K&I Bridge

With the prospect of $10 million expansion of Waterfront Park westward, it may be time to renew the appeal to reopen Norfolk Southern’s K&I bridge to pedestrians, cyclists and wheelchair users.  On 1 November 2013 the group working on the appeal ceased efforts on the argument that until Metro Louisville makes progress with plans and funding for the southern approaches to the K&I bridge, the request cannot be justified. That group included representation from both sides of the river – parks, public works, mayoral & congressional offices, local law enforcement, coast guard, INDOT, KYTC, citizens and citizen groups (historical, cycling, etc.), engineering, legal and business perspectives, etc.. Exhaustive (if rambling) reports of meetings & happenings were kept… here is the May 2013 report to the group https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E_50yOJWw450UvXfpo-XHJLTMR2P3msTnY7X4fmwdXc/edit Open the K&I bridge Facebook page – Full Moon Bike Ride...

Extinction Rebellion vows fossil fuels protest will ‘grind London to a halt’

The environmental activist group, which encourages supporters to cause disruption through non-violent civil disobedience, will return to the city (London) Saturday with new tactics it claims will “create the most roadblocks we ever have”.“The government declared a climate emergency, yet they are still considering licensing new oil and gas fields [and] financing fossil fuels through tax breaks despite the clear evidence and advice from experts that we need to end all new fossil fuel investment immediately.”...

Climate scientists are desperate: we’re crying, begging and getting arrested

As one who was arrested here in Louisville in 2019 for climate change civil disobedience, Peter Kalmus’ article struck home. “…Nothing has worked. It’s now the eleventh hour and I feel terrified for my kids, and terrified for humanity. I feel deep grief over the loss of forests and corals and diminishing biodiversity. But I’ll keep fighting as hard as I can for this Earth, no matter how bad it gets, because it can always get worse. And it will continue to get worse until we end the fossil fuel industry and the exponential quest for ever more profit at the expense of everything else. There is no way to fool physics….”...

Ignoring Induced Demand is Engineering Malpractice

This process of deception, witnessed in Louisville’s OH River Bridges Project, is repeated nationwide every year.(Source: Strong Towns) “The standard approach for engineering projects is well-established. A team of technical experts determines that a project needs to happen. They get whatever authorization they need to move forward in evaluating options. They put together options, most frequently three of them. The first is the “do nothing” approach, the hated status quo that most everyone agrees is intolerable. The second is some lavish, over-the-top approach that seems ridiculous. And the third approach is the baby bear; not too big and not too small, in contrast with the others it will seem to be just right. This is all part of a sales job, including the anchoring effect of juxtapositioning the professional’s preferred alternative between two unappealing options. I have called these “dumb, dumber, and dumbest” on occasion. Engineers and project planners use the public comment process to go through engagement theater and simulate that they actually care about the feedback they are receiving, earnestly considering it instead of what they are really doing: working through the process to overcome opposition so they can move on to the building phase of the project (because that is the favorite phase).”...