Portland, meet the Ohio River. Ohio River, this is Portland.
With I-64 blocking the way since the 1970s, Louisville’s Portland neighborhood has lost connection with its origin as a port on the Ohio River. Now, though, there’s a plan to reconnect them.
The US Department of Transportation has awarded the Kentuckiana Regional Development and Planning Agency (KIPDA) a $14.5 million grant aimed at reconnecting Portland and other nearby West End neighborhoods to the Ohio River. The grant comes from the department’s Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program.
In anticipation of the grant, the program conducted a Portland neighborhood study in fall 2024. The full results of that study are expected in summer 2025.
Here’s what the funding will do:
- Convert 22nd Street from Northwestern Parkway to Bank Street — a span of around five blocks — to a “Complete Street,” with facilities for cars, cyclists, and pedestrians.
- Re-construct two pedestrian bridges over I-64, giving Portland pedestrians more access to the riverfront, including Lannan Memorial Park and the westward expansion of Waterfront Park.
Construction is expected to begin in 2028. What’s the hold up? KIPDA and KYTC will work through an environmental review process and consider historic preservation, as required by the grant.
