Louisvillians will soon be driving down improved roads, with new federal grant the state funds being put into paving and safer sidewalks. Louisville will get funding of $21 million under the Safe Streets and Roads for All Grant Program, which aims to prevent deaths and fatalities from frequent traffic accidents. In total 37.7m will be spent.

The federal funds are through the "Rightsizing Louisville for Safe Streets Project" issued to Kentucky. The funds will be used for various projects, including installing bike lanes, roundabouts, sidewalks, crosswalk enhancements, and pedestrian refuge islands, among other infrastructure improvements.

Louisville is one of the 510 recipients of federal investment of $810m for road renovation and prevention of deaths and serious road injuries across the country. 

"This is a game changer for Louisville. It will save lives and prevent serious injuries, and that's one of the best investments we can ever make," says Mayor Greenberg. "Public safety takes different forms, and with this funding, families will be able to drive, bike, and walk more securely in neighborhoods across Louisville."

According to Greenberg's office, the federal financing will be matched by almost $4 million in local funds and around $1.5 million in state funds, for over $27 million.

The Rightsizing Louisville For Safe Streets project aims to reduce road fatalities and serious injuries by implementing Vision Zero Louisville principles.

This new funding will be used to "rightsize" ten corridors in Louisville, a strategy formerly known as road reconfiguration or road diets that can reduce crashes by 19% to 47%. They will limit vehicle speeds to the point where, if a crash occurs, it is less likely to result in death or severe injury. 

The rightsizing enhancements will alter the dynamic of each corridor by reducing overspeeding and the number of travel lanes pedestrians must cross, implementing traffic calming measures, and reallocating space for refuge islands, bicycle lanes, on-street parking, and transit stops.

Six out of ten roads under the project that will be rightsized using the fund will directly affect the underserved communities, as determined by the Transportation Disadvantaged Census Tracts of the US Department of Transportation. Therefore, the underserved neighborhood will receive over 60% of the total project costs. 

The ten traffic corridors on the list are:

1. Wilson Avenue
2. W. Oak Street
3. E. Oak Street
4. Berry Boulevard
5. Crums Lane
6. River Road
7. Zorn Avenue
8. S. 22 Street
9. Southern Parkway
10. Louis Coleman Jr. Drive

The project's primary focus was repaving and restriping roads with added benefits, including fewer crashes, reduced traffic, and offering extra space for bikes and pedestrians. Along with bicycle lanes, which the proposal said have the potential to cut collisions by 30% on the nine selected roads, and walkway and crosswalk repairs and replacements, improved lighting was another area of focus. The report argued that it might reduce nighttime pedestrian injuries. 

"Everyone in Louisville deserves to drive and walk on Safe Streets," Congressman Morgan McGarvey says. "I'm grateful to the Department of Transportation for awarding $21 million to improve roadways throughout our community. I'm committed to working with my colleagues at the federal, state, and local level to deliver crucial funding for Kentucky's Third Congressional District."

With construction set to commence in 2024 and finish by 2027, design work on this project will start this summer.