Update: Mission Accomplished! No one killed or injured at this sidewalk closure on our watch.

If you give people nothing, they will go into the street.

Here's a sketch solution that gives the citizens of Louisville the same protection we give our road workers. This doesn't have to be the solution, but it seems workable based on my four visits to the site:

Updated 1/15/2010!: read below the fold.

The city has issued a permit shutting down walking on one side of Bardstown Road for almost a month. Crossing to the other side of the road is highly impractical - Bardstown is a busy 4 lane arterial. They can require the construction of a plywood tunnel, but they have not. They can annex the adjacent flex lane for people on foot, but they have not. There's a whole library of tools they could employ, but they have not.

They're hoping you take no action and keep quiet.

Call 311 today and tell them you want them to find a way to open this sidewalk on this formerly accessible corridor. Then forward this message to your friends.

Bardstown Road near Edgeland Ave, 1-11-2009

This is not an isolated incident, nor is it an accident that Louisville is always ranked very poorly in walking safety. The city is constantly permitting crass sidewalk blockages - a similar closure recently put 2nd street out of action for months, and Broadway is closed for weeks every year for the Derby.  The results speak for themselves: in 2009 we were ranked the 7th most dangerous city by Dangerous By Design, a study undertaken by STPP and T4America.

At some level the city knows these closures result in people taking risks. But even more insidious is the destruction of walking as a viable means of transportation. When you stand in front of this closed sidewalk, no number of walkability plans will convince you that walking is valued in Louisville. Perhaps that's why "Maintain pedestrian-ways during construction and special events" was listed as a major short-term objective (4.3) of the Louisville Community Walkability Plan of 2008. Clearly we haven't gotten that done, and this goal is absent from the 2009 Community Walkability Report Card.

Lets Fight Back. Call 311 about Bardstown Road. Forward this to your friends.

Bus stop on Bardstown Road. Looks like that bike accepts credit cards. Hmmm....

Via Louisville Film Society:

"How do you move about Louisville? What does your motion say about the community in which you live? Do you ride a bike, a skateboard, or a moped? Think about what moves you, how you move, what excites movement. The Speed Art Museum and The Louisville Film Society would like to see through your eyes!

"Moving Movie Louisville is an opportunity to show how you move through Louisville and to have your ten minute video screened as part of the next Brown-Forman Art After Dark at the Speed on Friday, February 5th. Participants will receive two free tickets to the event. Just submit your 10 minute video on a DVD or check out a Flip camera by dropping by the UPS Store in the Highlands, 1355 Bardstown Rd! Bring a valid picture id and a credit card to check out a Flip Camera for 24 hours in order to make your 10 minute video. The cameras are simple and anyone can use one! Come on Louisville; let us see how you move!"

The Speed Art Museum website has more information.

In the below/attached picture we are sweeping and treating our downtown sidewalks before the downtown roads!

Sooooooooo......whaddya doing next Tuesday night?

You say you have a date with your television? With your couch? Need to paint your nails? You say the icky cold, dark, winter weather makes you unwilling to leave the house and the warmth of your bunny slippers and snuggly thing?

Wellllllll.......I have a something that will warm you through and through. Come on out to Car-Free Happy Hour! It's so hot, IT'S PRACTICALLY ON FIRE! The tasty food and bevs at Car-Free Happy Hour will WARM your mouth, large intestine, small intenstine, stomach, etc. The fascinating conversation and excellent presentations will HEAT UP the neural pathways in your noggin. The fab new frienships you will forge will SET YOUR HEART ON FIRE. The residual toastiness from Car-Free Happy Hour will keep you thoroughly thawed until Spring arrives.

Bring a friend or two. They like to be warm, too!

Tuesday January 12
5:30-8PM
@The Monkey Wrench
1025 Barret Avenue

Seeya there!

This month's Brown Alumni Magazine features an article about breaking free from cars not because of their impact on the environment, but because of their impact on our individual psyches.

http://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/content/view/2427/32/

This bicyclist saw some purse-snatchers making an escape on a scooter, so thwarts their escape in a unique fasion.

h/t Copenhagenize