LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville drivers are in the last few days of being greeted with a halt. 

What You Need To Know

  • A portion of Interstate 71 South in the Louisville area closes for 10 days

  • I-71 South is set to reopen Sept. 26 at 7 a.m.

  • The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet suggests alternate routes from Interstate 265 South to Interstate 64 West to Interstate 264 East to I-71 South

The 10-day closure of a portion of Interstate 71 South in the Louisville area ending this Monday. The closure has allowed crews to work on the $7.6 million asphalt resurfacing project.

“I forgot that 71 was closed, so I was just on autopilot and then as I got up on the highway I said ‘Oh snap, it’s gonna be slow,’ and indeed it is,” Louisville native Tom Delancey said.

The 10-day closure that started Sept. 16 is set to end Sept. 26 at 7 a.m.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says the closure is between Interstate 264 (Watterson Expressway) and Interstate 265 (Gene Snyder Freeway) with the ramps to I-71 South at the I-265 interchange also being closed.

Northbound lanes will remain open during the southbound closure.

“Through the development of a rehab project we found several thousand feet in the southbound direction where we actually need to take more than just that inch and a half of surface we had to take another four to five inches of base asphalt out as well,” Matt Bullock, chief district engineer for the Department of Highways District 5, said.

KYTC suggests alternate routes from I-265 South to Interstate 64 West to I-264 East to I-71 South.

Motorists on I-265 North can continue to U.S. 42 West (Exit 37) to I-264 East to I-71 South.

A trip that just got a little longer for drivers like Jared Gauslin, who is making the trip to Louisville for the four-day Louder Than Life festival.

“We didn’t expect it to be backed up. We saw the signs way back when we crossed the river into Kentucky and it said closed 60 some miles ahead,” Gauslin said. “We were hoping to get off before this, but here we are.”

Drivers followed in Gauslin’s lead and stopped at the rest area before hopping back on. “We saw this because we didn’t know when the next one would be, granted we were off the highway in just about 10 miles but we weren’t sure if we were going to be in this another 10 minutes or an hour,” Gauslin said. 

The project is necessary according to the KYCT.

“People have asked us why now, well we don’t want to do this when it gets cooler and we saw a good weather window and the contractor was ready to go do it,” Bullock said.

Bullock expects I-71 South to be reopened in advance to the Monday morning time frame. 

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