Eastern Parkway Re-Opens

by Gabe BullardEastern Parkway through the University of Louisville is now open.The stretch includes a bridge over railroad tracks that had been deteriorating. It closed last September for repairs. Starting Tuesday, the bridge is open to traffic.The project was accompanied by interstate ramps on Warnock Street and technology to keep over-height trucks from hitting the overpass at Third Street at Eastern Parkway.Transportation Cabinet chief district engineer Matt Bullock says federal funding helped pay for the renovations."On Eastern Parkway was what we call TE-ARRA, that's transportation enhancement stimulus funds," he says. "The bridge was federal bridge replacement funds and the Warnock was what we call HSIP, which is Highway Safety Improvement Project."All of the renovations cost a total $7.9 million dollars. The federal stimulus package funded $3.4 million of the renovations."It capsulizes exactly what that stimulus bill was supposed to be about," says Third District Congessman John Yarmuth. "It was investing in our communities and in our infrastructure; putting people to work, but not putting people to work with no purpose."The University of Louisville contributed $400 thousand  to the Eastern Parkway repairs