Main Remade is a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet project designed to improve safety and accessibility along one of downtown Louisville’s key business, residential, and tourism corridors — Main Street.
The project will convert portions of the current one-way street into a two-way street, making travel safer and simpler for all road users.
The Main Remade project area runs along Main Street, from Wenzel Street in the east to 22nd Street in the west. In the past six years along the project corridor, there were 464 total crashes, 89 of which involved injuries and one involved a fatality.
Main Remade’s redesign will help reduce the risk of severe crashes by prioritizing safety through the following improvements:
One-way streets are designed to move vehicles quickly from one location to the next. This prioritization of speed and throughput makes them dangerous for drivers and especially for pedestrians and cyclists. Main Street is vulnerable to these conditions but conversion to two-way travel is expected to enhance both safety and accessibility for all road users to the businesses, residences, and destinations along the corridor.
Two-way streets discourage high vehicle speeds which helps reduce the severity of crashes with other roadway users, particularly pedestrians and cyclists.
Two-way streets offer more direct routes to destinations, are easier to navigate, and help increase foot traffic, all of which improves visibility and ease of access to businesses and other destinations along the roadway.
Upgrading the striping, marking, and lighting of crosswalks is a significant component of this project and is expected to dramatically improve the visibility and safety of pedestrians.
They are designed to improve pedestrian safety at the intersections.
Dedicated bike facilities are separated from driving lanes, parking lanes, and sidewalks. This project will include a combination of bike lanes and a cycle track.
Many serious bicycle crashes occur at non-intersections, most often when motorists overtake cyclists. Adding protected bike lanes to Main Street will reduce the risk of crashes by limiting the locations where bicyclists and motorists interact.
Improvements along the corridor will occur in three phases:
Wenzel Street to 2nd Street (Construction expected to start Spring 2025)
The East Phase of the project will include converting the corridor from one-way to two-way, adding dedicated left-turn lanes at intersections, upgrading traffic signals to accommodate the new two-way configuration, enhancing crosswalk delineation and visibility, and creating a protected bike lane.
The East Phase will also include reconfiguring two blocks of Market Street. The westbound travel lane that currently ends at Brook Street will continue to 2nd Street to complete the two-way connectivity of Main Street and Market Street from 2nd Street to Baxter Avenue.
Main Street will remain open to traffic during construction.
10th Street to 22nd Street (Construction to begin as early as Summer/Fall 2024)
The West Phase of the project will involve converting the corridor from one-way to two-way traffic, adding dedicated left-turn lanes at intersections and upgrading traffic signals for the new two-way configuration. Additionally, crosswalk delineation and visibility will be enhanced, and bike lanes will be created. Main Street will remain open to traffic during construction.
2nd Street to 10th Street (construction TBD)
Central Phase will maintain one-way westbound travel between 2nd Street and 10th Street and will enhance pedestrian and bike safety.
Public involvement is an important part of the Main Remade project. Public meetings are being held to provide information on each project phase and to gather comments and feedback.
