March 24, 2004
Section: NEIGHBORHOODS
Edition: MC=MID COUNTY
Page: 01C


Task force sets sights on Preston
SMITH SCHERI
STAFF

Group plans improvements along corridor

SCHERI SMITH

ssmith@courier-journal.com

The Courier-Journal

Rhonda Henning would love to stroll down the sidewalk along Preston Highway near her home in the Belmar neighborhood, but crumbling concrete, weeds and a lack of lighting along the street keep her in her car.

Henning, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 40 years, said some sections of Preston between Hess and Phillips lanes are too treacherous for pedestrians.

"You can't walk there because you feel like a car could jump up there at any time," she said.

Henning and other residents, eager to improve their area, formed the Preston Highway Task Force last year. The group is a coalition of volunteers from small cities, neighborhoods and businesses along the Preston Highway corridor north of the Watterson Expressway.

Members hope to clean up the neighborhood in phases, making it more inviting to businesses and pedestrians, Henning said.

"We do have the ability to change things," she said.

Task force members met a few weeks ago with the Louisville Design Center - a nonprofit group that helps neighborhoods identify problems and set short-term and long-term goals.

The Metro Development Authority is funding two community-brainstorming sessions. Those ideas will result in a design plan and illustration for the Preston corridor.

The first session was two weeks ago, and the second is tonight.

Michael McCoy, planning project manager with the Louisville Design Center, said the first meeting went well, and ideas will be finalized during tonight's gathering.

The key to developing a solid neighborhood plan, McCoy said, is to identify people with a stake in the community, such as business owners and residents, and to foster partnerships between those people.

Although the final plan will not be binding and does not force new developments to adhere to it, Martin said it's a vision that everyone in the community will try to work on.

"When you have visuals, you can go talk your talk," she said. "We hope to work with metro government and also with state government. We are also looking into grants."

At the March 10 community meeting, residents and business owners were invited to participate in a workshop led by the design center. Belmar Neighborhood Association President Liz Martin said the first meeting was a success because it helped to start a dialogue.

These meetings "take the voices of the community and build a dream," said Martin, is a part-time professor at the Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville. "This is an opportunity for businesses and neighborhoods to come together and have a voice toward the outcome of the area. This is your chance. If you've got something to say, you need to be there."

At the meeting, Martin presented the results of a survey of the communities along the Preston corridor that some of her students conducted. The survey found that most people want the area to become safer, greener and more accessible to foot traffic. People also expressed a desire for more sit-down restaurants.

Although the meeting was productive, Mary Rose Evans of the small city of Parkway Village said the task force would like more people to get involved. The task force "is just a group of people who want to improve the quality of life," Evans said. "Unless you have buy-in from everyone around, you can't do it."

For Henning, who attended the first community meeting, the chance to work with neighbors was empowering.

"I'm just jazzed that it was a gathering," Henning said. "Hopefully, the benefit will be that it's a place for people to hear each other."

Tonight's meeting

The second meeting on a Preston Highway improvement plan will be held from 6 to 9 tonight at Audubon Traditional Elementary School, 1051 Hess Lane.