The People’s Public Hearing on the Replacement 4th St Bridge: August 10th at 7 PM

After dozens of phone calls and 800+ emailed letters, the City of Covington refused to hold an in-person public meeting to discuss the 4th Street Bridge Replacement.

Instead, they are abdicating their responsibilities and allowing unelected employees of KYTC to determine our future.

So we're hosting our own.

The People's Public Hearing will be live-streamed via YouTube and comments will be delivered to the Cities of Covington and Newport along with KYTC.

Register via Eventbrite here or by using the QR code.

See our inspiration for this event here.

The Facts

“Like the rest of the elected officials, my e-mail (inbox) has been blowing up with a petition for us to take some type of action with the state of Kentucky on the Fourth Street Bridge.

I’ve said before that we have limited ability to do anything with that project – it belongs to the state of Kentucky. They make the decisions on it.”

-Covington Vice Mayor Ron Washington

1) Covington officials are saying that they don't have any influence on the bridge, and yet Covington Mayor Joe Meyer and the City's historic preservation staff have seats on the bridge aesthetics committee.

According to KYTC's website, the aesthetics committee is, "made up of community leaders from Newport and Covington" and "has been created to help identify key elements that may be included in the final bridge design. Stakeholders serve a critical role, bringing valuable input from their constituents to the project team and serving as advocates for the project in their communities." (italics added)

Why aren't Covington officials doing their job and including community input?

8/28 Update: KYTC also lists the commission meetings where the bridge designs will be presented, and again clarifies the influence that the aesthetics committee, made up of community leaders from Newport and Covington, will have in the final bridge concept selection.

“The concepts will be presented to the City of Covington and City of Newport during the Tuesday, August 15, and Monday, August 28 commission meetings, respectively.

Over the next month the aesthetics committee, made up of community leaders from Newport and Covington, will bring valuable input from their constituents to the project team for consideration in the final bridge concept selection. KYTC will continue to work with the design-build team to refine the designs. KYTC will make a final bridge type selection in October.” 

2) Newport Commissioner Beth Fennell is one of many people asking for light rail on the replacement 4th Street Bridge, or at least prepping the bridge for light rail like Cincinnati did for the streetcar.

KYTC Project Manager Mike Bezold said that the possibility of light rail could be discussed in the future:

The time to discuss is *now* before the bridge design is finalized this Fall.

3) KYTC claims that four lanes are needed due to Ovation traffic; however, KYTC is basing their claims on an outdated study published in 2016. 

Newport police data shows that 84% of drivers speed on the existing 3-lane, much narrower 4th Street Bridge. The 4th Street Corridor is already in the top 3 most deadly in NKY.  

"We're going to have whatever bridge we put in for likely 80+ years. So we need to do it right." 
-Covington Commissioner Nolan Nicaise

We need to advocate for a pause to update the study and ensure a safe bridge design.

4) Bezold himself seems to think that four lanes might not be necessary, "add[ing] that if the bridge did not need four lanes, 'you could put a median in there or something,' to reduce the number of lanes to three."

Four lanes is unnecessary and unsafe. KYTC is finally planning to reduce the Girl Scout Bridge to three lanes due to the death of Gloria San Miguel last year.

We don’t need another Girl Scout Bridge, and we don’t need another death to spark action: we’ve already gathered 800+ petitions which the city of Covington has ignored. We are united for a safe and iconic 3-lane 4th Street Bridge, and our collective voice will not be ignored.

We need to hold our elected officials to their responsibility to the public's feedback. Join us.

Register via Eventbrite and let us know you will be attending to speak and/or hear 4th Street Bridge updates. Bridge advocates will be available to talk to after the event.

Thank you for supporting a safe and iconic 3-lane 4th Street Bridge! Let’s make some noise.

Talking Points

Here are the primary concerns crafted from community feedback. If you use the talking points below, make sure to re-word and add your thoughts and experiences. Let your elected officials know why a safe and iconic 3-lane 4th Street Bridge is important to you.

• We need to stop the drive lane expansion from 3 to 4 lanes. The bridge expansion will only increase danger for pedestrians, bikers, and people using mobility devices due to longer crossing distances and higher driver speed.

• We need to make sure the bridge can accommodate future streetcars. Newport/Covington are the most logical connections to expand the Cincinnati streetcar. There are many advantages to light rail, and the time to consider it is now!

• We need a complete teardown of the old bridge to fix the alignment issues. We need to preserve the historic neighborhood and not build another Girl Scout-type bridge. Complete teardown also removes the lane shift which increases danger to everyone.