Louisville Water is replacing a 130-year-old water main on Oak Street.
It’s a pipe that’s delivered drinking water since the late 1800s!

We are committed to maintaining and rehabilitating our critical infrastructure to ensure we can deliver reliable, high-quality drinking water. We started this project in July 2024 to replace a large water main.

Phase 2 Construction Progress

As we continue replacing pipes along Oak Street, our active construction zone centered on Oak between Jackson and Hancock streets. Although our work took longer than expected, Oak Street is now open.

Because of peak season demand, our work on Oak Street will stop and resume in October 2026.

Separately, Louisville Water is replacing the water main on East St. Catherine Street between Hancock and Shelby streets.  One lane of traffic will be open for the bulk of the construction with limited closures to make connections to existing water lines. This project is expected to last six to eight weeks. We greatly appreciate your understanding as we work to complete this important project.

• Local access will remain for residents and businesses impacted by road closures and detours. Please follow posted signage as local access may change based on where crews are working.
• On-street parking will be limited or unavailable in areas in and around the active construction zone, but we will make parking spots available again once we move beyond that location.

Happening now: Fall 2025 – July 2026

Where:

• East St. Catherine St. between Hancock and Shelby

Constructions Resumes: Fall 2026 – Summer 2027

Where:

• Oak St. between Hancock and Clay
• South Clay St. between Oak and East St. Catherine
• East St. Catherine St. between South Clay and Swan
• South Shelby St. between Mary and East St. Catherine
• Swan St. between East St. Catherine and East Kentucky
• East Kentucky St. between Swan and Vine

Why: Rehabilitating this 130-year-old water main is crucial for overall system reliability

Phase 2 of this water main replacement project requires us to “dig and replace” to install the new water main. In order to safely complete this work, we will need to close roads, detour traffic, and limit parking near our construction zones. We are committed to providing access for local traffic on either side of our work zone.

Note: you will not lose water service during construction.

Just like any large construction project, there will be lane closures and detours. We will provide regular updates via our dedicated project webpage and social media channels. Learn more at LouisvilleWater.com/OakStreetProject.

If you have any questions, please contact our Project Engineer Mike Meyer at (502) 214-4824 or via email at mjmeyer@LouisvilleWater.com.

We dug through our archives to find these historic photos of the water main construction in the 1890s. They truly show how much Louisville has grown and Louisville Water’s long history of investing in infrastructure.

As you’ll see in this video, what was once high above is now buried down below. Take a trip back in time with us!