Response to 8664 Opposition
- "It will create gridlock"
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This is a scare tactic, but they have no facts to support it. Supposedly they looked at this alternative in 1999, but they lost the documentation. Based on conversations with politicians and engineers, we believe they may have analyzed a different solution that had I-64 terminating at Mellwood in Butchertown, instead of connecting to I-65 as our plan does.
Approximately 90% of our rush hour traffic is going downtown to the street grid. So how can this plan suddenly create gridlock? It makes no sense. And again, they have produced no evidence.
Currently our most significant traffic congestion is on limited-access expressways and ramps. The Bridges Project solution is to build larger expressways, making our current problem even bigger.
- "River Road will need to be 8-10 lanes"
- They make assertions, yet they have no data to support it. It's the same flawed reasoning that concludes that Spaghetti Junction must be 23 lanes wide. Like the people who use them, transportation systems are highly adaptive. Individuals will select the best alternative route based on time and costs. Our objective is to make the waterfront more accessible and livable, so anything that would detract from this objective would be unacceptable.
- "It will restrict access to downtown"
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This is another scare tactic. The only access point we want to remove is the 9th Street ramp. 8664 will actually improve access to downtown by diverting interstate traffic (trucks) away from downtown and simplifying Spaghetti Junction.
Currently, the greatest restrictions to downtown are due to Spaghetti Junction design flaws:
- Westbound I-64 and I-71 merging just before the I-65 north ramp
- Southbound I-65’s limited access (only 1 lane) to I-64 east and west and I-71 north
To improve "cross-river mobility," in addition to an upstream bridge, we should consider using active lane management on the Clark Memorial Bridge. Like the Golden Gate Bridge and Bardstown Road, active lane management would allow us to have three lanes coming south in the morning and three lanes going north in the afternoon.
- "It's too late"
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A very small portion of the Bridges Project is currently funded, so it is not too late. The former Bridges Project project manager said, "Now is the time to look at this."
The Bridges Project will take at least 14 years to complete and we will have to live with the results for 100 years, so it's not too late to consider what is best for Louisville.