Hike & Bike event is Memorial Day, TARC announces route detours

The 6th Lou­isville Metro Hike & Bike program will hold the first of its two annual outings on Memorial Day, Monday, May 31. The event starts at Waterfront Park.

The Healthy Hometown Sub­way Fresh Fit Hike & Bike ride will begin at 10 a.m. at the downtown waterfront near the “dancing waters” off Witherspoon Street. More than 5,000peo­ple typically take part in the Hike & Bike events.

The 15-mile cy­cling route will highlight sever­al Louisville parks and landmarks and goes through Old Louisville and along Southern Parkway to Iroquois Park, then back to Water­front Park.

For walkers, a wheelchair-ac­cessible five-kilometer route has been laid out. It will also start at Waterfront Park and go west along the wharf area and onto the RiverWalk section of the Louis­ville Loop, up to Lannan Park and back to Waterfront Park. Those seeking a shorter hike can turn around at points along the route, including at the Louis­ville Science Center. Walkers can bring dogs but must keep them on a leash.

The cycling route will have signs and break stations staffed by volunteers to assist with di­rections and water. Louisville Bicycle Club members will pro­vide bike “doctors” along the route to assist cyclists with equipment problems.

Louisville Metro Police will provide traffic assistance at key intersections. The Louisville Metro EMS bicycle team will pa­trol the route.

In addition, there will be a healthy marketplace with nutritional snacks, free chil­dren’s activities and informa­tional booths will open at 9 a.m. at Waterfront Park. Free T-shirts will be available for the first 2,500 participants and the Brain In­jury Association will distribute 250 bike helmets to riders who don’t have one.

A “bike rodeo” with safety education activities for youths will be offered by Norton Healthcare behind the Flock of Finns sculpture at Preston and Witherspoon streets. and people will be able to sign up for the “Lose It Louisville!” ini­tiative — a communitywide ef­fort for registrants to lose a col­lective 100,000 pounds by the Labor Day Hike & Bike event.

On-street parking will be available near Waterfront Park. TARC buses are equipped with bicycle racks for cyclists who want to leave their car at home.

TARC also announced some detours due to the Mayor’s Hike and Bike. Street closures will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and due to those closures the following detours will be in affect.

•#4 Fourth Street - southbound - buses from Central Avenue to Iroquois Park will continue on 4th Street, turn left on Oakdale to the regular route. The Southland Park route will turn left on 5th Street, left on Lansing, cross Southern Parkway, turn right on 3rd Street Road, left on Woodlawn to the regular route.

•Route #4 Fourth Street - northbound – buses from Iroquois Park on 3rd Street will turn right on Oakdale, right on 4th Street to the regular route. From Southland Park, buses will turn right on 3rd Street, left on Lansing, right on 5th Street, right on 4th Street to regular route.

•Route 6th Street - southbound – buses from Taylor Boulevard will turn right on Bluegrass Avenue, left on Manslick/St. Andrews Road, left on Palatka Road, right on Newcut Road to the regular route.

•Route 6th Street - northbound – buses from Newcut Road, left on Palatka Road, right on St. Andrews/Manslick Road, right on Bluegrass Avenue, left on Taylor Boulevard to regular route.

•Route #19 Muhammad Ali and #21 Chestnut – westbound – buses from Muhammad Ali, will turn left on 1st Street, right on Broadway, right on 4th Street, left on Ali to regular route.

•Routes #2 Second Street, #71 Jeffersonville, and #72 Clarksville/New Albany - southbound – buses from 1st and Market will continue on Market, turn right on Floyd Street, right on Grey Street, left on 1st Street to the regular route.

To check specific detours on your route, call TARC at 585-1234.

Downtown Businesses Provided Support For Fare Free Trolleys

The trolleys that run on Fourth Street and on Main and Market Streets will be FARE FREE and more frequent beginning Monday, June 7.

“The downtown trolleys have become an institution in downtown Louisville, much loved by tourists and residents alike,” said TARC Executive Director J. Barry Barker. “We know they attract many more riders when they are free, so we are delighted that downtown interests have made it possible to offer this fare free and frequent service.”

The Fourth Street Trolley, originally slated for elimination this summer due to TARC’s budget shortfall, was saved thanks to contributions from downtown businesses and organizations. Funding to run the trolleys fare-free and more frequently until Aug. 15 is provided by:

The Downtown Development Corp.
The Kentucky International Convention Center
The Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau
The Louisville Downtown Management District
Humana, Inc.

“This is an important announcement not only because the trolleys are fare free again, just as they were originally conceived to be, but because downtown business interests are stepping up to the plate to keep this vital amenity in place. My hat is off to those business interests that are participating in this effort,” said Mayor Jerry Abramson.

Both the Fourth Street and the Main-Market trolleys will run more frequently between 11 and 6 p.m. The Fourth Street Trolley will run every 7 minutes during that period and the Main-Market Trolley will run every 10 minutes. This is designed to provide the lunch crowd and after-work shoppers who work downtown the opportunity to try new downtown venues by hopping on a trolley. It’s also the period when most tourists are exploring downtown.

Saturday service on both trolley routes will continue from 10 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. The Fourth Street Trolleys runs every 20 minutes and the Main-Market Street trolleys run every 15 minutes on Saturday.

The Fourth Avenue trolley, then dubbed the Toonerville Trolley, began running fare free on Fourth Street in 1987. In 1996, the Main-Market Street Trolley was added. Both ran fare-free until 2004 when a 25-cent fare was added. Ridership took a dip and then dropped again three years later when the fare was increased to 50-cents.

During the summer, a committee of business interests will be looking a long-term funding to keep the trolleys running fare free permanently.

Click It or Ticket It program Campaign giving Kentucky Speedway tickets

Kentucky still has some residents who aren't wearing their seat belts. Despite a wealth of data showing that seat belts save lives and also despite implementation of a primary seat belt law, Kentucky’s 80 percent seat belt usage rate lags behind the national rate of 84 percent.

The annual Click It or Ticket enforcement campaign, which began Monday and runs through June 6, will attempt to bring awareness to this issue as officers buckle down on those not buckled up.

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Office of Highway Safety officials, along with the Kentucky State Police, launched the campaign. “Kentucky undoubtedly experiences far too many fatalities that could have been avoided with the simple use of a seat belt,” said Acting Secretary of Transportation Mike Hancock. “Clearly this is an indication that people are just not aware of the huge risk taken by not buckling up.”

Overall, fatality numbers steadily decreasing each year. However, statistics for 2009indicate 398 (61.3 percent) of the 649 people who were killed in motor vehicles last year were not wearing a seat belt.

Traffic safety checkpoints and saturation patrols will be conducted by state and local law enforcement during the two-week Click It or Ticket mobilization, looking for any traffic violation with an emphasis on seat belt usage. Those not buckled up or who are in violation of other laws will receive a citation. But those who are buckled will receive a different kind of ticket – a “Click It FOR Tickets” voucher that allows them to register to win a pair of tickets to the Kentucky Speedway.

Office of Highway Safety Executive Director Chuck Geveden says the office awarded more than $240,000 in federal funds to 59 state and local police agencies across the Commonwealth to help bolster seat belt enforcement during the campaign. The funding is provided through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Although enforcement officers will be prevalent during the campaign, Geveden emphasized, “The Click It or Ticket campaign is not about writing tickets. It’s about awareness and saving lives. If one life is saved through this effort, it will be worth it.”

According to the NHTSA, when worn correctly, seat belts are proven to reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat occupants by 45 percent – and by 60 percent in pickup trucks, SUVs and minivans.

KYTC Seeks Comment on Disadvantage Business Enterprise

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is seeking public input on proposed goals for increasing Disadvantage Business Enterprise (DBE) involvement in highway projects.

The KYTC Office for Civil Rights and Small Business Development, which oversees the cabinet’s DBE program, is proposing an annual, overall DBE participation goal of 7.76 percent for federal fiscal year 2011, up from the current goal of 7.0. The federal fiscal year begins Oct. 1. Under U.S. Department of Transportation rules, the new goal would be in effect for three years.

The 2011 goals and methodology will be available online at http://transportation.ky.gov/OBOD from May 26 until June 25, 2010. Written comments will be accepted for 15 days afterward –until July 10, 2010 – and can also be submitted online through the website. In addition, written comments on the 2010 participation goal also are being accepted through July 10 and may be submitted to:

Melvin Bynes
Office for Civil Rights and Small Business Development
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
200 Mero Street
Frankfort, Ky. 40622
Information also is available by calling 1-800-928-3079 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT.

In addition, the Office for Civil Rights and Small Business Development will host forums during May in each of the cabinet’s 12 highway districts to explain the proposed goals and how they were established.

“The forums give the public an opportunity to participate in a dialogue about how we ensure disadvantaged businesses are represented fairly when cabinet projects are awarded,” said Acting Transportation Secretary Mike Hancock. “Decisions regarding our disadvantaged business program have a broad effect, and our staff attempts to clarify everything about the process through public meetings and these proposed goals.”

The Office for Civil Rights and Small Business Development is committed to ensuring equal employment opportunity, a diverse workforce and the promotion of equitable business opportunities throughout Kentucky.

Public forum schedule; all times local:

May 17
District 9, Flemingsburg, 5-7 p.m., Stockton Station Inn, 129 West Water Street.
District 10, Jackson, noon-1p.m., Jackson Inn, 19 Brewers Drive.
District 5, Louisville, 5-7 p.m., Holiday Inn, 447 Farmington Ave.

May 19
District 8, Somerset, 5-7 p.m., Hampton Inn, 4141 US 27.
District 11, Manchester, noon-1:30 p.m., London Hampton Inn, 200 Alamo Drive, London.

May 20
District 6, Covington, 5-7 p.m., Cincinnati Marriott at River Center,
10 West River Center Boulevard, Cincinnati.
District 7, Lexington, from noon-1:30 p.m., Holiday Inn, 1950 Newtown Pike.
District 12, Pikeville, 1-2 p.m., Hampton Inn, 831 Hambley Boulevard.

May 21
District 4, Elizabethtown, noon-1:30 p.m., Holiday Inn, 107 Buffalo Creek Drive.

May 24
District 2, Hopkinsville, 5-7 p.m., Holiday Inn Express, 12759 Fort Campbell Boulevard.

May 25
District 1, Paducah, noon-1:30 p.m., Courtyard by Marriott, 3835 Technology Drive.
District 3, Bowling Green, 5-7 p.m., Holiday Inn, 1021 Wilkinson Trace.

Summer Youth Bus Passes go on sale May 21

If you've got a child or a teen that needs to get to their summer job, the mall or a movie, TARC is hoping to make it easier for you!

TARC is offering their Summer Youth Bus Pass for $30. The pass is valid for unlimited rides on all TARC routes seven days a week beginning May 21 and continuing through Aug. 31. The pass can be used by children ages 6 to 17 within TARC’s five county-service area including Jefferson, Bullitt and Oldham counties in Kentucky and Clark and Floyd counties in Indiana.

TARC’s Summer Youth Pass will be on sale at the following locations:

Union Station, 1000 W. Broadway
Nia Center, 2900 W. Broadway
All Fifth Third Banks
Louisville Free Public Library, 3rd & York

Passes will also be sold online beginning Monday, May 17 at www.ridetarc.org. To order by mail, send a check or money order for $30, with your name, address and phone number, to SUMMER YOUTH PASS; c/o TARC cashier; 1000 W. Broadway; Louisville, KY 40203.

Public Meeting to discuss outline route alternatives for Louisville Loop’s Northeast Route

Metro Parks will present the master plan for routing the Louisville Loop through the city’s northeastern neighborhoods during a community meeting on Tuesday, May 11 at 6 p.m. at Historic Locust Grove, 561 Blankenbaker Lane.

The final plan identifies several alternative routes for the Louisville Loop, as it travels from Miles Park on Shelbyville Road to River Road. The Louisville Loop is a paved path for bicyclists and pedestrians that will encircle Louisville for a distance of approximately 100 miles. Some segments of the Louisville Loop will also include soft-surface paths for hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders.

Before the plan becomes final, citizens will have an opportunity to offer comments about the plan, either during the meeting or via e-mail at parks@louisvilleky.gov. The plan will be posted online at http://www.louisvilleky.gov/MetroParks/cityofparks/projects/northeastloop.htm.

Lanes closures on KY 841/KY 1934

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 5 Office annnounced that their will be lane closures on KY 841/KY 1934 (Gene Snyder Freeway) due to pavement joint replacement. The eastbound lanes will be reduced to one lane between Lower River Road and the Greyling Drive overpass (mile points 0 to 4.3)

Lane closures are possible weeknights Monday–Friday from 8:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. the following morning. Work, which began yesterday, will continue through the end of June.

The actual starting date and duration of this work may be adjusted if inclement weather or other unforeseen delays occur. Dial 511 or log on to 511.ky.gov for the latest in traffic and travel information in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.