River Road to be shut down during Louisville Water Residual Line Project construction
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) — River Road, with its scenic views of the Ohio and beautiful homes, will soon be home to a major work zone.
Starting March 10, portions of Road will be closed to through traffic as construction is underway for Louisville Water’s Residual Line Project. It’s going to be completed in phases and is expected to take two years to complete.
There will be hard closures for safety purposes. Only residential and business traffic will be allowed, with detours on Interstate 71, Highway 42, and the Gene Snyder Freeway.
It’s a lengthy process LWC Senior Utilities Consultant Vince Guenthner says has to happen to replace aging pipes, and people have to be patient with.
“In my 30 year experience in working with Louisville Water there’s never the perfect route, right?” Guenthner said.
The first phase, which goes from Zorn Avenue to Blankenbaker Lane will be closed from March 10 until September. The second phase, Blankenbaker to Lime Kiln Lane will be then be closed until April 2026.
Lime Kiln Lane to Wolf Pen Branch Road will be closed from April to October 2026, before the stretch from Wolf Pen Branch to Transylvania Avenue is closed from October to December 2026.
Officials provided information to residents and answered their questions in a community meeting Thursday.
Brent George owns Cunningham’s Creekside, located in the last phase of construction, now has to be concerned whether customers will be as willing to choose his restaurant.
“I mean there’s a number of restaurants in town,” George said. “If you make it more difficult to get to you, that’s a concern.”
Other people worry about limited access in-and-out of the construction zone. Other nearby projects already cause heavy traffic and bottlenecks in the East End.
“At age 80, I’m concerned about our health,” Ken Rosenbaum, who lives near River road said. “We often call our children to come get us in an emergency.”
A constant complaint from residents at the meeting was the lack of notice. Many of them, like Riverwood Commissioner Jason Clark, only found out about the project in recent weeks.
“It is what it is, they have to do this project,” Clark said. “I think it would have been nice to know about the project more in advance than what the timeline given.”
During the closures, Louisville Water said access to homes and businesses will remain open and as the phases are completed, the roads will be paved and reopened.
Louisville Water said customers will not lose water service during construction, and rates will not increase. More information can be found online.
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