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www.louisvillecardinal.com September 27, 20051 Vol. 79, Issue 7
U of L's million-dollar face-lift
State grant aids campus
beautification effort
BY ERICA KuMCHAK
StaffWriter
news@louisvillecardinal.com
People who have been around the University of
Louisville for years have seen drastic changes in the
campus recently as part of an aggressive beautifica­tion
effort.
Hundreds of new trees and shrubs have been
planted, new sidewalks and lighting have been
installed, and deteriorating buildings have been
torn down or renovated while new banners depict­ing
important U ofL alumni and athletes brighten
intersections, sidewalks and dormitories.
When asked about the university's aesthetic iln­provements,
freshman Candace Coots said, "Since
this year is my first time on U ofl.:s campus, I haven't
noticed any specific changes, but I have noticed that
the campus looks nice. I think that the different
beautification projects show that the administration
has a care and conc~rn for students."
1nanks to a $1 million grant from the Kentucky
Transportation Cabinet, many projects have been
completed or are ongoing. One of the most visible
renovation projects has been the $17 4,178 spent on
See BEAUTIFICATION, page 4.
The newly painted bridge on Cardinal Boulevard is part of the university's beautification project. Jane Ramsey, chair of the
Beautification Committee, said the changes were made to clearly identify the university to passing motorists.
The ramps
leading on
and off 1-65
near campus
create
problems
for motorists
trying to
merge into
traffic. The
university
responded
by forming
a committee
to review the
recommend
changes to
the state. If
approved,
construction
may not
begin for
two years.
t\lina Carrillo I Louisville Cardinal
g
Study finds I -65 ramps in need of repair
BY LAN NGUYEN
StaffWriter
news@louisvillecardinal.com
Driving through Louisville on
Interstate 65 and other roads near
campus can be maddening, espe­cially
during rush hour. Get on the
ramp, start going as fast as you can
and hope you can merge before the
ramp ends and someone hits you.
Recently, the University of Lou­isville
requested that the state study
the ramps on and off I-65 from the
fairgrounds to just north of campus.
The State General Assembly ap­proved
and provided $ 175,000 for
the study. The study was conducted
by the consulting firm Gresham
Smith which was selected by the
Stare Transportation Cabinet. The
study was also supervised by various
community officials, inc! uding Larry
Owsley, vice president of Business
Affairs at U ofL.
Gresham Smith reported its find­ings
and posed possible solutions
to the advisory board. All of the
problems found related to safety
and spacing. Some of the ramps
were found to be roo close to one
another, which made it difficult and
rather dangerous for drivers trying
to merge onto or get off the roads.
One ramp was discovered not to have
enough links for cars to accelerate at
the speed needed for them to merge
safely.
"Our primary concern is safety is
there have been a frequent number
of accidents in that quarter," Owsley
said. According the Kentucky State
Highway Department, there have
been a total of 1, 180 accidents in
Jefferson County from Jan. 1, 2004
through Sept. 22, 2005.
_"-'~._. ·.. t S Use the credits you've
earued towar.d.-s ,a ~degree reams in as few as 1'8 mt!Ut:'tBS.
However, according to their
records, there were not many re­ported
accidents on the two ramps
leading: to U of L during the same
time period. Arthur Street only had
one accident and Eastern Parkway
had two.
Prof~lems with the ramps could
be attriibuted to low funding from
the state. In April 2003, U of L
professors Barry Kornstein and Paul
Coomes researched and wrote a
paper on how the state goes about
distributing money for transporta­tion
financing.
In the paper, they stated, "Louis­ville
ha~, benefited from federal fund­ing
of interstate highway projects
in the past 20 years. [However, it)
receives about $25 million less per
year in federal highway construc­tion
fu 1ds and mass transit subsidies
than it contributes to the Federal
Highway Trust Funds through gaso­line
taxes." The report concluded
thar the Kentucky government has
a financial bias against Louisville
Metro, indicated by the fact that
mot:e roads have been built in rural,
isolated areas with li tt!e traffic than
in "complex urban" areas where the
majority of traffic occurs.
With the results of the new study,
that could change. After the advisory
council was presented with Gresham
Smith's data and recommendations,
they added their comments. The in­formation
was then presented to the
State Transportation Cabinet.
The council recommended that
some ramps be closed and new ones
opened to create more space between
ramps, and that changes are made
to some of the current ramps to let
See 1-65, page 4.
. )J.Sulli~an University
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