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Livable Streets Action Alert - Brownsboro Road Diet Needs Support

Fri, 01/20/2012 - 10:59 — Dave Morse

Some businesses are attempting to organize against the Brownsboro Road Diet.

You Can Help

Who You and all the friends you're about to invite...
(facebook).
What Rock the 9th District Community Forum
When Wednesday, Jan 25th
Forum starts: 6:00 pm
Diet topic starts: 6:20~6:30 pm?
Where
Kentucky School for the Blind Auditorium
1867 Frankfort Avenue
(google map)
(TARC #15, #19)
Why Walking without Fear
How Applaud the presentation. Wear one of our stickers. If there's opportunity to comment, come forward and say "I Support the Sidewalk and Road Diet."

What is the Brownsboro Road Diet?

The Brownsboro Road Diet adds a center turn lane and a sidewalk by removing redundant travel lanes.  The project extends from Drescher Bridge Road to Ewing Ave on lower Brownsboro Road - about 3000 feet. This segement of sidewalk has been notably missing since US-42 was widened prior to the era of public participation in transportation planning. The road widening spree destroyed much of Louisville's neighborhoods' functionality. For the last 30 years, residents have been trying to put the street back in a configuration that is safe to walk.

Road Diets reduce overall crash frequency by 19% to 43%1. That's because traffic moves at the speed of the most prudent driver. Road diets have been installed successfully at hundreds of locations all around the country. Locally, they have been successful both at Southwestern Parkway and Eastern Parkway, with another planned for Grinstead Drive. Road diets on roads with Brownsboro's traffic volume  cause negligable motorist delay, certainly less than stop lights needed to build a crosswalk to the other side of the road, or the delay associated with the on-street parking further west on the road. The road diet is a win-win for all modes of travel.

LouisvilleKY.gov has additional information about the project, and about the 9th district forum (pdf). CART has covered this project several times, including a nearly identical situation last spring. 

Comments

Wed, 02/08/2012 - 11:34 — Cassandra Culin, Clifton Chair, Neighborhood P&B Access Comm (not verified)

Brownsboro Road Sidewalk and Reconfiguration

To all Lovers of Walkable Communities:
 
1) The Neighborhood Pedestrian and Bicycle Access Committee and the Kentucky and Louisville Chapters of the Council of the Blind teamed up to draft a letter which was published Monday in the Courier-Journal as a Community Challenge!  You can read it at: 
 
2) The 11th hour opposition to the Brownsboro Sidewalk and Reconfiguration has gotten more strident, maintaining that Brownsboro Road will be reduced to 2 lanes.  If you haven't had a chance yet, please sign the petition supporting this important project at: 
Be sure to include a comment when you sign about why you think the project is important, the more personal the better.
 
We appreciate the 70+ supporters of this project who joined us at the January 25 9th District Community Forum.  The opposition declined to attend, but the support is broad!  Over 70 supporters also showed up at a forum last fall.
 
Thank you for all your support – keep it coming and spread the word!
 
Cassandra
 
Cassandra Culin, Clifton Chair
Neighborhood Pedestrian and Bicycle Access Committee
A Joint Committee of the Clifton, Clifton Heights, and Crescent Hill Community Councils
185 N. Bellaire Ave.
Louisville, KY  40206
502-895-5727; fax 502-896-9760; cell 502-594-4405
 
 

Tue, 01/31/2012 - 13:04 — Cassandra Culin, Clifton Chair, Neighborhood P&B Access Comm (not verified)

URGENT: Sign Brownsboro Rd Sidewalk and Reconfiguration Petition

Everyone who supports this project, please sign the petition at:  http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/brownsboro-road-reconfiguration-and-sidewalk/

We appreciate your support!!!

Mon, 01/23/2012 - 08:50 — Tom Armstrong (not verified)

Brownsboro Road Diet objections

What are the objections, aside from a general fear of change? Someone mentioned a fear that it would take longer for a resident at one end of the proposed section to get to the other to deliver Snootiepants, Junior to the private school. Surely that isn't the only reason? 

It seems to me that if the business owners gave it much thought, they would see that it IMPROVES opportunity for local folks to shop in their stores. If I lived within what I considered reasonable walking distance, and want to go to Joe's Store, Incorporated, would not Joe's Store appreciate that by walking, I allow someone from farther away to ALSO park there? 

Would not the hypothetical Joe's Store also appreciate that there would be fewer crashes along the stretch, allowing smoother traffic flow (and allowing motorists better chance to see Joe's Store signage)?

Is there any crash data for this stretch of road available? Some analysis of that may help us convince foes.