Central Avenue Project

State:

Commonwealth of Kentucky 

Agency:

City of Louisville 

Dates:

1998 - 2001 

Rural and/or Urban:

Urban

 Length:

2.5 Miles

 Type of

Improvement:

Roadway widening and Roadway extension

 Project Management:

 Project Engineer
Vinay K. Polepalli, PE, PMP

 

 Jefferson County, Louisville, Kentucky.

(Mr. Polepalli has worked on the following project as a project engineer while he was employed by another consluting firm in Kentucky.)

 The purpose of the project was to provide grand entrance/access to world famous Churchill Downs and improve traffic flow near Churchill Downs area. To obtain this goal Central Avenue was proposed to extend over existing railroad to intersect Crittenden Drive.

 Existing Central Avenue was a busy and congested collector street without a proper access to any major arterial highways. Central Avenue provides access to the world famous Churchill Downs. Existing intersections were not meeting current design standards.

 The project began at the proposed intersection with the Crittenden Drive and ended at the existing intersection with Taylor Blvd. Several intersections along the Central Avenue were redesigned to meet design standards and improve the safety and level of service.

Existing traffic volumes were obtained from KYTC and future traffic volumes were calculated based on the growth factors to obtain design year traffic volumes. Capacity analysis was then performed on the design year traffic volumes to determine the required capacity at all the intersections along the project length. Several of the intersections were signalized. Signal layout sheets for all these intersections were prepared and extensive coordination with City of Louisville were performed to develop layout sheets that meet their requirements.

 Utility coordination was performed to identify all the existing underground and above ground utilities to minimize any potential conflicts with various design elements of the project. Storm Sewer pipe network was designed based on this utility coordination to minimize any potential conflicts with various utilities under ground.  Extensive drainage analysis was performed at all these intersecitons to drain the water as well as design drainage structures that meet the proposed design criteria. Coordination with several local agencies was performed to improve the communications and as well address concerns of the agencies during design stages of the project. Coordination with railroad authorities was performed to locate the bridge piers and make sure that enough clearances, both horizontal and vertical, were provided for a smooth passage of rail traffic. Right of way plans were prepared to acquire necessary right of way. Maintenance of traffic was accomplished in several phases.

 The project was constructed in three different sections. This project was completed in 2000 and has impressed local officials, business owners, and residents in Louisville, Kentucky.