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New Dixie Highway kick-off event

Friday, December 22, 2017

Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
The Honorable Elaine L. Chao
Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation
New Dixie Highway kick-off event
Louisville, KY
Friday, December 22, 2017

Thank you for that warm introduction, Mayor Fischer! It’s great to be here for the beginning of the groundbreaking of transforming the Dixie Highway Corridor Project.

As a fellow Kentuckian, and Louisvillian, I am especially pleased that the U. S. Department of Transportation is providing $16.9 million to this $30 million project to help transform Dixie Highway.  This money will provide better, faster transit and improved traffic flow for our City’s commuters.

This project will make street improvements along the 14-mile Dixie Highway corridor through the South end of Louisville.  These improvements will include safety upgrades for pedestrians, improved intersections, raised medians, turn lanes and better signage.  It will also install Bus Rapid Transit infrastructure and Intelligent Transportation System upgrades to improve traffic flow and provide transit signal priority.  These improvements will enhance the local investments in new buses, bus stops and kiosks.

It is important to remember that these improvements will not only save travelers time; they will also save lives. 

This project gives state and local government the flexibility and control to design their own transportation solutions. 

When the Dixie Highway was first planned more than 100 years ago, it was a visionary project designed to link the US Midwest to the South.  Well, things have changed over the past 100 years.  Louisville has grown.  And so has the traffic.  The Dixie Highway corridor has become the city’s busiest transportation corridor and we know what that means - traffic delays.

The improvements will be an economic asset for the South End, Louisville and to Kentucky.   

I would like to acknowledge FHWA’s Kentucky Division Administrator Thomas Nelson who is here with us today.

And, again as a fellow Kentuckian and Louisvillian, I am so delighted that the U. S. Department of Transportation is able to contribute in such a vital way to improving the quality of life for our community.             

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