South Fourth Street Corridor

South Fourth Street Corridor Louisville, Kentucky

Services Provided

Corridor Planning
Urban Design
Streetscape Design

People Involved

Andy Knight
Casey Elmer
Luis Calvo

Awards

2019 KY ASLA Merit Award
2019 ACEC of Kentucky Engineering Excellence Honor Award
2019 APWA Kentucky Chapter Project of the Year - Streetscape Category
2016 KY ASLA Merit Award
2013 KY ASLA Merit Award, Planning & Analysis

Creating a vibrant and culturally significant public realm.

South Fourth Street, historically the commercial spine of Downtown Louisville, has struggled in recent decades to remain relevant. Investment in Fourth Street Live! has helped to bring a focus back to the corridor. Louisville Metro, along with the Louisville Downtown Partnership, teamed up to improve the streetscape and bring in new retail tenants to occupy these historic storefronts.

Working with the Project Engineer, MKSK developed a master plan for the revitalization of South Fourth Street that will encourage retail activity and simplify the streetscape. This includes the restoration of the original street centerline to remove the remnants of a failed 1970s pedestrian mall, adding parking to both sides of the street, creating new street tree planter bump-outs, and incorporating pervious pavers into the parking lane. Strand Associates, Inc. and MKSK worked within the constraints of multiple underground vaults and utilities and accommodated the needs of two major hotels to develop a workable plan that will transform this street into a more functional, vibrant corridor.

Working on a tight timeframe, the Project Engineer and MKSK developed a set of bid documents to speed construction on the first phase of South Fourth Street in order to meet the needs of the new retail businesses.

Construction on Phases 1 & 2 were completed in 2013 and 2016. Phase 3, between Chestnut and Broadway, was completed in 2019 completing the vision set forth by MKSK in the master plan.

Following the implementation, new businesses, two hotels, and the Louisville Downtown Partnership offices opened along the corridor, as well as a $47 million, 7-story mixed use redevelopment project and 310-space parking garage have been developed nearby.