Tell Covington Commission, FHWA: Say ‘No’ to Highway Expansion and Save Riverfront Commons Trail

Riverfront Commons stretches 1.25 miles across Covington’s Ohio River banks.

As agencies at all levels of government shore up their plans to carve out an even wider Brent Spence highway corridor through the hearts of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, the $3.6 billion interstate expansion and new bridge-build project now stands poised to deal another blow to the region’s sustainable and car-alternative infrastructure.

This time, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has proposed drastic changes to one of Covington’s most vital pedestrian and cycling paths, a disruption that will impact our community for at least the next five years, and likely beyond. To accommodate construction crews, equipment and other operations related to the highway expansion, the agency plans to close and reroute nearly all of the Riverfront Commons Trail stretching across Covington’s riverbanks.

The agency’s current timeline expects the closure to last until at least 2030, it said in a January 24 announcement. But when was the last time you heard of a project like this wrapping up on time?

Not only does this critical trail segment provide nearly a mile of safe, east-west paved path for people walking, biking or rolling, the proposed closure also directly contradicts the bicycle transportation plan just passed last year by the Covington and Newport city commissions. Just as mind-boggling, KYTC’s plan also removes both the sidewalk and a proposed multi-use trail along nearby Fifth Street, calling their removal an “innovation” with no concrete information about studying alternatives.

The lack of clarity about what’s ahead has Ride the Cov president Nate Weyand-Geise concerned.

"This is one of two pieces of bike infrastructure in the whole city,” he warned. “And they're going to close it to help build this bridge project, so there's real concern over if this is just the first step... Over the life of this project, what other concessions are going to be made?"

For now, KYTC’s reroute plan directs pedestrians and cyclists back out into the exact busy, city-street traffic the Riverfront Commons Trail is meant to spare them. Their plan will:

• Close Riverfront Commons from Highway Avenue to Covington Plaza;

• Reroute pedestrians along Third Street, Rivercenter Boulevard and Highway and Crescent avenues;

• Remove access to Scribble Park by closing the Waterfront Lot;

• Place aggregate over the existing path for heavy machinery movement;

• Maintain these disruptions to safe bike/pedestrian infrastructure for at least 60 months, with additional closures possible until the larger Brent Spence project is closed.

KYTC’s reroute plan directs pedestrians and cyclists back out into the exact busy, city-street traffic the Riverfront Commons Trail is meant to spare them. (Image: KYTC)

Commonwealth law states the agency must find a “de minimis” — or, minimal — impact solution. This isn’t it.

It is, however, unacceptable and will adversely impact already adversely impacted members of our community by:

• Forcing trail users onto dangerous, high-speed roads;

• Creating hazardous conditions at construction entrances;

• Requires multiple street crossing and navigation through parking lots (spaces notorious for inattentive driving), increasing risk of automobile collisions;

• Increasing travel distance for current route users;

• Limiting recreational and commuter access to Scribble Park and other parkland;

• Reducing community access to natural spaces, and more.

And who will these disruptions hit the hardest? The roughly 20% of Covington residents who don’t — largely because they can’t afford to — own a car.

Ultimately, that’s who this project will hurt the most, and for what? Local experts remain stern in their warnings: A new bridge and twice the number of highway lanes will not provide traffic congestion relief in the way KYTC and its peers hope it will. On the contrary, it will only make a bad situation worse by increasing pollution and drawing even more automobile traffic.

Dr. Amy Townsend-Small, Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Cincinnati, emphasizes that this project fails to address core transportation issues: "Planners and environmental scientists agree: It won't be a long-term solution to traffic... [There will be] more traffic, more pollution, more exposure to noise and more disturbance to the communities, and this trail closure is one example… It's the beginning,” she said.

Tell the Covington City Commission and the Federal Highway Administration to reject this dangerous highway expansion and protect its people and people-scaled infrastructure.

Submit your comments to Covington Commission and FHWA here by 2/23.