Well that was fast. Just days after the community came together to paint crosswalks along Fourth Street in SoBro, crews have ripped up the asphalt to replace a manhole right in the middle of the crosswalk. The design at this location along Broadway was created by Ashlyn Ackerman, Evan Holladay, and Jordon Walker. It was intended to serve as a gateway into the SoBro neighborhood.
Broken Sidewalk contributor Elijah McKenzie had stopped by over the weekend to take in the festivities that closed down Fourth Street and created a pedestrian promenade for the day. Read his observations here. He spotted the above scene today while walking by.
“We’re not sure how this happened,” Chris Poynter, a spokesperson for Mayor Fischer, told Broken Sidewalk. “Our Public Works department checked beforehand and there were no permits issued for any of the [crosswalk] locations. We’re looking into that.” He said he has not had time to talk with the appropriate people to check whether or when the crosswalk will be repainted. “They’re literally still out there working right now.”
We’ve placed calls with LG&E for comment, and will update this post when we hear back. We expect the crosswalk will eventually be repainted, but talk about unfortunate timing.
‘SoBro’. …Can we not? Seriously, I’m all for revitalization of our city but this is getting ridiculous.
According to the news last night all of the painting will have to be removed because it violates state and federal laws regarding marking of pedestrian crosswalks!
@Just no – While I agree that SoBro is a little silly, the area it refers to is a separate and distinct neighborhood. Its not downtown, its not Old Louisville; we have to call it something.
Porter, I agree with you that the name SoBro is maybe a little silly but it’s certainly not as silly is NuLu! SoBro at least is derived from the area itself (South of Broadway) but NuLu corresponds to nothing.