What a mess.

It’s been a little while since we have talked about that slow moving disaster ready to stamp out so much progress being made in Louisville.  I am, of course, describing the Ohio River Bridges Project.  In an effort to bring Broken Sidewalk up to date with what’s been going on, here’s a rundown of a few major events.  Did I miss anything?

• We left off in September, 2009 after learning that River Fields had filed a lawsuit against the East End Bridge.  Check out that story and all our previous coverage of the bridges issue in our archives.
• September 2009:  Tunnel for the East End Bridge approach in jeopardy.  Removing the tunnel could open the Record of Decision (ROD)
• October 2009:  Governor Steve Beshear appoints 11 Kentuckians to the newly created Kentucky Public Transportation Infrastructure Authority.  The KPTIA is an entity that can enter into bi-state agreements for mega-projects like the ORBP and can create bi-state authorities to determine financing (read: tolls) for such projects.  The KPTIA votes to create a bi-state authority to oversee the ORBP.  Without any real progress on the project, Beshear calls the vote “historic.”  Eight days later, Beshear and Abramson appoint seven people to the Kentucky side of the authority.  No Metro Council members were appointed despite a request from the body.
• November 2009:  Bob Hill pens an incisive piece for Louisville Magazine:

“I began going to the public bridge meetings with Daniel Boone. Everyone was very nice; we were asked to vote on the designs we liked best, and then 14 bi-state officials and politicians locked themselves in a room and made the final decisions. In Indiana, developers were selling land and houses to people the developers knew would be in the path of the bridge. In Kentucky, one of the main arguments against the bridge became that it would help create jobs in Indiana — a fine example of upscale regional thinking. Meanwhile, some of the bridge-path land the environmentalists were supposed to be saving was being eaten up with new houses — many of them oversized, hey-look-at-me, energy-eating monstrosities.”

• Property acquisition begins in downtown Jeffersonville and in Utica, Indiana and the Baer Fabrics building and several properties in the east end are secured for destruction as well.  A projected completion date of 2020 probably won’t be met.
• The Federal Highway Administration requests that a lawsuit brought by River Fields is moved from Washington DC to a Kentucky court.
• LEO publishes a major article on River Fields questioning the politics and obstructionism of the conservation group and River Fields allegedly pulls the issues from news stands before they can be read (video) and threaten LEO with a lawsuit.
• 8664 reminds us of how the Downtown Bridge component was added to the ORBP in 1994.
• December 2009:  Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels appoints members to the Indiana side of the bi-state authority for the ORBP.
• Beshear issues $100 million in bonds for the project and announces it’s time to “Start your engines.”  Bonds are to be used for property acquisition in Kentucky.
• The price for the $4.1 billion project hasn’t been updated in almost two years even though Federal rules specify a revised finance plan each fall.
• WFPL reports that Louisville will fail to meet the requirements of the Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement calling for a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2012.  It’s estimated that 29% of greenhouse gas emissions in Louisville are caused by transportation.
• A Federal judge approves the FHA request that the River Fields lawsuit be moved to a Kentucky court.
• Gov. Beshear admits that Kentucky is facing up to a $1.5 Billion budget shortfall for 2011-12.
• Federal funding is about to be cut to local transportation projects because no financing plan is in place for the ORBP.
• January 2010:  By mid-January, the ORBP bi-state authority still hasn’t met despite an anticipated first meeting in December.  The authority has until December 2010 to determine a financing plan.  Mayor Abramson is skeptical that Federal rules will be enforced cutting local transportation funding.
• February 2010:  The ORBP bi-state authority finally has its first meeting with no real progress (by-laws are approved, a staff is hired, and a schedule set) and was largely rushed to avoid public outcry over inaction.  As usual, a non-step is declared “historic” by Beshear & Abramson.
• The projected completion date is now 2024 but no one really knows for sure and politicians throw out random numbers.  Beshear: “We want this done as fast as possible.  I don’t know what that means, but to me , it means faster than ten years.”
• Jeffersonville wants to bail out Louisville for not having a funding mechanism and Councilman Ron Grooms admits that “The majority of Indiana residents don’t want to pay tolls.”
• The C-J’s misguided editorial board lashes out at political hopefuls who want to build an East End Bridge first (basically all of them) and requisite backlash ensues from Tyler Allen who delivers an address in front of the Courier-Journal’s Broadway headquarters.
• The N & T declares that 8664 is not dead.  The bi-state authority meets again and actually talks about financing but only in a superficial way without any solutions.
• KIPDA seeks exemption from Federal rules that would cut funding to local projects because a financing plan for the ORBP is still unknown.
• Congressman Yarmuth meets with US DOT Secretary Ray LaHood to ask about funding options.
• Several trucks overturn on local highways including one carrying onions on Spaghetti Junction reminding us that a new Junction will still face delays and shut-downs from bad drivers.
• Indiana authorizes the use of public-private partnerships to be used for the ORBP meaning a private company would build the highway and charge tolls to use it.
• March 2010:  Toll Road News finds the political claims that the ORBP will create jobs “discouraging:”

“Most discouraging is the nonsense spouted by some of the champions of these projects. Senator Ed Charbonneau (Repub) for example called the bill “the jobs bill of this session” claiming it will “create 30,000 jobs.”

“Such enthusiasm is touching, but road projects are not to “create jobs.” If they were we’d ban all machinery and have all the work done with picks and shovels.

“These projects are to serve motorists by saving them time and travel expense and they have to be judged by the financial viability – whether they can attract sufficient in toll payments by motorists to support the costs – which have to minimized with the optimum mix of labor and equipment, not with “job creation” in mind.”

• ORBP bi-state authority says it won’t consider tolls on the Second Street / Clark Memorial Bridge but says all other bridges are fair game meaning the oldest bridge carrying auto-traffic in the city will now be the most congested.  Some on the authority call for a study of tolling Spaghetti Junction.  Any toll would require a Federal exemption and per Fed rule, no current bridge can be tolled unless it is reconstructed.
• Bi-state authority plans to hire an “advisory team” with potentially an investment bank like Goldman Sachs represented to study financing options.  It could be a way to pass the buck for the unpopular notion of tolling the bridges.  Approval from the KY General Assembly is first required.  Officials from Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase attended the ORBP bi-state authority meeting.
• Anti-toll groups emerging on the Internet (Facebook here and here)
• Traffic in Maryland is slow to recover meaning toll revenues are drastically down and rate hikes are imminent.  Could the same thing happen to Kentucky toll roads?

What a mess.

Sherman-Minton Bridge (BS File Postcard)

Over the weekend I came across the new Popular Science online archives.  A quick search for Louisville turned up a snippet from May 1960 about the Sherman Minton Bridge, then under construction:

“This 1,600-foot steel bridge across the Ohio River from Louisville, Ky., to New Albany, Ind., is scheduled to be opened to traffic next year.

“It’s a tandem, tied-arch, double-deck design that called for building techniques used before on only one other bridge – that over the Carquinez Strait in California.

“Each deck will carry a 42-foot, triple-lane road with walks on both sides.”

Anyone know what the reference to “walks on both sides” means?  Were they emergency walks for motorists whose cars break down on the bridge or was the bridge to have a pedestrian crossing?

The bridge was completed in 1962 and named for a Senator and Supreme Court Justice from Indiana.  According to Kentucky Roads, it was named the Most Beautiful Bridge in the Long Span category by the American Institute of Steel Construction in 1961.  The bridge apparently destroyed 160 homes and the Church of Our Lady in Portland was worried about the impact on its parish, and, reportedly, an engineer found a hoard of ancient Roman coins while excavating on the Indiana side dating to around 300 AD and two of them are in the collection of the Falls of th Ohio museum.

The little man in the walk sign box decides to go for a dance and you’ll never cross the street in quite the same way again.  Video created by Jeremy Yuricek of Electrocinema.  If the video doesn’t load, click here.  Hat tip Beautiful Decay.

A plan for local access bridges (Courtesy Steve Wiser)

Steve Wiser, a local architect, historian, and occasional contributor to Broken Sidewalk, has been tweaking his proposal for a solution to the Ohio River Bridges Project that involves local access bridges as opposed to Interstate highway bridges (that we first published last April).  He will be presenting his ideas tomorrow (Saturday, March 6) at Destinations Booksellers – Dueling Grounds Cafe at 604 East Spring Street in New Albany.

Here’s some information about the event:

As the prospect of tolls on the Kentucky-Indiana Ohio River Bridges edges closer, one local design professional is proposing a more rational and less costly solution to the crossriver commute.

Architect Steve Wiser says new local access bridges at several points along the river in Clark, Floyd, and Jefferson counties would eliminate congestion and perhaps forestall the dislocations and expense of what’s being called the Ohio River Bridges Project. With a bi-state authority just beginning its deliberations, Wiser says now is the time to explore the alternatives.

A cursory examination of readily available data shows that Indiana residents would be paying a disproportionate share of tolls or user fees. More Hoosiers work in Kentucky than Kentuckians who work in Indiana.

The toll-free local access plan is roughly outlines in the diagram above and begins with the construction of the East End Bridge as planned.  Instead of the extremely expensive Downtown portion of the bridges project (including the $2 Billion junction overhaul), Wiser proposes two local access bridges – one from Jefferson to Floyd County, Indiana and one to Clark County.  A busway would tie everything together.

Here’s Steve Wiser’s synopsis of the plan titled Boiling a Frog: Time to ‘Jump’ to a Toll-Free Better Bridge Solution:

Have we lost all perspective on how this will negatively harm our community’s growth? This drastic situation did not occur overnight. It’s been a slow, steady 50 year process that has resulted in this worst case scenario.

Costs have skyrocketed almost 2,000 percent since the initial projection of $200 million was made for the east end bridge in 1990. The tunnel alone has soared 300% in just the last three years.

If today, without all this past history, a task force recommended a $4.1 billion dollar, two bridge, massive overhaul of spaghetti junction, toll-funded proposal, both governors would respond: ‘are you NUTS!?! You want to divide our two states with tolls? Go back and find a more realistic solution!’

So, its surprising no one in a leadership position says ‘whoa, let’s take a step back. Is this really the best way to create cross-river connections?’

No one wants any more delays or increased costs. In fact, folks want the bridges built faster, at a lower cost, with no tolls. The reason given for this lock-step approach to this bewildering scheme is that it’s the only solution both states can agree on. And, the ‘Record of Decision’ (ROD) by the federal highway department can’t be revised.

Well, a simple ‘Google’ search reveals that changes happen on RODs all the time, so that doesn’t seem to be a major roadblock. Certainly the costs and schedule for this project have constantly spiraled upward without any leader complaining that these ballooning excesses are harmful to the project’s implementation.

As to the only bi-state solution, well, Kentucky and Indiana work together routinely, without such drama, tolls, or complicated process, to build bridges across the Ohio River such as the recent Owensboro Natcher Bridge, and the upcoming Madison, Indiana Bridge.

So, in taking a cue from Gov. Daniels charge to the bridge authority to consider every option and approach this task in a business-like manner, and not government-like, I submit my proposal:

• Build the east end bridge without the tunnel
• Instead of the tunnel, relocate the Drumanard mansion, recreating the landscape, as the ‘Olmsted Interpretative Center’
• Build two new ‘local-access’ bridges adjacent to the Clark and K & I bridges
• Build new access connector for I-71 and I-64 for the east downtown-med center-arena-waterfront districts
• Build an elevated ‘busway’ along the waterfront connecting these two new local-access bridges

My guestimate for this proposal would cost $1.4 billion, saving $2.7 billion (based on ORBP figures). It would spur economic development in west Louisville, east downtown, and southern Indiana.

This is doable within a 5 year timeframe, and without tolls. It also lessens the environmental footprint, and thus avoids an ROD complication.

To continue on the current path will put at a great disadvantage our logisticsbased economy and overall quality of life.

Most are familiar with the tale of ‘how to boil a frog’: slowly turn up the heat so the frog does not jump out. Hopefully, there is still time to alter this growththreatening, extreme makeover and ‘jump out’ to a more reasonable, beneficial bridge solution which makes our metro community a much better place in which to live.

Check out Steve’s entire proposal at his web site Wiser Designs.

Pedestrian killed on East Indian Trail (map via Lojic)

A pedestrian was killed Sunday morning around 1:50 am on East Indian Trail at Indian Oaks Circle just west of Poplar Level Road.  The driver admitted to dozing off and running over a curb before hitting 36 year old Derrick L. Fuller with his Dodge Charger.  An unnamed witness also said the pedestrian may have been jaywalking at the intersection with no crosswalks.  The offending driver left the scene after the collision and returned to his home nearby and called the police.  No charges have been filed.

The area where the accident occurred has sidewalks on one side of the street only and the intersection of East Indian Trail and Indian Oaks Circle had no crosswalks.  The next intersection to the west, at Jeanine Drive, had two crosswalks striped recently as they show up on Lojic maps but not Google street view.

LMPD Spokesperson Alicia Smiley told local news that the unnamed witness also said the pedestrian was wearing dark clothing making it difficult for the (sleeping) driver to see him.  This should be irrelevant and is an example of blaming the pedestrian and not the driver, who even admitted to falling asleep.

Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY)

You have probably already heard about Senator Jim Bunning’s (R-KY) showdown over extending jobless benefits (See WFPL, C-J, Fat Lip, Page One, Fox 41, and Mojo).  Bunning single-handedly blocked an emergency stop-gap funding bill that would have covered unemployment benefits and tax credits for health coverage.

But did you know that stalling the move also shut down the entire United States Department of Transportation beginning today?  Without the Highway Trust Fund extension, DOT was forced to furlough 2,000 employees this morning, end reimbursements to state transportation projects, and shut down national anti-drunk-driving efforts, including delaying the Toyota recall hearings.

Bunning made this one-man filibuster saying he didn’t want to add around $10 Billion to the national debt by approving the stop-gap measure.  Instead, he wants programs funded by left-over stimulus money.  When confronted about his actions, he reportedly responded “Tough s–t.”

Here’s was DOT Secretary Ray LaHood says this morning on his blog:

“Now, the Highway Trust Fund reaches much further than its name indicates. It supports all of America’s surface transportation–highways, bridges, transit, safety inspections, and our efforts to promote seat belt use and to fight impaired and distracted driving.

“This doesn’t mean we’ll just have to pull a few PSAs from evening television programs. It means federal inspectors will be removed from critical construction projects, forcing transportation work on federal lands to halt abruptly.

“This affects people and communities across the nation. It puts a stop to bridge construction and stream rehabilitation in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho. Resurfacing of the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi will be placed on hold. And replacement of the Humpback Bridge on the George Washington Parkway in Virginia will just have to wait.

“These are important projects. And the workers will be sent home from their job sites.”

There will likely be a quick response today to get the US DOT up and running again and to restore unemployment benefits to over a million Federal workers.

Moving by bike (Photo by Kirk Kandle/kirkwrites/flickr via CART)

Imagine moving your entire office (or home?) across town with only a team of bikes?  Remember that includes dozens of large boxes, computers, chairs, and even a sofa.  Bicycling for Louisville just completed such a move from Second Street Downtown to Frankfort Avenue and New Main Street in Clifton with the help of a couple dozen volunteers.

There’s been quite a bit of coverage of the event on bike blogs across Louisville, and lots of photo evidence.  Check out Kirk Kandle’s writeup at Pedalaround Mojo and some great photos over at CART.  There’s even more photos on a flickr pool dedicated to the move.  What a great way to go green, build community, and keep Louisville weird all at once.

[ Photo by Kirk Kandle from kirkwrites/flickr via CART. ]

Monorail at the center median of Interstate 64 (Courtesy Scott Ritcher)

[ Editor's Note:  Thanks to Scott Ritcher for allowing the reprint of his monorail proposal developed in 1998 as part of a mayoral campaign.  Scott was born and raised in Louisville and is currently living in Stockholm, Sweden where he is reportedly enjoying an extensive transit system.  Last summer, he also wrote two articles comparing Sweeden's traffic problems and Louisville's 8664 campaign.  Check those out here and here. ]

Louisville’s rapid transit dilemma

By now, we’ve all agreed that Louisville needs to invest in a long-term solution to its growing transportation problems.  So many people drive cars everywhere they go that we all carry the burden with clogged roadways and air pollution. 73% of Louisvillians drive to work alone in a car.  Only 8.5% of us take TARC.

We’ve heard a lot of talk about investing in a Light Rail system.  But I don’t think that’s the solution.  People in other cities with Light Rail systems have many of the same complaints about it that we have about our buses. It’s too slow.  It makes a lot of noise.  Its web of suspended electrical lines are dangerous and ugly.  It’s dated.

The problem with Light Rail

Light Rail is called that because it’s smaller than a full-scale train or an underground subway.  Louisville’s water table is too high for anything to be built underground, and we don’t have a passenger train station, so if we want to expand public transportation beyond our bus system, we have to build something new.  Obviously, we would want something better than buses.

Light Rail has been introduced as a solution because it seems like the logical next step.  It has all the look and feel of something you’d see in a big city, and it’s historically a part of Louisville that has vanished.

There are two ways Light Rail can be implemented.  In the first, the tracks are built into existing streets and the train is powered by suspended electrical wires.  This doesn’t solve any transportation problems because it introduces a new vehicle (the train) into the already cluttered flow of automobile traffic.  If you think Bardstown Road or Broadway are congested now, think what it would be like with a train running down the middle of the road!  In addition to the logistics of construction, a web of electricity must also be suspended above the road.  Ultimately, surface-based Light Rail is subject to the same limitations as a bus.  It’s basically just a louder, more expensive bus on that runs on rails.

The second way to implement Light Rail is by running the train on an elevated track, as it is in Chicago.  Aside from the fact that you have a huge iron structure that casts an even bigger shadow, can you even begin to imagine the cost of putting a train up in the air?  Trains weren’t meant for the sky.

Monorail on UL Belknap Campus (Courtesy Scott Ritcher)

Why is Monorail the solution?

Monorail systems offer something that Light Rail, buses, and subways can never touch: Profit.  Seattle’s Monorail opened in 1962 and is operated by a private company which actually pays the city $75,000 a year in return for the concession to operate it.  And the people of Seattle voted last year to expand it to a city-wide 40-mile route.  Tokyo’s Haneda Monorail is a privately-owned 8-mile dual-beam system which opened in 1964 and turns a profit every year.

Aren’t experimental vehicles expensive?  Monorails are hardly experimental, and they are extremely cost-effective.  One of the world’s earliest passenger Monorails at Wuppertal, Germany opened in 1902 and is still operating today.  Initial costs can be about the same or more than Light Rail, but the required purchasing of right-of-way is greatly reduced, because the track is only 26 inches wide.  And if it’s built and operated by a private company, the cost to the taxpayer is nothing.

Construction time and disruption of the local area are also reduced because Monorail beams can be prefabricated off-site and installed off of trucks.  The 1.2-mile Las Vegas Monorail was constructed in only seven months.

Perhaps the biggest advantages Monorails boast are in environmental and safety concerns.  Environmentally, Monorails are at the head of their class.  Because they are powered by electricity, pollution is a non-issue.  Monorails are pleasant to look at and extremely quiet as they run on rubber tires instead of steel rails. Monorails operate in an exclusive and completely safe area with no chance of interaction with automobile or pedestrian traffic.  They can arrive quickly and safely on time, with no risk of derailment or collision.

This is the answer to Louisville’s rapid transit dilemma.

Map of proposed monorail routes (Courtesy Scott Ritcher)