LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Five days into Louisville’s two-month Interstate 65 shutdown, thousands of drivers are now relying on the state’s recommended detour route around the city.
The closure is putting the city’s strategy to reroute traffic onto Interstate 64 and Interstate 264 to its first real-world test. The 16-mile detour route that includes several bridges WDRB previously found were rated in “poor” condition.
Construction began Monday, closing a five-mile stretch of I-65 from downtown Louisville to I-264 while crews replace three aging overpasses built in the late 1950s. State transportation officials said the project will save at least a year of additional construction impacts and produce bridges expected to last decades.
Last September, uncovered data showed seven bridges along the recommended detour route were rated in “poor” condition, the lowest of three classifications assigned by the Federal Highway Administration…