Sad News

My son, his college roommate, and I went to I Love Sushi and Teriyaki Sunday afternoon (6/24). The road construction on lower Brwonsboro makes you feel like a worm going through a maze!

When I asked the owner how it was affecting his business he "went off"! He was calling the city/state (who ever is in charge of this mess), every thing in the book (some which can't even be repeated here).

He indicated they had scoured the road this past Monday and made all the lane changes with 1,000 road cones, then left it that way the rest of the week with no additional work. He indicated that it was supposed to take 2 months before they finish.

Then he surprised us by saying he was closing the restaurant for good at the end of this month! Man was he pissed.

He did indicate he might reopen in another location, but I doubt he will ever re-open on lower Brownsboro.

I really don't understand who wanted this 3 lane crap anyway.

I really don't understand who wanted this 3 lane crap anyway.

Those who believe that streets are for people and not their cars.

We love that place, and I'm sorry to see it happen. We've had road construction all year on Grant Line Rd in NA, and it's a royal pain. I wish governments were better at communicating such matters.

But: When finished, we'll finally have sidewalks and a more sensible plan.

I had heard rumblings and knew that the owner was displeased, but this is a gut wrencher. I Love Sushi... was my favorite sushi place in the town and just about the only sushi I will trust and eat. Should they reopen elsewhere, I will be there, but it certainly stinks to lose them this close to home.

Sidebar: The redesign on lower Brownsboro is the most asinine thing I have seen in a long time. Somebody has to be making money somewhere, because this change makes absolutely no sense and no one I know of sees the need.

this change makes absolutely no sense and no one I know of sees the need.

Well, here's one: "Brownsboro Road ‘diet’ pits the ‘greater public’ and their Ultimate Driving Machines against Blue Collar bikers, pedestrians."

http://insiderlouisville.com/news/2012/05/29/brownsboro-diet/

Progressive change, whether treating sewage or creating safe streets, does not come easily when the always petulant greater public is not getting its way.

We'll hate to lose I Heart Sushi, but this isn't terribly surprising. Even without the road construction, that isn't a terribly good location. I hope this doesn't sour the owner on opening up another restaurant in town. I also wondered why they chewed up the street at the beginning of the week and left it messed up. The only answer I can come up with is it slows the traffic by necessity, so that it's easier to get the sidewalk work under way.

As for the road configuration changes, I'm one of those nasty suburban (gasp, St. Matthews) people who use the road to commute to my job downtown. That stretch of road has always been hazardous, with all the streets and business driveways along the way, on top of thru traffic. Add pedestrians to the mix and you've got yourself some interesting times. I don't know that this reconfiguration is the answer, but I do know something needed to be done.

On the other hand, I lived through something called "traffic calming" on a fairly busy street in Maine. They reconfigured that road three or four times. At the height of the madness, the city had built a maze of curb cut-ins that narrowed the road, along with speed bumps. Nobody was happy: Shoppers sought out businesses that were easier to get to, delivery trucks suffered damage from the curbs and speed bumps, and there was actually less respect for pedestrians.

I'm one of those suburban loving my automobile guys....

But as I understand it, they are reconfiguring that stretch of Brownsboro from 4 lanes (no median) to two lanes, a median, and bike lanes. I've often thought that two lanes with a median is a superior configuration for traffic than 4 lanes with no median, especially in areas where folks want to make a lot of left turns.

I hope this is a success, and then they can bring this model to the South End and apply it to Third Street. The outside lanes are almost unusable anyway, due to the strange grading at intersections from times immemorial.

Progressive change, whether treating sewage or creating safe streets, does not come easily when the always petulant greater public is not getting its way.

Preach it!

[Robin Garr]

I've often thought that two lanes with a median is a superior configuration for traffic than 4 lanes with no median, especially in areas where folks want to make a lot of left turns.

This. As a denizen of suburban Crescent Hill who often speeds through Lower Brownsboro to get to Dirty Kroger, I was unhappy about this at first, but once I got to thinking about it, the three-lane plan has worked very well for years on KY 22 in Holiday Manor, with traffic using the center lane to stack up for turns, and a pretty good volume then moving along unimpeded in the regular traffic lanes.

Roadways are always going to be areas of "competition" because users expect them to serve multiple purposes for multiple user groups, where the user groups are not always compatible (or made equal). For now, cars are the dominant, yet most dangerous, mode of transportation.

Just a few days ago I saw a car tailgating some mopeds on the Eastern Pkwy overpass near UofL. The driver would pull up to a moped and then slowly move beside it, almost like he was flicking the moped to the side of the road (without ever touching it). Ego surely played a big role in this scenario, including the driver's confidence in his driving skill. It was truly one of the more skilled displays of road rage I've ever witnessed. Yet, because the driver was basically driving a two-ton weapon, one miscalculation would have had dire consequences.

What scares me the most is drivers who never even see me as a pedestrian. If that means we have to reconfigure roads to give pedestrians more space (and more safety), so be it.

Worldwide, rich people from the "East Ends" of most cities will be flying to work in small, personal aircraft in about 10 to 15 years. City planning needs to work around this eventuality.

Yes, I know you think I'm crazy but it's going to happen.

Just a few days ago I saw a car tailgating some mopeds on the Eastern Pkwy overpass near UofL. The driver would pull up to a moped and then slowly move beside it, almost like he was flicking the moped to the side of the road (without ever touching it).

The bigger part of this problem was that if it was truly a moped and not a motor scooter it's not street legal!

I am sorry to hear that I Heart Sushi is closing. I had never had a chance to go there despite it's proximity to me, and have recently heard good things about it. Hopefully I can make it in before it closes. That said, I have lived in Clifton now for about 10 years and the Frankfort Ave. corridor seems to have quadrupled traffic in that time, both pedestrian and vehicle. Lobrow has a *lot* of traffic at a higher speed, and I for one welcome a more pedestrian friendly redesign of the road. There are a lot of Clifton and Clifton Heights residents that walk to/from the grocery, travel via bus, etc. and that stretch of road is dangerous and cumbersome. The sidewalks are in terrible disrepair, and I think it's important to consider our large population of blind residents and their transportation needs as well. While it is very inconvenient (I hated driving home on that stripped road yesterday) I do hope the area will be a bit bike/pedestrian friendlier after all is said and done. That part of the neighborhood has always been home to good restaurants that lack staying power, I think partially because it is so cumbersome to navigate by foot and it makes no sense to drive somewhere that's only a few blocks away.

Just a few days ago I saw a car tailgating some mopeds on the Eastern Pkwy overpass near UofL. The driver would pull up to a moped and then slowly move beside it, almost like he was flicking the moped to the side of the road (without ever touching it).

The bigger part of this problem was that if it was truly a moped and not a motor scooter it's not street legal!

I'm not well versed enough in the differences to say for sure - and even if someone showed me pictures I couldn't definitively say if I saw mopeds or motor scooters.

I disagree with your assessment of the problem. Although I'm opposed to the illegal use of roadways, the choice of a person (or group of persons) to illegally use the roadway doesn't excuse the use of a car as a potential weapon. Yes, the police should enforce traffic code. That said, it's just a really really bad idea for a person to use a vehicle in an aggressive manner regardless of the reason. Just astoundingly bad. Is it really that difficult to take a deep breath, saw a few choice words in the privacy of your own vehicle, and wait patiently for the ability to pass? The vehicles were traveling eastbound, so they were all of .1 mile from the road opening up to two lanes in each direction.

I'm prob getting off topic here, but, as a cyclist, I see a reoccurring event that just scares the shit out of me. Automobile driver passes me in a blind area (up and over a hill, around a blind curve, etc.). Clearly the driver is more interested in getting by me than taking the time to consider if passing me at that given point is a good idea. The thinking is just so damn myopic ... must pass bike, must pass bike, must pass bike ... with no consideration of the larger context.

Mopeds are street legal as long as the minimum speed is less than 30 mph. That gets them off the interstates and freeways but they should be street legal in the city.

Worldwide, rich people from the "East Ends" of most cities will be flying to work in small, personal aircraft in about 10 to 15 years. City planning needs to work around this eventuality.

Yes, I know you think I'm crazy but it's going to happen.

Flying cars. I was promised flying cars.