All of the orange cones, signs and road closures in place throughout Louisville will still be in place by the close of Summer 2025, but some of the projects causing headaches for metro area commuters are at least expected to wrap up before the end of the year.
Road construction on highways, thoroughfares and streets represents a mix of city and state projects, which can be hard to keep up with if you don’t know where to look. The Courier Journal gathered the latest updates for several ongoing projects in Louisville, from the ongoing repairs on the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge to a two-way conversion of West Kentucky Street.
Here is what you should know as the summer heats up:
When will closures on the Kennedy Bridge end?
Downtown Louisville. Louisville Skyline. Bridges. Spaghetti Junction. Bridges. Clark Memorial Bridge. Second Street Bridge. Lincoln Bridge. Kennedy Bridge. Big Four Pedestrian Bridge.July 12, 2019
Repairs to the Kennedy Bridge will continue until at least April 2026, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Morgan Woodrum said in a news release. Crews are tasked with replacing the expansion joints of the bridge, which are meant to prevent concrete supporting the travel surface from cracking. The joints expand and contract as temperatures rise and fall.
Replacing the joints is expected to “improve safety, help prevent recurring potholes, and reduce the need for future maintenance closures,” Woodrum said. At times, lanes on the bridge may close to allow for repair work to take place.
A $6.9 million contract for the project was awarded to Hall Contracting of Kentucky.
What construction is happening on the Watterson Expressway, Brownsboro Road and Interstate 71?
Several road projects are in progress around the new Department of Veterans Affairs medical center on Brownsboro Road, which is scheduled to open to patients in 2026.
As part of the $130 million project, crews will rebuild the Interstate 264-Brownsboro Road interchange, widen Interstate 264 between Westport Road and I-71, and rebuild and widen the Brownsboro Road bridge over I-264, KYTC officials said in a July 7 statement. Other work includes the addition of new two-lane ramps from eastbound I-264 to northbound I-71 and from westbound I-264 to Westport Road.
The entire project is expected to be complete by Fall 2027, Woodrum said. Kentucky-based Cleary Construction is tasked with carrying out the work.
When will road work on Interstate 64 near the Watterson Expressway wrap up?
Crews will be replacing bridges over the Middle Fork of Beargrass Creek until Fall 2025, Woodrum said. With both the eastbound and westbound bridges scheduled to be replaced, the project is expected to progress through multiple phases.
After the westbound bridge replacement is complete and ready for use sometime in Summer 2025, eastbound traffic will be shifted onto the new westbound bridge and median between Breckenridge and Browns lanes while the eastbound bridge is demolished and rebuilt.
KYTC officials awarded for the project a $6.6 million contract to E&B Paving of Jeffersonville, Indiana.
What’s going on with River Road in Louisville?
The Louisville Loop bike and pedestrian trail is expanding with a new connection at River Road between 3rd and 7th streets now under construction. May 14, 2025
Be prepared for more roadwork on River Road. There are at least three projects along River Road that are either currently active, or are set to begin later in 2025.
Commuters may already know about the Louisville Water Company’s pipeline project in River Road, which began in March at the Crescent Hill Water Treatment Plant, and is expected to end at the B.E. Payne Water Treatment Plant in Prospect sometime in 2026, officials said on the project’s website. Because crews are replacing dual 24-inch pipes under River Road, sections of the roadway have had to close to traffic at times. A July 21 update from Louisville Water showed crews were working in the area of Rockledge Drive and the 4900 block of River Road, near the Virginia Chance School in Glenview.
Between Third and Seventh streets in downtown Louisville, crews on River Road are building a new bike and pedestrian path. With a new path and barrier being constructed in the area, a westbound lane for motor vehicle traffic will be removed. Work is expected to be done by September.
Kristen Shanahan, spokesperson for Louisville Metro Public Works, said the goal of the project is to “create a park-like setting” underneath Interstate 64 and the Belvedere, “which will serve as a critical connection between the currently developed Waterfront Park and its westward expansion.”
Public Works officials also anticipate a widening of the east and westbound lanes of River Road, from the South Fork of Beargrass Creek to Zorn Avenue, could see construction in Spring 2026, Shanahan said. The project calls for two lanes in each direction for motor vehicles, a multi-use path for pedestrians and cyclists, and a new traffic light at River and Edith roads, near the training facility for Louisville’s professional soccer clubs.
“If the project breaks ground in spring of 2026, we expect work to wrap up in the [fall or winter] of 2027, barring weather delays, technical delays, or other complications,” Shanahan said, adding the timeline for the widening could be “pushed up earlier.”
When will road work on Main Street in Louisville end?
An extensive two-way conversion on Main Street includes three phases, starting with the East Phase from Wenzel to Second streets. Changing traffic patterns and lane closures in this area are expected until Spring 2026, KYTC officials said in a news release.
During the East Phase, commuters will see new sidewalk construction and renovations at the beginning of the project, but new traffic signals, crosswalks, left-turn lanes and a protected bike lane are also expected to be added.
The Main Street project also has a Central Phase, extending from Second to 10th streets, and a West Phase going from 10th to 22nd streets.
Officials anticipate construction work on the West and Central phase will begin in the summer or fall of 2025, according to a project website. Work on the West Phase will continue through 2026. The timeline for the Central Phase will depend on a results of a feasibility study, which will start sometime after construction begins.
Main Street is expected to remain open to traffic while construction work is carried out.
What work is being done on Chestnut Street, Muhammad Ali Boulevard and River Park Drive?
Road work on the long-awaited Reimagine Ninth Street project is underway, as sections of Muhammad Ali Boulevard, Chestnut Street and River Park Drive are set for two-way street conversions, Mayor Craig Greenberg announced July 21.
The conversions, which extend west from Ninth Street to Southwestern Parkway in the Shawnee neighborhood, are expected to be complete sometime in Summer 2026, city officials said in a news release.
In a statement, Greenberg called the project “one of the most significant one-way to two-way street conversions” in the city’s history.
City officials noted portions of Chestnut Street (which becomes River Park Drive at 28th Street) and Muhammad Ali Boulevard are among the 53 roads included in Louisville’s High Injury Network. Streets included in the network are focus areas in a citywide effort to curb the number of vehicle crashes with injuries. Louisville seeks to have no annual roadway deaths by 2050.
When will the NuLu Streetscape project be complete?
Commuting across NuLu is gradually changing. A new bike lane and landscape medians on East Market Street are being added to the popular commercial corridor. The approximately 1-mile East Market Streetscape extends from Brook Street to Baxter Avenue. Construction of the new bike lane and median is expected to be finished by Oct. 10, 2025, according to a Public Works webpage.
When will the two-way conversions on West Kentucky Street be complete?
The planned two-way conversions on West Kentucky Street, which extend from Eighth to Fifth streets in the Limerick neighborhood, are expected to be complete in August, according to a webpage for the project. Public Works is also working on other projects in this corridor, including the addition of a new bike lane from Seventh to Fifth streets.
The conversions would allow West Kentucky Street to maintain two-way connectivity from Fifth to 15th streets.
Louisville is planning to ‘rightsize’ some streets. Here’s what that means
Some Louisville streets are set to be reconfigured in ways city officials believe would be safer for travel. The process, known as “rightsizing,” could lead to travel lanes getting replaced by center two-way left-turn lanes, according to a webpage for Vision Zero Louisville, a city-funded transportation initiative. The reconfiguration is meant to calm traffic and make travel safer for road users.
Eight of Louisville’s rightsizing projects in development come from a $21 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, which was awarded to the city in February 2023. Shanahan said a grant agreement executed in 2024 is effective for five years, “so all projects must be completed by 2029,” but Public Works and the Louisville Department of Transportation aim to have the work done by 2028.
The rightsizing projects include:
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Reach reporter Leo Bertucci at lbertucci@gannett.com or @leober2chee on X, formerly known as Twitter
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville roadwork this summer: Where to expect traffic delays