the cars," she said Friday as she walked the loop.

Thompson isn't not alone. People who responded to a recent survey were split on if and how it should reopen, and the majority said they do feel safer with it closed.

Of the 3,000 people who completed the Iroquois Park survey, 63% said they feel safer when the road is closed to vehicle traffic, and 63% said their park access has not been restricted by the closure. Nearly 28% of respondents were in favor of keeping the park open to vehicle traffic regardless of conditions, while 34% said they don’t want it open under any condition.

"It's like a speedway when the cars were coming through here," Thompson said.

She hopes council will consider that before any vote to take the barricades down.

It's not clear if the council legislation will also address the ongoing road closure at Cherokee Park. Councilwoman Cassie Chambers Armstrong, D-8, said discussions continue, but she hopes to have a decision about the closure at Cherokee Park by the end of May.

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