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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
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By
Courier-Journal Reporter
Charlie White. He can be reached at (502) 582-4653. |
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With
the small city of
Parkway Village's help,
Louisville is looking to
beautify Preston Highway
from Hess Lane north
through the split with
Shelby Street to near
Eastern Parkway. The final project design is expected to be complete this summer, said Susan Hamilton, Louisville's assistant director of economic development. Hamilton said construction will follow once additional money is appropriated, and Metro Councilman Jim King has made the project one of his top priorities for the coming fiscal year. City officials hope the project will revitalize the area business association and help attract more businesses that would serve the adjoining neighborhoods, Hamilton said. "It will make it much nicer to walk or bike through there," she added. It is the second phase of the Preston Corridor Streetscape Improvement Plan, which aims to improve Preston from Eastern Parkway to the Watterson Expressway. Like the first phase from Phillips to Hess lanes, the second phase will include replacing old sidewalks and curbs and adding landscaping, benches and trash receptacles to encourage more pedestrian traffic and spruce up TARC bus stops. The project will include both sides of Preston and the strip of Shelby from the Preston split to Minoma Avenue, just south of Eastern Parkway, where several improvements have been made in past years. Concrete pavers stamped to look like brick also will be added as accents between the new sidewalks and the street, except for the area in front of Keneseth Israel Cemetery, where the sidewalks are in good shape. Parkway Village Mayor Mary Rose Evans said she was disappointed when the first phase improvements ended just south of her city at Hess Lane, but she is hopeful that construction of the second phase can begin soon. "This will be a very positive thing for the neighborhood and for attracting new businesses to the neighborhood," Evans said. Some business owners along Preston have a better job than others at keeping up the area in front of their businesses, she said. The Preston strip in front of Parkway Village currently includes a couple of fast-food restaurants and several other businesses, but Evans said she would love to attract a sit-down restaurant that sells alcoholic beverages. Parkway Village, which includes about 300 houses and apartments and 15 businesses on the east side of Preston, gave $7,500 in state road aid for the planning and design of the second phase, which cost about $40,000. Evans said her small city is willing to contribute more money toward benches and other improvements, as needed. In the current Louisville budget, $100,000 was appropriated for construction of the second phase. The initial cost estimates for construction are between $220,000 and $250,000, which means a large amount of money is still needed. King, whose district takes in the project area, will push for the remaining money to be added to the upcoming city budget, said his aide, Rob Holtzmann. If the money can't be added to what is expected to be another tight city budget, King plans to use neighborhood development money to pay for the rest of construction, Holtzmann said. The first phase cost more than $550,000 and took several years to design and build. The result was new sidewalks and benches and more than a dozen decorative streetlamps, as well as murals on two train trestles. Much of the landscaping, including flowers and other plants next to the train trestles, continues to be maintained without charge by Luv-It Landscaping, a St. Joseph neighborhood business. Individual business owners are asked to keep up landscaping in front of the businesses. Robbie Gibson, former president of the Preston Area Business Association, which recently dissolved, said the paint-job on the trestle near his business — Belmar Flower Shop just south of the Norfolk Southern railroad overpass — was needed but it hasn't yet seemed to translate into profits. The third phase of the Preston corridor plan, between Phillips Lane and the Watterson, is expected to follow. Reporter Charlie White can be reached at (502) 582-4653 |
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