Two Northern Kentucky communities have approved a plan to build bicycle infrastructure. Newport's city commission gave the OK last week, and Covington's approved it Tuesday. The plan was designed with input from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Tri-State Trails, whose project manager, Brad Bowers, says the idea is to make the communities safer for cyclists.
“There’s a lot of benefits to having trails and bikeways: increasing transportation equity and also just expanding different transportation options helps with congestion mitigation for roadway traffic too,” he says. “There’s also a lot of economic development benefits that come with building these types of trail facilities too.”
Bowers says Aug. 20 marked two years since Gloria San Miguel was hit by a car and killed while riding her bike across the 11th Street Bridge between Newport and Covington. He says that led to the development of the plan.
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Bowers says the plan has both long- and short-term recommendations. He says it also includes a funding strategy comprised of grants, partnerships and private contributions.
Bowers says some work is already underway, including the replacement of the 4th Street bridge. "That will have two 12-foot-wide, shared-use paths on both sides of the road. Covington and KYTC are working on designing a road diet with bike lanes on 4th Street," he says. "The city of Newport and Be NKY have each committed to around $62,000 to assist in reopening the Purple People Bridge."
Bowers says it includes things like shared and dedicated protected bike lanes, as well as bike programs.
“There’s a lot of moving parts with this plan and working with the transportation network in general, but we’re excited to see that some of that’s taking place already.”
