Reimagine the Fourth Street Bridge for the KY-8 Community

Situated between Covington and Newport, the historic KY 8 Licking River Crossing is a truss bridge and an integral piece of the Covington and Newport communities. In November 2016, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) began a redesign of this bridge. 

KYTC has determined that the existing bridge must be replaced to safely hold the weight of heavy trucks. However, they are also adamant that the number of lanes on the bridge be increased to four. But a four-lane bridge will have detrimental effects on Covington: there will be more thru-traffic in quiet neighborhoods, more too-fast cars speeding across the bridge, and the state will have to tear down the iconic tree on the corner of Garrard St. and 4th St. Without public input and advocacy, the Transportation Cabinet will move ahead with building an oversized four-lane bridge. Our elected officials need to hear our voices on this important community landmark before it’s too late.

Compromise with the KYTC and our community is key to having a safe and useful bridge for all. Having a bike and pedestrian pathway is a major improvement from the too-narrow sidewalks on the current bridge. But the KYTC needs to know how Covington community members feel about the potential redesign of the Licking River Bridge.

The KY 8 Licking River Bridge Project is currently in the preliminary planning and evaluation stage of the development process. Tell your elected officials NO to a four-lane bridge. We need a safe three-lane, transit ready bridge with a shared-use path that won’t disrupt community life in Covington and Newport. KYTC will start designing the new bridge in the next phase of the project. We must collect as much public input as possible before the design stage begins.

The form below will send your comments directly to city council. (in short: 1. Inadequate Consideration of Environmental and Health Impacts 2. Failure to Consider or Mitigate Impacts on Minority Communities 3. Exclusion of Reasonable Alternatives Such as Transit 4. Neglect of Induced Travel Demand and Potential Mitigation Strategies 5. Additional drive lane increases the deck construction by 25% and locks in additional future maintenance costs.).