Spoke VR Open House Recap & Press
On Wednesday, May 3rd, around 100 people gathered at Hub+Weber Architects to experience the reimagined Spoke bridge in virtual reality.
Attendees cited the beautiful design and the amount of space for pedestrians as the most compelling aspects of the 4th Street Bridge design project.
Newport resident Jen Scheper says that the virtual reality experience allowed for imagination:
"It was a chance to have that experience [as] if you were actually walking it. To know where you have accessibility to walk, what kind of space. And accessibility to the Licking River too. That’s [also] very important to me.”
Scheper says that she drives across 4th Street Bridge often but doesn't feel safe to bike across.
“Biking I absolutely won’t. I walked here today, and the walkways are very narrow. Even just passing if someone is running and you’re walking—you’re having to kind of shift to the side as much as you can. So on a bike, that’s not even possible…I do love to bike and I’ve been hit by a car before, and I don’t ever want that to happen again. So, I pretty much limit myself to biking on designated paths.”
When asked if, based on the visuals of the Spoke design, she would feel comfortable riding her bike across the bridge, Scheper said that she would. She added that she liked the aesthetics and the different levels for cars vs. for bikers and pedestrians.
The Spoke bridge design is the winner out of three proposed designs commissioned by the Devou Good Foundation and brought to life by Hub+Weber Architects, PLC. The designs were voted on by more than 1,300 residents across the region over the past few months.
“Spoke” design showing connections to Riverfront Commons Trail and the Licking River Greenway Trail, as rendered by Hub+Weber Architects PLC
The Devou Good Foundation, which focuses on transit safety in greater Cincinnati, got more involved in the bridge project after talking with the community and listening to their concerns that their voice wasn’t being heard by their elected officials.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s plan to replace the Licking River bridge dates back to at least 2016. According to 2022 Newport police data, the bridge carries about 15,000 vehicles a day. KYTC officials say that the current 4th Street Bridge is functionally obsolete. Initial replacement plans presented by KYTC show four lanes, with smaller lanes for people who walk, roll, or ride. The final bridge design is expected to be decided on by this October.
With KYTC’s $68 million design build budget, bridge advocates say that there’s room for more options. The proposed plan is built in the standard Kentucky Transportation Cabinet approach of focusing on cars, not people. Its proposed four lanes impair safety by encouraging driver speed.
Newport police data shows that 84% of drivers speed on the existing, much narrower 4th Street Bridge. The 4th Street Corridor is in the top 3 most deadly in NKY.
CTSD (Greater Cincinnati Coalition For Transit and Sustainable Development), a project of Devou Good Foundation, is advocating for a safe three-lane, transit-ready bridge with a shared-use path. The community-built petition has already garnered over 770 names.
“As the community members paying for this bridge redesign, we deserve to have our voices not only heard but prioritized.”
In interviews during the event, Commissioner Nolan Nicaise and former Covington Commissioner Bill Wells emphasized the need to get the 4th Street Bridge redesign right.
pictured: Covington Commissioner Nolan Nicaise with the winning “Spoke” bridge design
Covington Commissioner Nolan Nicaise is an advocate of more sustainable modes of transportation. Nicaise says that he focuses on this issue from the lens of the environment, equity, and a financial sustainability standpoint:
“Creating an environment where people can use bicycles is a huge equity responsibility we have as a government.”
pictured: Brian Boland at the VR Open House
Brian Boland, Cincinnati resident from Bridge Forward says,
“The people living in your city sent you there for a reason, to represent them. You’re not here to represent the Department of Transportation. Departments of transportation should rightly be called departments of highways. They have a mandate to build roads—they don’t build cities.
There are many times, unfortunately, when what they desire is in direct conflict with what you, as a city administrator, ought to be advocating for. And so when you don’t advocate for your citizens when they tell you what they want, you’re not doing your job. Listen to people who are telling you what they want.”
When asked what prompted him to take on the project Jim Guthrie, Principal Architect of the Spoke design at Hub+Weber Architects, shared,
“I’ve lived in Newport and worked in Covington for over 30 years. I drive across the bridge every day, multiple times. I walk across it frequently. I’ve ridden my bike across once or twice. This connection is so critical and underutilized. Dangerous for bicyclists and unpleasant at best for pedestrians.
Aside from the function, this piece of engineering is a literal and metaphorical bridge in our communities. I’m concerned that in the haste of engineering and in seeking political expediency, the opportunity to make this a feature of our region will be lost. I want to move past the time when only automobiles were considered in transportation design. Mostly I don't want another 12th Street Bridge. That’s why the 4th St Bridge design is so important to me."
Mary Leonard, Newport resident and co-creator of the ReNewport transportation committee, hopes,
“KYTC is responsive to this groundswell of people who are very interested in improving our communities. [The 4th Street Bridge redesign] is in line with the Complete Streets policy that has just been enacted. I hope that they listen to us and include us in the conversation."
As Jim Guthrie shares in Patricia Newberry’s coverage of the event in the Cincinnati Enquirer,
“There’s an opportunity to do something iconic and beautiful.”
Press from Event:
“Mary Leonard lives in Newport and tries to bike instead of drive whenever she can. But she says it’s hard to get across the Licking River into Covington safely. ‘We use the bridges, but very, very carefully because they feel dangerous. I’m very much interested in a redesign of the bridge to make it bike-friendly and pedestrian-friendly.’”
NKY Residents get a 3-D peek at an alternative vision for 4th Street bridge replacement, by Nick Swartsell at 91.7 WVXU
“Pedestrian and cyclist safety was on the minds of many at the event. Expanded pedestrian areas, more room for cycling and even a lane for an electric streetcar were all features of the proposed designs.”
Covington architecture firm, Devou Good Foundation showcase 4th Street Bridge proposals, by Nathan Granger at LINK nky
According to Jim Guthrie, principal architect at Hub+Weber Architects, PLC,
"'A spare design that encourages fast traffic would also be a missed opportunity....'
Instead, he said, the Fourth Street Bridge should build on Newport and Covington’s current investments in walkable downtowns. That’s happening along Fourth Street in Covington, where the Covington Central Riverfront is planned for the 23 acres that had been an Internal Revenue Service processing center. And it's happening in Newport, with the Ovation complex of buildings and other projects near the riverfront.
'I think there’s an opportunity to do something iconic and beautiful,' Guthrie said."
‘Something iconic.’ In NKY, a clash over plans for new Licking River bridge, by Patricia Gallagher Newberry at the Cincinnati Enquirer
