LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Those with ideas about how to improve the area around Bardstown Road, had a chance to share them Wednesday night at a virtual town hall. The meeting, led by Louisville Metro Council member Cassie Chambers Armstrong, focused on businesses in the area and looking for a solution for those experiencing homelessness.
"I think the community wants to understand what solutions are available to help them and also to sort of provide support to our small business owners who a lot of times end up being almost the social support system," Chambers Armstrong said. "When people don’t know who else to call it sort of falls to the business community."
The town hall addressed a number of issues along the busy corridor that residents and business owners have complained about for years, including trash, litter and drug activity.
"One of the important things about this conversation is going to be the community understanding what role police have and what role they don't have," Chambers Armstrong said. "We're not going to sort of arrest our way out of a lot of these issues around homelessness these are issues where we really need social services to support people."
Representatives from Coalition for the Homeless, the Highlands Commerce Guild, Louisville Forward, LMPD and others were part of the town hall.
"Traffic has always been a problem on Bardstown Road," president of the Highlands Douglass Neighborhood Association Sherry Cornell said. "Bardstown Road is flanked by neighborhoods so this where people live, this is where our children play."
Anne Lindauer is one of several volunteers who helps pick up trash and litter along Bardstown Road.
"It's a healthy crowd that will come out and help their neighborhood," Lindauer said. "Well we help our neighborhood because we've invested in it and they need to be cleaned they need to be picked up."
"This is not a popular thing, but picking up litter is really everybody's responsibility. If you're looking to organize a community wide cleanup or a neighborhood cleanup, our office of Brightside and Develop Louisville actually does that. We'll provide you with the garbage bags, we'll provide you with the supplies," Jeff O'Brien with Develop Louisville said
O'Brien said recent funding for the Clean Collaborative Effort will also help with street sweeping and clean-ups.
Changes have been happening along Bardstown Road since late last year, when former Council member Brandon Coan made moves to ease traffic around Highland Ave. and Eastern Parkway.
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