LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Malik Nazzal knows a thing or two about hot, fresh and tasty food. He is the owner of The Fish House and Grill, in Louisville.
“We try our best to keep everything fresh, the way the customers they want it.” Nazzal explained.
Originally from Jerusalem, Israel, he moved to Louisville in 2016 to be with his wife. The pair owns three restaurants. They are located in Radcliff, Shepherdsville and Elizabethtown.
Their Louisville location opened July 2021on Broadway. Nazzal says business has been great.
“It’s a good street. Good people.” Nazzal explained. “It’s a good location in Louisville.”
Broadway is getting a multimillion dollar upgrade in infrastructure. The project is called Broadway All The Way.
“Where we’re looking at retrofitting a street, that’s been very auto-centric over the years,” Michael King, director of the Louisville Metro Office of Advanced Planning and Sustainability explained.
“It has some of our highest crash rates in the city. Over a five-year period, we were averaging about 500 crashes a year, so almost two crashes a day. Almost two fatalities a year, almost 100 injuries a year. It’s extremely dangerous for everyone, and it’s not just in one place. It’s all up and down the corridor.”
Last year, the Federal government announced over $20 million in grant funding to improve Louisville’s public infrastructure. The money, granted through the department’s RAISE program, will fund Reimagine 9th Street and Broadway All the Way.
King said they worked with local design consultants to come up with a plan to rethink the entire Broadway corridor. The project will go from Shawnee Park to Cave Hill Cemetery. The plan calls for green spaces in the corridor, as well as better and safer pedestrian crossings. King said they want to maintain the authenticity of neighborhoods while re-emphasizing Broadway’s iconic importance. They set aside $5 million for the project.
“What this is going to do, is really put a focus on our first real bus-rapid transit line, which is a premium form of transit that’s very attractive, very efficient and will allow TARC users to get up and down the corridor a lot more quickly.” King explained.
Restaurateur Nazzal said he is looking forward to the finished project.
“Yeah, I’m so excited about this!” Nazzal explained. “It’s gonna be good for us too!”
There is still more work being done. King said they’re waiting to get certain agreements in place soon.
King said once the agreements are in place, Metro Government will engage with the community, to make sure things are on track with what the community needs.
According to the project website, if you have questions, reach out to Metro’s Office of Advanced Planning and Sustainability office.