LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A fiery crash in Old Louisville last week didn't come as a surprise for neighbors who are pushing for safer roads across the city.
A man died after crashing his car into a tree, causing a building to catch fire around 6:30 p.m. Friday. The remnants of that crash were still visible Monday afternoon — windows of the building are boarded up and the tree is completely charred.
But those who live nearby said better designed roads could have prevented the crash from happening in the first place.
"It's the running the reds, and it's the speeding," said Alex Parets.
Parets lives in Old Louisville, and said he knew Friday's crash was only a matter of time.
"People treat the one-way like a highway," Parets said.
The crash happened at the intersection of Oak and Second streets — a one-way road.
"Anywhere we see these one-way pairs, you're gonna see accidents like this happen," said Chris Glasser, president of Streets for People.
Streets for People is a Louisville nonprofit dedicated to making the city's roads safer.
Drivers crashing their cars into buildings is a problem so pervasive in the city, there's a term for it.
"We call it being Mag-barred," said Glasser.
The term comes from Magnolia Bar — commonly known as Mag Bar — in Old Louisville, which has been hit by vehicles a number of times.
"It's by no means an Old Louisville problem," Glasser said. "Anywhere you see these one-way pairs, you see these issues."
This map shows where crashes happen in Louisville. This map shows one-way streets in Louisville. Both crashes and one-way streets are concentrated in Louisville's urban core.
"It's not a cut-through, it's a neighborhood," said Parets.
The city is converting a section of Second and Third streets into two-way streets, effecting the road where Friday's crash happened. The project starts this year, but won't be finished until 2027.
The city is also making the switch from one-way to two-way at Logan and Shelby streets, as well as West Chestnut and West Muhammad Ali Boulevard.
For Glasser, these changes are a start.
"The changes need to be more systemic and broad," he said, adding that the city needs to make a major shift to stop crashes like Friday's from being the norm.
"With streets designed like this, it's just a matter of time before another accident like this happens," Glasser said. "It's not an if, it's a when."
Businesses near the crash scene from Friday are still closed, and owners said they don't know when they'll reopen. Those who live in the apartments above the crash scene also aren't sure when they'll be able to return home.
To learn more about Streets for People, click here.
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