“First and foremost, it is open,” said Louisville Mayor Will Hill as members of the Louisville Board of Aldermen, City Department heads and Winston County Chamber team cut a ribbon on Railroad Avenue which opened September 9 with an official opening and ribbon cutting on September 11.
The road opening and improvement to traffic flow is part of the recovery and revitalization of all parts of Louisville partnering with Federal and State authorities to gain funds from several programs.
The road had been closed for over 7 years.
“As we continue to celebrate recovery, we are excited with the new era of our community,” said Mayor Hill.
Mayor Hill sees the the new era as the former superfund creosote site moves from unusable property to a cleaned up new industrial park of Louisville Rail Park.
“We have over 100 acres that was useless to the city and county when it was a superfund site to a ready to use part of the Louisville Rail Park,” said Mayor Hill.
The new industrial park is land from Cagle Street to Hwy 15 encompassing the former creosote superfund site and formerly Jack’s recycling area along with Richton Tire.
“We are extremely excited about the future for redevelopment in this area and want to celebrate the positive momentum in Louisville,” said Mayor Hill.
In addition to the new industrial park area the city, city leaders are working with the EPA to cleanup 12 “brown sites” in the area to further enhance the community.
“We are poised for growth,” added Mayor Hill.
He noted Winston Plywood and Veneer is adding jobs in that part of the city and Taylor Logistics had opened and added traffic to Church Street and employment to the area.
“We are turning the page to the next chapter of success,” said Mayor Hill.
The reopening of the roadway will assist in traffic flow throughout the City, especially for industrial flow — new and old. The reopening should alleviate some traffic flow on church as well as help fire and police response times to parts of the community.
City leaders are continuing to work on plans to grow and continue economic development in the area and are keeping Baremore closed at present to help continue develop those plans.
“We are working on a new street plan to enhance our industrial products as well as help residential areas,” said Mayor Hill.
He added, “We have a great positive momentum to continue growing our community in all aspects and need everyone working in the same direction to keep our progress growing.”
Along with the industrial areas, Mayor Hill and the Board of Aldermen noted that working on a vision for a better and growing Louisville.
