Traffic headaches continue as bridge work continues | News

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - As the Kennedy Bridge work continues along I-65, so do the traffic backups and headaches.

Traffic backups have gotten so bad that drivers, who are not even using the bridge, are being impacted in downtown Louisville.

"What a cluster," said driver Dave Wurm.

Long, tiring, and frustrating are the words drivers said came to mind after being in the middle of the mess.

So a WAVE 3 crew drove it to see just how long a normally quick jaunt would take. 

We started out just after 5:00 at our studios at Floyd and Jacob. Our destination was the Waterfront, where Forecastle is setting up for the weekend.

We started out by turning the corner out of the parking lot only to be greeted by the backup. We joined in the bumper-to-bumper, idling, engine-taxing impasse of cars.

We slowly pushed along at a snails pace to the Waterfront. It took us 24 minutes to travel one whole mile. 

Other drivers trying to actually get to the bridge had a much harder time.

"About 40 minutes and I've moved, maybe, it seems like 100 yards," said a driver who identified himself as Boots Soper.

"I turned my car off like eight minutes ago. Turned it completely off," said driver Erin Harper.

Dave Wurm was is a rush to get to Charlestown. "45 minutes trying to get to a ball game. I coach my boy in little league and it's 6:30 so who knows if I'll get there or not," said Wurm.

It did not look much better from the view in AIR 3. If this were a person, the clogged arteries would be grounds for a heart attack, which one driver said she was about to get. 

"I chose to go a different route today and I greatly regret that one," Harper said.

Rush hour traffic in downtown Louisville is anything but a rush. Some people said they have tripled their drive time.

"It took 15 minutes to get home and now it's about an hour," Harper said.

"I'm getting kind of delirious. I mean this is silly," Soper said.

That was not all Soper was feeling. "If I had a sack of White Castles right now I'd be really happy sitting here, but that's not the case. So, I can only think about them, and I know they're right over on the corner here but I can't make it there! I'm stuck," Soper laughed.

It is only going to get worse before it gets better. That is because all northbound lanes of I-65, between I-264 and downtown, will be shut down Friday night through the weekend for paving.

However, there is some good news. The I-64 and I-71 ramp on I-65 north before you get to the Kennedy Bridge is expected to open at 5:00 Thursday morning.