Traffic Safety & Congestion Relief Project Coming to Bardstown Rd.

Tuesday night, PWA's Senior Traffic Signal Operations Engineer, Brandon Shelley (pictured below) participated in District 22's town hall meeting and presented the upcoming Traffic Safety and Congestion Relief Project in the US-31E (Bardstown Road) corridor. The $1.2 million was secured this spring to upgrade all traffic signal controllers along US-31E from I-264 to Broad Run Parkway. The project includes field communications connecting signals to the central traffic management system and upgraded vehicle detection sensors (radars) for mainline and side-street approaches. It also showcases how the partnership between Metro Government and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (District-5) is working to improve safety and efficiency on Louisville's roadways.

Click Here to View Presentation.

Louisville Metro Council approves Capital and Operating Budgets for Fiscal Year 2024

Greetings,

While there is always room for improvement or a desire to fund one more project, the Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) budget largely addresses the priorities I established prior to the Mayor’s presentation to the council in April.  In previous years, the Metro Council was forced to find tens of millions in the budget to support our goals for paving and basic infrastructure needs. The Greenberg administration, took a different approach, working with members of the Metro Council, he included many of our shared goals, which gave us a stronger start to the budget review process. Instead of battling for every extra dollar, this year’s process was more like a team working to establish a path towards meeting each person’s goals.

“Working with our newly elected Mayor and his staff, we were able to collectively focus on the issues that matter most to residents of District 22 and all of Louisville Metro. Rather than fighting for a portion of the budget, this process supported our collective goals in improving our streets, making our neighborhoods safer and helping promote residents from all regions of Louisville. This budget will bring a greater level of investment to Southeastern portion of our community and starts the process of bringing Metro Government a little closer to those of us living outside of the Watterson Expressway.” – Councilman Robin J. Engel

The hearing process started shortly after Derby and ended last week. There was a total of 36 hours of testimony and public comment. The testimony helped to inform us as we made important decisions on what we were able to fund. For the eighth year the Metro Council has met our goal of funding for the paving of our roads. This year we will invest $30 million in paving Metro streets with additional funds also being added for repairing sidewalks, alleys, and crumbling infrastructure like bridges. This focus on basic services may not garner as much attention or praise as building new amenities, but truly is the main function of government. This focus over the past eight years has led to continued improvement of roads, as well as similar programs for sidewalks, parks, and facilities.

FY24 Budget Community Highlights

• No additional fees or taxes
• Metro Council changed/reallocated $27 million to budget, without increasing debt level
• $30 million invested in paving ($27 million more than a decade ago)
• Fully funds LMPD and adds additional support for equipment, technology, and training
• Adds millions in funding to programs and departments focused on addressing homelessness in a variety of ways (outreach, rental assistance, healthcare assistance and job training)
• Adds $4.9 Million in funding for repairing Metro Parks and $3 million for repairing/replacing pools and spray grounds.
• $500K for Traffic Signal Communications and Controller Upgrades
• Over a million dollars for pavement (roadway line) markings
• $225,000 for Fern Creek Park Improvements located in District 22

This year’s budget will help to hire and retain more police officers as we work to restore LMPD to the staffing levels of a decade ago. Metro government is increasing pay for our officers and the training available and no longer making officers pay for their own weapons, all in an effort to recruit the best and brightest to our force. To help support a safer community the FY24 budget also invests even more in technology such as cameras that are being deployed throughout our county and facility improvements such as a new police headquarters that has been needed for more than a decade.

To continue our efforts to address homelessness and help those at-risk of losing their home, this budget invests $15 million in the affordable housing trust fund. We have also used millions in available FY24 funds to support programs that are focused on homeless outreach, job assistance programs and other programs focused on helping each person get physical and mental healthcare.

District 22 Projects Secured in the FY24 Budget:

• $225,000 Fern Creek Park Improvements
• 131,000 Ferndale Road Sidewalk Connection

The FY24 Budget will become law on July 1, 2023.  If you have any questions, concerns, ideas or thoughts on the budget, please feel free to reach out to me via e-mail at Robin.Engel@louisvilleky.gov or call my office at (502) 574-1122.

TARC BUDGET VOTE

Last night, the Metro Council voted on ordinance (O-122-23) to approve the FY24 Budget for TARC (Transit Authority of the River City). I have supported TARC and have voted for each of their previous budgets but following their recent announcement that they would move forward with cutting even more services to our district. I have decided that I needed to voice my concerns with a vote against their spending plan.

We need a healthy and vibrant transit system. We need TARC to serve all of our residents. Unfortunately, despite significant population growth in the eastern portion of the county, TARC has slowly drifted their services to other routes in other areas.

The TARC budget passed, and they will continue to operate. Unfortunately, in August, the Jeffersontown, Plainview, and Bardstown Express routes will be eliminated. Many of our residents will need to adjust to these cuts, some will be left without obvious alternatives and that is truly disappointing. I am hopeful that my vote last tonight sent a message that mass transit is supposed to work for everyone. If TARC expects our support, they must start providing opportunities for all people in Jefferson County.  

Sign Up for Mammograms on July 14 at Fern Creek Chamber!