New Public Works Operations Center Open

Mayor Greg Fischer cut the ribbon for the grand opening of a new Metro Public Works Operations Center designed  to improve efficiency by centralizing operations from three separate locations into one site.

The Operations Center, at 3507 Newburg Road, replaces an outdated Central District facility of the Roads and Operations Division of Public Works; brings the Signs & Markings team together on one floor; and brings Electrical Maintenance storage, which was split in three locations, into a single site.

Critical daily functions, such as road and traffic signal maintenance, fabrication and installation of all traffic signs and road markings, along with snow removal, are performed or supported at the Operations Center, which will also function as the Public Works Emergency Command Center during major incidents.

Creation of the $4.5 million Operations Center is part of Mayor Fischer’s overall facilities needs planning, which also calls for using the old Central District site for construction of a new Louisville Metro Animal Services’ Care Center to replace an outdated center on Manslick Road. Plans for the new animal care facility, which will be next to the city’s Animal House Adoption Center, are still under development.

Mayor Fischer said, “Coordinating development of these facilities shows how we can leverage existing resources to create more efficient services for citizens and better working conditions for city employees.”

The six-acre Operations Center complex includes a 14,400-square-foot operations building, a 10,920-square-foot storage building, an open storage yard, and a salt dome that can house 5,000 tons of road salt — a 67 percent increase over the 3,000-ton dome of the old facility. Salt also can be loaded into the dome from the top via an automatic conveyor system that is much more efficient than the old system of using multiple truck runs to dump salt on the floor.

Electrical power to the complex is backed up by an external generator. There is also above ground diesel fuel storage for emergency use. The truck standby parking area includes a plug-in rail to warm diesel engines for more efficient cold weather operation.