Let's Work Together!

As a business located at the intersection of Third and St. Catherine, we are concerned about the use of large trucks in the neighborhood. St. Catherine St. is a gateway for our clients from the expressway system to our front door. It is easy to give directions to new clients and we appreciate the easy on/off expressway access. Our business, Old Louisville Counseling Center, is located in a beautiful three-story brick building that was originally built as a pharmacy and private residence in 1885. Our business has been in this location since our founding in 1979, and we value being a successful business in historic Old Louisville.

It is important to address concerns of our neighborhood while also considering the needs of the whole community. Pedestrians, some of whom push baby strollers or use motorized scooters, actively use St. Catherine Street. Removing large trucks from the neighborhood will decrease noise levels, make intersections safer and no longer vibrate historic buildings. The semi-trucks in turn will take different routes that will potentially use more fuel and take more time, adding to the cost of the goods being delivered. Whether owners of historic properties, residents, or vehicular traffic, we have personal interests in the use of St. Catherine St.

Possible changes are restricting large trucks or changing the timing of the stoplights; however, change happens most effectively with time and intentionality. Gathering representatives from all interest groups to consider the following is a way of coming to consensus on the use of trucks in Old Louisville:
?·Factual data on property damage, street repair, number of large trucks, other vehicles, pedestrians, etc.
?·History of street development for use by large trucks ?·Planning and zoning issues

We appreciate the opportunity to be included in making a difference in our neighborhood through metro-government.

Sincerely-
Nancy Waters
Old Louisville Counseling Center









By Nancy Waters

Meeting re: truck traffic

George Unseld invited me to meet with him and Ted Pullen, the director of
public works last Friday. Rick Storm and Dan Curtis who work in the traffic
division of public works were also there. I explained that there's a lot
of large semi-trucks rumbling by on all the streets of Old Louisville and
it's getting worse. I asked that since we're a designated historic district if the council could pass a rule that no trucks (or at least no thru trucks)signs could be put up in Old Louisville, particularly Oak St, Magnolia St, Saint Catherine St, 1st St, Brook St, and Floyd St. Dan said that there is a federal regulation that they can not prohibit trucks on any feeder streets to an interstate on or off ramp. Of course, that seemed to
decide the issue for George.

We then had a friendly discussion of how it might be possible to make things
better for us. I told them that some people have said they know of no truck
restrictions on interstate feeder ramps in historic districts in other
states, and Dan said that there is only one instance in KY where that has
happened, as a result of a Supreme Court decision, and because the
residential area was next to a 24-hour a day distribution center. I asked if we could petition to have all the streets changed back to two way streets (which might discourage truck traffic) and was told the only streets that we could petition are 1st and Brook. 2nd and 3rd are state routes and they can't change them. number of other interested parties. (Oak
St. apparently was changed before the city/county merger and they didn't
seem like they were likely to approve any other changes.) I mentioned that
some people are having trouble with their houses being damaged by the
vibrations and that we're all trying very hard to restore/maintain our
historic district. Ted said that they have done a number of sound/vibration
studies (because of the airport and routing of planes) and they have found
that it doesn't happen.

Ted's position is that they are just doing their job: moving traffic as
quickly and as efficiently through all of metro Louisville as best as
possible. I told him that there were a number of us trying to restore
the neighborhood to it's original residential beauty. He says that Old
Louisville is an ''urban residential'' neighborhood and the best way to keep
downtown from being congested is to make traffic flow through Old Louisville as easy as possible--for all vehicles and that's just part of what Old Louisville is now. I asked if there was ANYTHING we could do together to decrease the truck traffic, he said no, not really, maybe call and ask a few of the local businesses to reroute their trucks, but they have done that in the
past and it really didn't work. They also mentioned that the situation is
going to get worse this summer when I-64 is closed for 30 days from 3rd St
to 22nd St for repairs.

In my opinion, this ''federal regulation'' restricting prohibiting trucks fromstreets leading to interstate ramps is the main sticking point. I'm not a lawyer, so I have no idea how to find out if it exists, what it says, and how to get around it. Maybe someone else knows how to get their hands on it and what we can do? Also, people have told me vaguely that they know of other historic districts that have no trucks restrictions on interstate
feeder streets: do you know of any specifically? And can we find out how
they did it? We could get a lot of petitions, pictures, etc, but I don't
think that will do anything because they agree that there are trucks in our
neighborhood. As they told me, they want it that way. It's the best way to
move traffic from downtown. Restricting trucks, making streets 2-way, and putting in speed bumps would anger a larger portion of the metro population. So if anyone can find out any specific information on this ''federal regulation'', please let me know!

By Mike Flynn

Not good enough!

Donna Sanders-
I received the email below from Mike Flynn concerning the meeting he had with Councilman Unseld, Ted Pullen, Director of Public Works, Rick Storm, and Dan Curtis, both of Public Works. I would like to point out a few concerns that I, as a constituent of Councilman Unseld and someone who voted for him in the last election, have with the result of this meeting. Note: I have put Mike's email comments in quotations and followed them with my concerns.

1. ''Dan explained to him [Councilman Unseld] that there is federal regulation that says they can not prohibit trucks on any feeder streets to an interstate on or off ramp.''

-Firstly, Mike Flynn came to the meeting with the suggestion of making the West Saint Catherine Street (WSC) exit a ''No Thru Truck'' exit. Technically and legally speaking, this is not prohibiting trucks in any means. Trucks can still exit at WSC but would be required to not drive through Old Louisville - which is a limit to truck traffic not a prohibition. Second, Lexington has ''No Thru Truck'' exits along 1-64 and I-75 in order to facilitate residential growth, so this is not a foreign concept to urban areas in Kentucky.

2. ''I mentioned that some people are having trouble with their houses being damaged by the vibrations and that we're all trying very hard to restore/maintain our historic district. Ted said that they have done a number of sound/vibration studies (because of the airport and routing of planes) and they have found that it doesn't happen.''

- I would like to simply point out that this is not a scientifically correct statement. Sound/vibration studies modeling sound waves from the air would not apply to sound/vibrations originating from the ground. Firstly, the issue of proximity to the trucks is much closer than the departing/arriving planes for Old Louisville homes and business. Secondly, a far greater number of trucks rumble through Old Louisville than planes flying overhead. Finally, it is a little insensitive for the Public Works employees to simply dismiss the personal experiences of Old Louisville residents when it comes to vibrations (especially when they are incorrectly using scientific results to compare apples to oranges). I would gladly open up my living room to Public Works employees any day of the week so that they can feel/hear the vibrations themselves (which, I might add, occur at all times of the day and night).
3. ''I told him that there is a number of us who are trying to restore
the neighborhood to it's original residential beauty. He [Ted] says that Old
Louisville is an ''urban residential'' neighborhood and the best way to keep
downtown from being congested is to make traffic flow through Old Louisville as easy as possible--for all vehicles and that's just part of what Old Louisville is now.''

- I could not possibly tell you how insulting it is to have a city employee/civil servant downgrade my neighborhood (i.e. live with the truck problem to improve the traffic situation downtown) simply because it is an ''urban residential'' neighborhood. Not only does this imply that urban neighborhoods are less important than suburban, exurban, and rural communities in Jefferson County, but it also clearly spells out what the Public Works department thinks of our neighborhood: a simple traffic throughway.

This is a major problem, concern, and deterrent to revitalization for our neighborhood. I know that the WSC Neighborhood Association would be very interested in seeing the EXACT federal statute that Ted Pullen is citing or at least providing us a reference to look up the statute ourselves (as we are an educated bunch and are not afraid of research). I appreciate the work that your office has done and encourage you to keep working on this problem. Together we can come to a compromise that will improve Old Louisville and, by extension, the city of Louisville. Thank you,





By Jessica McCarty