I-65 in Louisville will reopen this week, but there are a few limitations

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This is real work. I'm like, no, this is real work. They are in here, you know, getting like, they're like none of this estate. No, they were on the clock running. Yeah, they were on the clock. And so, you know, it has been, it's mission driven to get this open because. It's no small thing to close an interstate. Like you said, you were taking away a main artery in Louisville. We take that very seriously. We did that so that we could greatly accelerate the progress of the work. That has been very successful. We're getting ready to reopen. We're going to hit that mark and get the interstate back open. But this is the thing. I have to say it because I have to be very honest. I need people to hear this. The work is not over. This project continues. Even the work on those three bridges is not done. We have built enough. to get four lanes of traffic on that bridge deck. So it's going to be some moving around. Like, you know, you have your northbound lanes. You have your southbound. Everything's squeezed over to one side on those bridges right now because we build out half of those. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So it's two lanes in each direction. Two lanes each direction. Yeah. On I-65 for this five-mile corridor because you cannot do the back and forth and switching in and out. It's just not safe. So five miles of I-65, same parameters. Waterson to Jefferson Street reduced to two lanes in each direction. for this portion of the project. And then we still have six more bridges that need to be rehabilitated or replaced. And we're going to have to figure out exactly how we're going to do that. Well, there was talk about shutting that down later, but that was changed at some point. It's not going to happen. Yeah, we are not anticipating another interstate closure at this point. And so, you know, we heard loud and clear that that was something that if we can avoid it, we should avoid it. And so the team is taking a good, hard look at what is the best approach to fix these next six bridges because the fact of the matter is these bridges are in need of that love. They need the love. They need to be repaired. President Eisenhower. team put this whole interstate system together. And so we all know Eisenhower, what? Yeah, the 1950s. They're old. These interstates are old. It's crazy. I have had some people say, well, why didn't you just take care of them? Oh, we did. I mean, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has done everything right, including, you know, shoring up these bridges and taking extra measures to keep them going basically as long as you can. But you get to a point, it's end of their service life. They need to be replaced. It's a safety measure. Okay, so these six other bridges that are going to be bolstered in some capacity. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're not shutting down the interstate. So we'll shut down, what, a couple of lanes and they'll work on that side. We'll have lane restrictions. We're going to determine how to get it done. The good news about these bridges that are coming up next, this next bundle, they're all. much more closely clustered together, all around hospital curve. So we have six bridges there, much smaller area. It's less than a mile this time. This time we were talking about a five-mile corridor. Gotcha. This time we're talking about less than a mile. A lot of those right around hospital curve. Muhammad Ali. Yes. Liberty. Liberty. Right. Yes. Broadway. Yeah. Yeah. So when we get to our process of.

Doing those bridges and it's half are replacements, brand new bridges for three of them, three are rehabs, but serious work being done there. We'll have local street closures, we'll have ramp closures, but all of that is still being sifted out as we take a look and finalize that approach. So that's still to come. So people have said, when's the project over? I don't have an end date right now because we are still finalizing the approach that we're going to use for the next six bridges. So these three bridges that we are working on now done in March. They must have been in much worse shape. These three since we had to shut down the interest. Yes, I say need the love because that equates to me. These were the ones that were in most critical need of attention. These were the ones that when you were out doing the inspections and taking a look at them. You were, I mean, people were measuring, marking out there all the time, much greater frequency than they normally would be, just keeping a very, very close eye on things. It looked like there were pieces, chunks of concrete that had fallen away. You just see the rebar. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's falling. It's very troublesome. Some of the, and even some of it, you know, there were gaps and there were, you know, other things that are very troubling to see. And, you know, they were safe for. folks to travel on because KYDC was keeping a very close eye on them. But, you know, you don't want, you put temporary measures in place. Even some of those we had like, we put in a steel beam to shore that thing up, which is fantastic. to take as a temporary measure, that's a band-aid. That's not taking care of the issue. This work here has taken care of the issue. This has given you three new bridges. Yeah, and I-65's the grand old lady of the ones around here because clearly the Snyder used to be the Jefferson Freeway is newer. Right. Yes. Comparatively speaking. Yep. And so is I-64. The Cochran tunnels, although that's a little later, but not that much later in that they'll need to be repaired. Sooner. Aging infrastructure across this country is a real issue. And I mean, all of it takes investment. And so one thing I will say is this. The investment that is being made is, I mean, that's a big deal because these projects need attention. You have to find the dollars. Dollars are limited. So when they come in your direction, that is an investment in Louisville. That's an investment in the community. I know that we've been in folks' way and driver's way. And they're like, but these other projects are going on too. And, you know, I don't want to make light of it, but I'm like, that is all improvement. It is, I get the pain. I promise you, I understand the pain of today of having to deal with. That's closed. This is closed. There are lane restrictions. This is hard. When we get through that and we have these improved bridges and roadways that are going to serve our community for decades and decades, gosh, darn it, that's worth it. Those long-term gains are important. Yeah, well, I'm glad it got the love, as you say. Yeah, got the love, got the attention. When is it officially open? Do we know yet? So we'll have that information. I imagine that our governor will deliver that news tomorrow when he is in town. But we, I mean, we're in the final stages. You know, crews are out there. They're doing the work. They still have road work to do. So they're working, you know, final things are some final paving. They're doing some striping. They're working on those overhead signs. All of that changes. What will happen when they do reopen it, it will happen during the overnight hours.

that they reopen it when we have less traffic on the road. And they'll need to go out and do some temporary short-term, you know, restrictions around the Waterson. They have to restripe some things. They have to get the signage up. But it'll open pretty quickly, just like when we opened that two-mile section of Southbound, you know, back at the end of June. That happened very quickly. You know, folks were saying, when's it going to happen? When's it going to happen? I'm like, it's open. So it doesn't take them that long, but they do have to do some work to get that open. Different subject. I-71 from Zohran Mamdani Avenue to downtown. Is that going to happen in the next year and be completed? That is not my baby. And so I don't know. I only take care of my children, Terry. I see the praise. only take care of my children. Because next I was going to jump to the VA hospital. Yes, you need to get Morgan in here with KYTC. She will fill you in on everything. But I will say this quickly. When we do open I-65, just know, it is two lanes of traffic in each direction. Construction continues, lower that speed limit. It's going to be reduced to 40 miles per hour for most of the corridor. It's 55 in most spots now, 50 in some, so it's going down to 40 in most of the spots. Slow it down. Okay. Mindy Peterson, great to see you again. Good to see you. Thanks for the info. And the Gov will be here tomorrow. It says 11 a.m. is the official announcement time tomorrow. That sounds right to me. I know that you know all the information. I'm going to tickle you in a minute and get the rest of it out of me. Back in a minute on News Radio 840 WHS.

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