New visions planned for Broadway while crews continue sewer pipe repair

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- City planners are working on new visions to make the Broadway corridor between Shawnee Park and Baxter Avenue safer for both pedestrians and drivers.

Michael King is one of the leading forces behind creating an updated vision for Broadway through a project called "Broadway All The Way."

"Broadway is an iconic roadway to the city of Louisville. Everybody that lives in Louisville or around Louisville has probably been on Broadway at some point in their life," said Michael King, an urban planner with Louisville Metro's Office of Advanced Planning and Sustainability.

"'Broadway All The Way' started late-2019. What we are doing though his process is looking to re-imagine that corridor to make it a safer, more efficient roadway that works for everyone."

King said the project is still in the visionary phases. He hopes to wrap that up in the next three to four months and get a plan in place. But he said it will take time to get all the funds together and begin any kind of construction.

In the meantime, Broadway is staying busy with projects.

A bridge repair through the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet closed a section of the road and forced many to detour for months beginning in the summer of 2020. That project wrapped up in Nov. 2020.

"We had a couple of delays in the beginning because of some ongoing utility work in the area," KYTC spokeswoman Stephanie Caros said.

However, Caros said the COVID-19 pandemic led to lower traffic flow, and once crews got working, the project moved along as expected.

"This bridge was nearly 100 years old," she said. "We did a full demolition of the previous bridge and put in a brand new structure."

In addition to those safety improvements, MSD is working to repair what's under the ground. A sewer pipeline repair project began in October 2020 and still continues, impacting traffic along Broadway as crews work.

"It's a 96-inch brick sewer line that was put in in 1866, so it's been serving the community for 155 years, and it just needed some rehabilitation and repair work," said Sheryl Lauder, communications program manager for Louisville MSD.

Lauder said one of the reasons the project is taking quite a bit of time is because of the age of the current pipe. She said several bricks have fallen over the years, and it has taken crews a lot of time and work to remove all the debris.

Also, Lauder said the pipe is not just for waste water but also storm water.

"For the safety of the workers on this project, whenever it rains, we have to shut down," she said.

Above ground, traffic is blocked in the center lane, and many left turns are no longer accessible. Lauder said that's all being done to keep crews safe.

"Part of the reason that the center lane is closed is because the workers are going in and out of this pipe through the manholes," she said.

Lauder said the hope is to have the project completed by the Kentucky Derby in May. She said MSD is currently in the epoxy-liner stage, basically creating a new pipe inside the old one. She said the traffic flow above ground should also return to normal at that time.

King said he's still hoping to get more community input on visions for Broadway's future. Click here for a link to the "Broadway All The Way" website, which has detailed information about the project.