UofL announces plan for new roadways on Belknap Campus

Roads will provide access to 39-acre area behind J. B. Speed School of Engineering

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (June 26, 2012) — The University of Louisville on Monday hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking to mark the beginning of a $31 million road project. The road will provide access to a 39-acre area that university officials plan to develop into a research park.

The project calls for a new road and two bridges to provide better access to a parcel of land that is bordered on three sides by railroad tracks. Most of the targeted area was formerly owned by Kentucky Trailer and purchased by the University of Louisville Foundation in 2008. The property is situated between the J. B. Speed School of engineering on the north and Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium on the east.

The foundation plans to use the property to create the Belknap Engineering and Applied Sciences Research Park.

“This road project will ultimately lead to jobs and an expansion of research,” said UofL President James Ramsey. “It will be like opening a door to a huge area on the Belknap Campus that is ripe with potential.”

To fund the project, the UofL Foundation provided $6.2 million and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet provided $24.8 million. Funds from the state will be available July 1.

“The Belknap Engineering and Applied Sciences Park is precisely the kind of project that will grow and develop innovative technology applications that will shape our future economy, and I’m looking forward to the positive impact it will make in the region,” said Gov. Beshear. “We are proud to invest in this project.”

Although the design phase of the road project is just beginning, UofL Foundation officials hope construction will start in the fall and be completed in 2014. Ramsey said the research park may take 15 to 20 years to fully develop.

Preliminary plans for the research park include providing additional research facilities for the J.B Speed School of Engineering, offices for applied sciences researchers and offices for private companies who want to build a partnership with the engineering school.