In 2006, David Karem, executive director of the Waterfront Development Corporation, a public agency that operates Waterfront Park, wished to deter visitors from bathing in the large public fountain. Karem initiated a plan that was dependent on the average park visitor's "lack of understanding about water's chemical makeup", and arranged for signs that read: "DANGER! – WATER CONTAINS HIGH LEVELS OF HYDROGEN – KEEP OUT". The signs were posted on the fountain at public expense. As it is true that ordinary water molecules each contain two atoms of hydrogen, and thus posed no danger, it is considered one of many water-related hoaxes.In February 2011, Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels announced that the two states, along with the City of Jeffersonville, will allocate $22 million in funding to complete the Big Four Bridge project– creating a pedestrian and bicycle path to link Louisville and Jeffersonville. Indiana will spend up to $8 million and the City of Jeffersonville will provide $2 million in matching dollars to pay for construction of a ramp to the Big Four Bridge. Kentucky is pledging $12 million to replace the deck on the bridge and connect it to the spiral ramp that has been completed in Waterfront Park. The Big Four Bridge is open to pedestrians and cyclists on the Louisville side. The Jeffersonville ramp for The Big Four Bridge, known to locals as the Walking Bridge, was scheduled for August 2013, but has been pushed back to November 2013.

In July 2012, Jeffersonville City officials unveiled plans for a plaza, dubbed the "Big Four Station", costing approximately $3 million that will surround the new ramp, to be completed in early 2013, from the Big Four pedestrian bridge. The plaza was to include a covered playground, fountain, stage, pavilion and plenty of green space. The new plaza was expected to be finished by early 2014.The bridge was completed in May 2014 with the opening of the Jeffersonville ramp.