Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Streetsblog.net

Rescuing New Ideas From the Purgatory of Old Bureaucracy

Louisville has solid transportation goals, but it's having trouble delivering on them.

Your city may have a complete streets policy. Your mayor may say all the right things about making streets work for walking, biking, and transit. But if the inner workings of government -- city budgets, agency protocols -- aren't set up to enable big street design breakthroughs, all you'll get are scattershot improvements.

Writing for Network blog Broken Sidewalk, Chris Glasser of Bicycling for Louisville says his city is ready for safer, multi-modal streets -- it just needs to figure out the mechanics of making change happen:

In the city budgets of the last three years, there has been funding for sidewalk improvements, for bike lanes, and for road repaving -- all the ingredients needed for a complete street. But all that money is in separate pots, all going to separate projects. We’ve got the ingredients we need, but no recipe to follow to make a better street. We don’t provide any funding for the holistic approaches that make the street safer for everyone. This needs to change.

In Louisville, we have an 8-year-old, 160-page document that’s gathering dust and the promise of a multi-modal plan that’s more than a year overdue. What we don’t have is a strategy or funding source for implementing complete streets. Instead, we come by our most people-friendly streets somewhat haphazardly...

Why is this important? Here’s just one example: Metro Louisville Public Works is currently considering a redesign for Jefferson Street through Downtown. Their design features bus islands, a protected bike lane, and curb extensions for pedestrians. Four driving lanes would be taken down to three. These are all great things -- design concepts that benefit all users.

But there’s one big problem. There's no money for a project like this. To be sure, there is money in a city budget of hundreds of millions of dollars. For instance, “bike money” could pay for this project -- but at the cost of 75 percent of its annual allotment on a bike lane that goes 0.9 miles and for which the vast majority of the project cost is not related to a bike lane. There is money available, just not money for this complete street project.

Glasser's first goal is to implement "a funding mechanism for holistic roadway redesign."
Elsewhere on the Streetsblog Network: Baltimore InnerSpace assesses what went wrong for the Red Line project and offers some advice for local transit advocates. And Bill Lindeke at Twin City Sidewalks asks, "How would Gandhi drive?"

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday Video: Let’s Go Biking in Berlin

Streetsblog takes you on a six-minute vacation to one of Europe's great cycling cities.

July 18, 2025

Friday’s Headlines Take the Long Cut

Republicans couldn't repeal higher fuel efficiency standards, so instead they made it painless for automakers to ignore them.

July 18, 2025

Can the D.C. Region Substitute Rail With Buses?

Instead of splashy new rail projects, the D.C. region wants to refocus around the bus. But will it work?

July 18, 2025

Trump and Duffy Continue Assault on California and the Environment, Officially Cancel Federal Funding for High-Speed Rail

“Canceling these grants without cause isn’t just wrong — it’s illegal,” said CAHSRA CEO Ian Choudri.

July 17, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: Reclaiming the Road

Ohio elected official and geographer David Prytherch on his new book, Reclaiming the Road: Mobility Justice Beyond Complete Streets.

July 17, 2025

A Few Lowlights from Secretary Duffy’s First Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Hearing

Featuring: shouting matches, word-salad answers, blatant misinformation, and more.

July 17, 2025
See all posts