Recently in Courier-Journal Category

The Courier-Journal's recent Building Bridges editorial was another attempt by the editorial board to try to scare politicians into supporting the $4.1 Billion Ohio River Bridges Project. But it's not going to work because people are tired of it. After praising their beloved Mayor Abramson for saying that he sees "light at the end of the bridges", they had the audacity to say:

"the community should insist that candidates who aspire to city and state leadership fully embrace the bridges project"

If you don't agree, take a minute to let them know why they are wrong. They have been doing this for years, but their tactics are running a little thin (like the paper, come to think of it). They went on to misrepresent the project:

"It shouldn't be necessary to repeat this for mayoral candidates, but here goes: The record of decision for the project is a done deal, arrived at after years of study and discussion and agreed to by a broad consensus of the political and business leadership in two states. It calls for both bridges to be pursued at the same time, and for good reason."

According to the ORBP website, the East End Bridge is to be completed before construction on the downtown bridge even begins. They imply that both bridges must be built at the same time, but that's factually incorrect and very intentional misleading.

The Federal Highway Administration has asked that River Fields' lawsuit be moved from Washington DC to a Kentucky court.

We're not sure what we think about this one. River Fields' reputation as obstructionists to the East End Bridge is well known, but on the other hand, the organization's political influence cannot be underestimated. We will observe with great interest.

From the CJ's article:

"The lawsuit says that adding a single bridge downtown and redesigning Spaghetti Junction, where interstates 64, 65 and 71 meet near downtown, would address the region's existing and long-term traffic needs on both sides of the river."

"Politics, power and obstruction: Has Louisville's most prominent preservation group lost its vision?"

Steven Shaw did a heck of a job covering a very difficult story. Read it!

A Courier-Journal reporter contacted me last Friday for a quote about his story on the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's (KYTC) plans to possibly drop the $250 Million tunnel from the East End Bridge approach of the Bridges Project. Knowing space is always limited, I emailed this short quote:

"Not knowing the contents of KYTC's correspondence, I will only say that if we can save $250 Million and complete the East End Bridge sooner without a tunnel, we are all for it.

 

It is interesting to note that the historic designation of Drumanard began against the will of its owner in 1988, the year after the Gene Snyder was completed."

On September 10th, the Courier-Journal reported that River Fields lawsuit could halt Ohio River Bridges Project. This should shock no one.

River Fields has successfully delayed the East End Bridge for decades. The organization's claims of "land conservation" and motto of "The river connects us all" appear to take a back seat to self-preservation. For the organization, the East End Bridge is personal. The board is stacked with landowners who live along River Road and the organization's Director of 24 years lives within half a mile of the alignment of the East End Bridge.

Preserving one's neighborhood ("backyard") is one thing, but River Fields has systematically used political, economic and social pressure to delay an important piece of transportation infrastructure that would benefit the entire region.

River Fields' destructive strategy started in 1994 when they began to promote a Downtown Bridge as an alternative. Now we know their suggestion - motivated by their opposition to the East End Bridge - would widen I-64 by 50% over Waterfront Park and construct a 23 Lane wide Spaghetti Junction. Furthermore, this strategy has cost Kentucky over $100 millions to date.

Mayor Abramson, the leadership of Downtown Development Corporation and the Courier-Journal's Editorial Board have all played a role in deceiving the public and/or delaying the East End Bridge.

Downtown Development Corporation (DDC) is a perfect example of how opposition to the East End Bridge has hurt Louisville's growth and development. The orgnaization was created 18 years ago during Mayor Abramson's first term. While the organization should be focused on investments in downtown's vibrancy and historic and cultural preservation, it continues to be used as a tool to stop the East End Bridge.

Currently, DDC is chaired by a past president of River Fields and the organization is a founding member of the Bridges Coalition, which like River Fields is pushing for a Downtown Bridge. And four years ago - when the organization was led by another individual with River Fields ties - it suppressed a white paper that like 8664, suggested that Louisville would benefit by replacing I-64 with an at-grade parkway. But the study was never released to the public.

It's time for Louisville to move forward and break free from these old obstructionist tactics that are having a detrimental impact on our future. 

Metro Council passes resolution, C-J's editorial Bridges get a go

From July 29th: Proposal would seek hearings on bridges.

Tyler Allen letter to the editor, Don't rubber stamp a tolling authority.

If you read today's Letter to the Editor, you learned that James Welch, Jr., the past President of River Fields (the organization who has fought construction of the East End Bridge) and current Chairman of the Downtown Development Corporation says he now supports the "entire" bridges project. 

In River Fields' 1994 Press Release to push for the Downtown Bridge, Mr. Welch was adamently opposed to the East End Bridge:

"Improving access to a small portion of the community [by building an East End Bridge] while access across the overall region continues to suffer is absurd and hurts more citizens than it helps."

Note: According to the Environmental Impact Statement, the East End Bridge provides better access across the overall region. 

As Chairman of the Build the Bridges Coalition finance committee, Mr. Welch has been an advocate for using tolls to pay for the "entire" Bridges Project.

In unrelated news, River Fields appears pleased that tolls might be used to build the Bridges Project. Their attorney had this to say:

"We look forward to participating in the review that will be necessary to comply with environmental laws if tolls are chosen as part of this financial plan."

Today's Brokensidewalk post tackles some very important issues about peoples misperceptions about 8664 and the growing body of evidence to support "highway relocation". Here are just a few:

"the 8664.org proposal isn't exactly a highway removal as much as a highway relocation."

"As interest in the city and urban living continues to build, the prospects for quality of life increases, development opportunity, all while maintaining a functioning transportation system are catching the eye of innovative leaders and cities."

"One of the great things about the 8664.org plan is that it doesn't just solve a transportation problem in a more fiscally responsible manner, but also drastically raises Louisville's urban standard of living and provides for huge potential gains in community and real-estate development."

And much more. Heading over to brokensidewalk.com and read the entire post.

Yesterday's Courier-Journal headline painted a scary picture of Louisville's future traffic congestion. "Congestion rife on Louisville highways; Louisville among worst US cities its size with 38 hours lost yearly." Interesting timing considering that Metro Council will be asked to approve the creation of a tolling authority in the coming weeks.

But for readers who actually read the article, they found the headline to be misleading. For example, congestion has "stayed relatively constant from 1997 to 2007". This begs the question,

Why would we toll our bridges and triple the size of Spaghetti Junction when congestion hasn't increased over the past decade? 

The article also acknowledges that "the report's backers include road building and public transit interests." Road builders like to build roads. In fact, that's one of the ways they suggest we get out of this mess of congestion that hasn't increased in a decade, by building more roads. But we all know Barry Barker is correct when he says, "you can't build yourself out of congestion."

The other interesting fact about this hot-off-the-shelf 2009 report is that it didn't include any traffic data from 2008. As we've noted in other posts, Louisville's congestion is reported to have declined by 39% in 2008. This data is from INRIX, a privately held corporation founded by former Microsoft executives, not road building interests.

Did we mention that traffic on the Kennedy Bridge went down 15,000 cars/day last year? Look for a future post regarding the region's actual traffic counts.

According to today's Courier-Journal article, Kentucky won't issue $232 Million in bonds -- already approved by lawmakers -- because they don't have a clear future funding source. This is not surprising, considering the majority of the project ($2.6 Billion) is a downtown bridge and 23 lane Spaghetti Junction expansion that the community doesn't support.

Curiously missing from the article, is a quote from Mayor Abramson. You may remember that in his 2007 State of the City speech, Mayor Abramson said the Ohio River Bridges Project was his #1 priority.

Here's what we had to say in the article:

"The east bridge will reduce traffic congestion, improve our regional economy and it is supported widely on both sides of the river," said Tyler Allen, 8664's co-founder. "Only after its construction has begun can we have an open discussion about transforming downtown for the better."

If you're tired of delays and want to get something done, write the C-J and contact the Mayor and tell them it's time to build the East End Bridge.