East Jefferson Street in Louisville will open to two-way traffic between Brook Street and Baxter Avenue

Mayor Craig Greenberg announced Tuesday that East Jefferson Street in Louisville will open to two-way traffic on Sunday after a lengthy construction period.

After seven months of construction work, the reconstruction of the one-kilometer section between Baxter Avenue and Brook Street has been completed. The street, which previously only allowed westbound vehicles, now allows drivers to travel to the Highlands from the city center and is designed to make journeys safer for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.

The completion of the redevelopment comes in conjunction with a number of similar projects, including two-way redesigns of Main, Second, Third, Logan and Shelby streets. Some experts believe that two-way streets are safer than one-way streets because they encourage drivers to slow down and be more aware of their surroundings. A 2015 study in Louisville found that vehicle collisions decreased in the years following two-way conversion.

As part of its goal of achieving zero traffic fatalities by 2050, Metro officials and the city-funded Vision Zero Louisville initiative believe two-way streets support the effort.

More: Louisville will receive $800,000. dollars for new Vision Zero employee positions and road safety programs

“The speed and weight of a vehicle largely determine the severity of injuries in the event of a crash, and two-way conversion discourages speeding by reducing the number of directional lanes,” Vision Zero director Claire Yates said in an email.

As Louisville’s growth spread to suburban areas, one-way streets began being used in the mid-20th century for their efficiency in helping drivers get to their destinations faster, according to a 2009 study.

Contact reporter Leo Bertucci at [email protected] or @leober2chee on X, formerly known as Twitter

This article originally appeared in the Louisville Courier Journal: East Jefferson Street in Louisville opened to two-way traffic on Sunday