Bardstown
isn’t the only road in District 8 but it’s the biggest, baddest, fastest (as
well as most vibrant and diverse) and, so, naturally a focus of attention for
me. I’ve been working on ways to make
Bardstown Road safer, cleaner and greener since my first day in office, and over
the next few months, you’ll begin to see some results.
In
partnership with TARC and Public Works, we’ll begin to act on – that is, invest
in – the recommendations of the bus stop,
sidewalk accessibility and litter bin audits we completed earlier this year. In partnership with MSD and Community
Forestry, we’ll plant 108 empty tree wells and spaces in the green verge. And in partnership with Develop Louisville, we’ll
get the “US 31E Baxter Avenue & Bardstown Road Pedestrian-Focused Safety
Improvement Study” underway with a formal announcement in October and public
meetings to start in November.
As part
of the Bardstown Road study, we’ll also be collecting planning evidence to
support extending the Bardstown Road Overlay District south, to the Watterson
Expressway, with new design and development quality guidelines. I think the Upper Highlands – Gardiner Lane,
Hawthorne, Hayfield-Dundee, Strathmoor Manor and Strathmoor Village – is poised
for growth, and the BROD can help to manage that in a positive way. (Visit the District 8 Development Information
page to learn more about the BROD.)
Finally,
in January, I’ll begin the process of petitioning 249 real property owners along
Bardstown Road and Baxter Avenue, from Broadway to the Douglass Loop, to help create,
fund and direct a Bardstown Road Business Improvement District. If you’re familiar with the Louisville Downtown
Management District, then you can
imagine what a Bardstown Road BID might be like: a dedicated team of service
professionals working seven days a week to beautify the corridor; keep it clean
(I mean really clean, like litter-vacuuming-graffiti-removing-quick-load-power-washing
clean); and assist Louisville Metro Police on panhandling, parking enforcement
and other issues.
This, too, will
involve a robust public process and build upon six months of recently completed
studies, reports and recommendations by the Bardstown Road BID Exploratory
Committee, made up of a dozen Baxter/Bardstown property/business owners and other
stakeholders, in partnership with Louisville Downtown Partnership.
If everything goes
according to plan, the BID will be fully functional beginning January of
2019. Then, once the snow melts and we
put Bardstown Road’s best face forward for Kentucky Derby 145 visitors, it’ll stay
that way for the rest of us, year-round. If the thought of this excites you and you
want to help make it a reality, then please contact me to get involved.
***
For
breaking news and information, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you have a question
or comment, please call me at: (502) 574-1108 or email: brandon.coan@louisvilleky.gov (and copy jasmine.masterson@louisvilleky.gov). If you have a service
request, please use MetroCall 311 online to submit or check on it, and get in touch with our office if you experience
any problems.
And We
Bid You Goodnight,
Councilman Brandon Coan
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