The National Flood Insurance Program's (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) is a voluntary incentive program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management activities that exceed the minimum NFIP requirements.

As a result, flood insurance premium rates are discounted to reflect the reduced flood risk resulting from the community actions meeting the three goals of the CRS:

1. Reduce flood damage to insurable property;
2. Strengthen and support the insurance aspects of the NFIP, and
3. Encourage a comprehensive approach to floodplain management.

Currently, Louisville Metro is a Class 3 in the CRS program, saving the community approximately $2 million each year. Louisville Metro earns this rating by engaging in many floodplain management activities, such as providing flood information, preserving open space in the floodplain, maintaining the drainage system, and outreach.

Councilwoman Leet would like to extend a special thank you to Lori Rafferty and David Johnson for their hard work and dedication ensuring that our community reached this designation. 

Many roads in downtown Louisville will have traffic pattern changes during Thunder Over Louisville weekend.

The following streets will be closed at the following times:

10 am (Friday, April 22, 2016) - 2 pm (Sunday, April 24, 2016)

• River Road from Bingham Way to Sixth Street
• Bingham Way west from Witherspoon Street (Joe's Crab Shack) to River Road

1 pm (Friday, April 22, 2016) - 9 am (Sunday, April 24, 2016)

• Witherspoon Street from Preston Street to Brook Street
• Floyd and Washington North closed - only open to residents
• River Road from Preston Street to Witherspoon Street

12 am (Saturday, April 23, 2016) - 9 am (Sunday, April 24, 2016)

• Ramp from westbound Interstate 64 to Third Street  (cannot turn east or west on River Road)
• Ramp from Second Street to eastbound Interstate 64 

8 am (Saturday, April 23, 2016) - 1 am (Sunday, April 24, 2016)

• Second Street north from Main Street

9 am (Saturday, April 23, 2016) - 1 am (Sunday, April 24, 2016)
(Local traffic and pass traffic will be allowed provided there are no pedestrian safety issues. Residents and businesses within the closure area will need to contact LMPD Support Operations (502-574-7454) for passes.)

• River Road from Witherspoon Street to Preston Street
• Frankfort Avenue from River Road to Story Avenue (local and Vehicle Impoundment Lot traffic only)
• Witherspoon Street from Brook Street to Second Street
• Witherspoon Street from Preston Street to Adams Street
• Washington Street from First Street to Second Street
• Preston Street from Main Street to Witherspoon Street
• Floyd Street from Main Street to Witherspoon Street
• Brook Street from Main Street to Witherspoon Street
• First Street from Main Street to Witherspoon Street
• Second Street from Main Street to River Road
• Third Street from Main Street to River Road (access will be allowed to parking garages)

9:30 pm (Saturday, April 23, 2016) - 1 am (Sunday, April 24, 2016)

• Market Street from Sixth Street to 10th Street will be reversed from eastbound traffic to westbound traffic

6 pm - 11:30 pm (Saturday, April 23, 2016)

• Ramp from Muhammad Ali Boulevard to Interstate 65 northbound

8:30 pm - 11:30 pm (Saturday, April 23, 2016)

• Interstate 65 northbound from Interstate 264 (Watterson Expressway) to Interstate 64
• Interstate 65 southbound from Interstate 265 (Indiana) to Interstate 64
• Interstate 64 westbound from Interstate 264 (Watterson Expressway) to 22nd Street
• Interstate 64 eastbound from Interstate 264 (Shawnee Expressway) to Interstate 65
• Interstate 71 southbound from Interstate 264 (Watterson Expressway) to Interstate 65

TARC is again this year increasing service into downtown Louisville and designating five post-event boarding areas for the Thunder Over Louisville fireworks on Sat., Apr.  23. The service plan mirrors TARC service for Thunder in recent years.

About 10,000 passengers are expected to take TARC for the annual fireworks and air show on the river. Passengers are encouraged to plan ahead and know their route number and stop locations. Yellow signs with route information will be posted on board all TARC coaches, designated bus stops and shelters in upcoming days. 

Passengers traveling on TARC from Southern Indiana are cautioned that buses on cross-river routes #71-Jeffersonville, Louisville, New Albany and #72-Clarksville will not make return trips to Indiana after the fireworks due to the closure of the Clark Memorial (2nd Street) Bridge. Those two routes will also be detoured (see below) during the closure of the bridge leading up to and following the event.

Post-event boarding in downtown Louisville will be restricted to five locations, all within blocks of the waterfront. Buses will operate until 11 p.m. at those locations (see list and map below). Due to traffic, buses have limited access on downtown streets after the event.  The boarding locations are designed to keep buses out of heavy traffic as much as possible and to get people home as quickly as possible.

Beginning at 3:30 p.m., on the day of the fireworks, more buses will be added on routes serving downtown, improving the frequency of bus arrival times at stops and adding capacity. However, as the event draws closer, downtown routes may be delayed due to police barricades and heavy pedestrian traffic. 

Regular TARC fares will apply.  A one-way fare is $1.75 or 80 cents for passengers over the age of 65, riders with disabilities and ages 6-17. TARC ID is required for reduced fare. Children under the age of 5 ride free.

Easy trip planning, maps and schedules are available at www.ridetarc.org.  TARC customer service can be reached at 502-585-1234; TTY 502-213-3240.

Detours - Routes #71-New Albany, Louisville Jeffersonville and #72-Clarksville

The Clark Memorial Bridge will be closed to traffic Thurs., Apr. 21, 9:30 a.m. – midnight; Fri., Apr. 22 and Sat., Apr. 23, all day; Sun., Apr. 24, midnight to 2 p.m.

When the bridge is closed, buses use the following detour:

Routes #71 and #72 northbound: From Liberty, I-65 N to Court Ave. /6th St, to regular route.

Route #71  westbound: From Spring St., left on Court Ave., left on Wall St., left on 8th St., right on Spring St., left on 10th St. to I-65 S, Jefferson St. exit and regular route.

Route # 72 southbound – From Court Ave., I-65 S to Jefferson/Brook St. exit and follow Jefferson to regular route.

Post-Thunder boarding 

Locations listed and on the map below are the only downtown boarding options   

Eastbound Routes
Boarding on Market, near Floyd
#15 - Market Street (to La Grange Road)
#19 - Muhammad Ali (to Oxmoor and Lyndon)
#31 – Middletown

Boarding on Liberty, near Floyd
#17 - Bardstown Road (to Fern Creek and Sebree)
#21 – Chestnut (to Bashford Avenue)
#23 – Broadway (to Jeffersontown and Breckenridge Plaza)
#40 – Taylorsville Road
#25 – Oak-Westport Crosstown

Westbound Routes
Boarding on Main west of 9th
#15 - Market Street (to Shawnee Park)
#18 – Preston (to Valley Station)
#19 - Muhammad Ali (to Park Duvall and Rockford Lane)
#21 – Chestnut (to Shawnee Park)
#23 – Broadway (to Shawnee Park)
#43 - Portland/Poplar Level (to 32nd & Portland Loop)

Southbound Routes
Boarding on 6th near Chestnut
#4 - Fourth Street (to Iroquois Park and Southland Park)
#6 - Sixth Street (via Central to Auburndale)
#63 - Crums Lane (to West Pages Lane)

Boarding on 1st at Muhammad Ali 
 #2 - Second Street (to Airport and UPS)
#18 – Preston (to Okolona – Outer Loop Plaza)
#43 - Portland/Poplar Level (to Fern Creek

Road crews patched 4,225 potholes during the week ending April 8, up almost 500 from the week before, thanks in part to citizens using the Twitter hashtag #502pothole and a report a pothole form on the city’s website. Reporting via Twitter requires only that #502pothole and a location be included in any tweet.

To report via the Louisvilleky.gov website just click on the report a pothole link at the top of the page, type in the location and click submit. Citizens can still call MetroCall 311 to report potholes, but they are likely to face long wait times during the pothole blitz period, due to so many people calling. The pothole blitz launched last month continues through the end of April.