Transportation In Louisville, Kentucky
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As with most American cities, transportation in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
, is based primarily on automobiles. However, the city traces its foundation to the era where the river was the primary means of transportation, and railroads have been an important part of local industry for over a century. In more recent times Louisville has become a national hub for
air cargo Air cargo is any property carried or to be carried in an aircraft. Air cargo comprises air freight, air express and airmail. Aircraft types Different cargo can be transported by passenger, cargo or combi aircraft: * Passenger aircraft use the ...
, creating over 20,000 local jobs. The city has also launched several initiatives to promote both utilitarian and recreational bicycling. In 2016
Walk Score Walk Score, a subsidiary of Redfin, provides walkability analysis and apartment search tools. Its flagship product is a large-scale, public access walkability index that assigns a numerical walkability score to any address in the United States, U ...
ranked Louisville 43rd "most walkable" of 141 U.S. cities with a population greater than 200,000. In 2015, 11.7 percent of Louisville households were without a car, which decreased to 10.9 percent in 2016. The national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Louisville averaged 1.61 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8 per household.


Roads

The city's road system is arranged in a fairly typical system common to many cities in the
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. Streets in the downtown business district are arranged as a grid, with several alternating one-way streets. Many major roads begin at or near the downtown area and travel outwards from the city like the spokes of a wheel. There are also several roads, such as Bardstown Road and Shelbyville Road, which lead outwards from Louisville to the outlying Kentucky towns of Bardstown and Shelbyville, respectively. (See
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for links to several online maps.)
Interstate The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National H ...
s I-64,
I-65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south interstate highway in the central United States. As with most primary interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between the Great Lakes and the Gulf ...
pass through and
I-71 Interstate 71 (I-71) is a north–south Interstate Highway in the midwestern and Southeastern United States, southeastern regions of the United States. Its southern terminus is at an interchange with Interstate 64, I-64 and Interstate 65, ...
begins in Louisville. Since all three of these highways intersect at virtually the same location in the city just east of Downtown, this spot has become known as " Spaghetti Junction", as the large mass of highways and exits resembles a bowl of spaghetti when viewed from the air. Louisville Waterfront Park is built under and near this interchange. I-264 (''Henry Watterson Expressway'' east of US 31W and ''Shawnee Expressway'' west of US 31W) and I-265 (''Gene Snyder Freeway'') form loops around the city on the Kentucky side. Louisville is the only city in the nation to contain two consecutively numbered, three-digit Interstate highways. The Ohio River Bridges Project, a plan under consideration for decades to construct two new interstate bridges over the Ohio River to connect Louisville to Indiana, including a reconfiguration of Spaghetti Junction, began construction in 2012. The first bridge to open, initially dubbed the "Downtown Crossing" and later named the Abraham Lincoln Bridge, is located beside the existing Kennedy Bridge for relief of I-65 traffic. The second, initially dubbed the "East End Crossing" and later named the Lewis and Clark Bridge, connects I-265 between the portions located in southeast
Clark County, Indiana Clark County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Indiana, located directly across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 121,093. The county seat is Jeffer ...
and northeast
Jefferson County, Kentucky Jefferson County is a county located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 782,969. It is the most populous county in the commonwealth (with more than twice the population of sec ...
(Louisville Metro).


Airports

Louisville's main airport is the centrally located
Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport — also known by its former official names as Standiford Field and Louisville International Airport — is a civil-military airport in Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The airport was r ...
, whose
IATA Airport Code An IATA airport code, also known as an IATA location identifier, IATA station code, or simply a location identifier, is a unique three-letter geocode designating many airports, cities (with one or more airports) and metropolitan areas (citie ...
(SDF) reflects its former name of Standiford Field, although locally, this name is still widely used. The airport is also home to the UPS Worldport. The first runway was constructed in 1941 and used for
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
aircraft, and the airport opened for business on November 15, 1947. In 2019, SDF had its busiest year on record, with over 4.2 million passengers passing though the airport. As of 2021 it ranks as the 71st busiest airport in terms of passenger travel in the United States; however it is the third busiest airport in the United States in terms of cargo traffic, and sixth busiest for such in the world as of 2021. Over 17.5 billion pounds or 7.9 million metric tonnes of landed cargo weight passed through the airport in 2021. The airport, having recently completed major terminal renovations, has three operational runways. The two parallel main runways run north–south and allow for simultaneous takeoffs and landings. The east–west runway is shorter and generally only used in adverse weather conditions. The much smaller Bowman Field is used mainly for
general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...
. Bowman Field, which opened in 1921, was the city's first airport. Some
business aviation Business aircraft are aircraft typically used by companies and corporations to transport people or goods related to the needs of said businesses. Most business aircraft are general aviation aircraft variants of propeller aircraft, piston or ...
, as well as flight instruction and other private flying primarily operate out of this field.


Waterways

The McAlpine Locks and Dam is located on the
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
side of the
Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...
, near the
downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
area. The locks were constructed to allow shipping past the
Falls of the Ohio The Falls of the Ohio National Wildlife Conservation Area is a national, bi-state area on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States, administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in partnership with the Indiana Department ...
. In 2001 over 55 million tons of commodities passed through the locks. A new lock was constructed to replace two of the auxiliary locks, with a projected completion date of 2008, but was completed in early 2009. Ferry Service connected Louisville to Southern Indiana for decades, but was made obsolete when the Clark Memorial Bridge was opened.


Public transit

Public transportation Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whi ...
includes buses and chartered vans run by the Transit Authority of River City (TARC). TARC has an extensive network serving
downtown Louisville Downtown Louisville is the largest central business district in the Kentucky, Commonwealth of Kentucky and the urban hub of the Louisville, Kentucky Metropolitan Area. Its boundaries are the Ohio River to the north, Hancock Street to the east, ...
and Jefferson County, as well as the
Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...
suburbs of Jeffersonville, Clarksville and New Albany. In addition to regular city buses, transit throughout the downtown hotel and shopping districts is served by a series of motorized trolleys known as the ''Toonerville II Trolley''. Louisville has an intercity bus service as well, provided by Megabus and
Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...
. Departures are from the Louisville Civic Center. Louisville has several multi-use trails for bikes and pedestrians. However, many are not connected to each other and cannot be used to traverse the city. In the central city, there are several on-road bike paths that help cyclists get around the city. Like most cities, Louisville was served by electric
streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...
s into the 20th century. The last streetcars ran on May 1, 1948, carrying passengers to and from the
Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...
. A
light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
system has been studied and proposed for the city, but no plan was in development .


Rail

Louisville has historically been a major center for
railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
traffic. The
Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of ...
was once headquartered here, before it was purchased by
CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...
.
Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
, Southern Station and
Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...
hosted numerous train companies with passenger service passing through the city. Today the city is served by two major freight railroads, CSX (with a major
classification yard A classification yard (American English, as well as the Canadian National Railway), marshalling yard (British, Hong Kong, Indian, and Australian English, and the former Canadian Pacific Railway) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway y ...
in the southern part of the metro area) and
Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...
. Five major main lines connect Louisville to the rest of the region. Two regional railroads, the Paducah & Louisville Railway and the Louisville and Indiana Railroad, also serve the city. With the discontinuance of the short-lived '' Kentucky Cardinal'' in 2003,
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line, as opposed to a freight train that carries goods. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) push-pull train, ...
s no longer serve Louisville; it is thus the fifth largest city in the country (behind Phoenix, Columbus,
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, and
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
) with no Amtrak service.


Bikeways

In March 2007, Mayor
Jerry Abramson Jerry Edwin Abramson (born September 12, 1946) is an American Democratic politician who was the 55th lieutenant governor of Kentucky. On November 6, 2014, Governor Steve Beshear announced that Abramson would step down from his position as lieu ...
delivered a
keynote address A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...
at the
League of American Bicyclists League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...
' National Bike Summit in Washington D.C. where he described the history and future of bicycling in Louisville. The city is developing on-street bike lanes and shared-lanes, as well as a one-hundred mile "Metro Loop" trail to encircle the entire county. By the end of 2007, nearly 1/3 of this loop was scheduled to be complete, with another 1/3 to 1/2 coming in the next three to five years as part of the Floyd's Fork corridor project. The project was overseen by the City of Parks initiative, and $38 million in U.S. Federal Government funding was secured for the Floyd's Fork portion of this project alone, with another $20 million in private funding. In 2006, Louisville was named a "Bronze-Level Bicycle Friendly Community" by the League of American Bicyclists in recognition of development of bicycling infrastructure and promoting bicycling education and awareness. A $65 million redesign of Westport Road provided bike lanes only a third of the way, and did not connect residential areas like St. Matthews with suburban retail areas. Mayor Abramson said that the city's bike path offerings were an "urban planning mistake".


See also

* Transportation in Kentucky *
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is Kentucky's state-funded government agency, agency charged with building and maintaining U.S. Highway System, federal highways and List of primary state highways in Kentucky, Kentucky state highways, ...
*


References


External links


Louisville Metro's Bike Louisville website

Kentuckiana Regional Planning & Development Agency (KIPDA)


€”NY Times September 26, 2012 * ttp://www.connectingkentuckiana.org/ Connecting Kentuckiana— Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) for the region, to be adopted in 2014 {{Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...