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A View From
Both Sides:
By Abby Laub
Many Americans may not put
much stock in traveling by train
anymore, but thanks to a new
breed of revamped railroad
bridges, they can enjoy railroad lines like
never before—spanning wide rivers and
state lines by foot or bicycle.
In places such as Louisville, Ky.,
Rochester, N.Y., and Des Moines, Iowa,
out-of-service railroad bridges are being
put to work again, allowing communities
greater access to trails, exercise and enter-
tainment, all while stimulating the econo-
mies of neighboring cities and towns.
Kentucky
In Louisville, two decades after the city’s
Waterfront Development Corporation
frst imagined the project, the Big Four
Railroad Bridge is fnally coming togeth-
er. Te bridge was originally built in 1895
by the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago
and St. Louis Railway Company and
updated in 1929, and it’s soon to reopen
as a pedestrian and bicycling crossway
between two states.
Te $20-million-plus project is a col-
laborative efort between the states of
Indiana and Kentucky, and the cities of
Louisville and its neighbor across the
Ohio River, Jefersonville, Ind.
Waterfront Park in Louisville is a
vibrant, 85-acre park that sits alongside
a burgeoning urban landscape with easy
interstate access. Te Big Four Railroad
Bridge will be “the crown jewel of the
park,” says David Karem, the corporation’s
president, ofering expansive views of the
river, the Indiana waterfront and the ever-
changing Louisville skyline. “It’s been the
most anticipated piece, and it has the com-
munity and the area so excited.”
With ramps included for easy access,
crossing the bridge will be approximately
a one-mile trip and will allow those
pedestrians and bikers to connect almost
directly to Jefersonville’s historical down-
town. “It’s a long walk up, but it isn’t a
bad walk because the grade is so moder-
ate,” Karem says about the winding ramp
up to the bridge on the Louisville side.
“Te walk up is part of the whole experi-
ence, I think. You’re going up an oval
ramp, so you get great panoramic views.”
Tough a ramp has not been built on
the Indiana side yet, the plans are in place
for a spring 2013 completion and open-
ing of the Big Four rail-trail conversion.
Te new bridge will provide a strong
connector between Louisville and
Jefersonville and also a link to the long-
range Kentuckiana River Trail, which
includes a pedestrian bridge connector
from the west end of Louisville to New
Albany, Ind.
Railroad Bridges and Trestles
Across Rivers and State Borders
The Big Four Railroad Bridge in Louisville, Ky., includes a long walking ramp up to the main
bridge, making for an approximately one-mile trip across the Ohio River into Indiana.
J.A. Laub Photography