Once again, with a mouth full of words about our local economy, Greg Fischer gives our tax dollars to out-of-town (out-of-touch) consultants. This latest design consultant proposes we erect a costly (to design/build/operate/maintain) ferris wheel on the Riverwalk when Louisville already has a ferris wheel at the fairgrounds (ask them about maintenance costs). In September 2012 Jackie Green of Bike Couriers Bike Shops began lobbying for the opening of the K&I bridge to human powered transportation.
See: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Louisville-Full-Moon-Bike-Ride/280337165413233
He assembled a team of local engineers, local landscape architects, local urban planners and local designers who volunteered to work on the K&I project and the Riverwalk that links Louisville to the K&I bridge. Metro did not respond to their offer. It became clear that the owner of the K&I bridge, Norfolk Southern Railroad, was not going to open the bridge to the public until Louisville committed to a first class Riverwalk. Green published a critique of Fischer’s lack of commitment to the Riverwalk in Insider Louisville.
See: http://insiderlouisville.com/news/2013/12/30/tale-two-bridges/
The last sentences of that article apply equally well to the Riverwalk. Keep the park elegantly simple, commit (as opposed to plan and then shelve the plan – remember the light rail plans?), be transparent. Oh, and Greg, if you are going to talk about local, act on it.
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20140207/NEWS01/302070122/Ferris-wheel-envisioned-Waterfront-Park-westward-extension
Finally, some planning for the Riverwalk!!
