Kentucky unveils updated designs for key NKY bridge
Despite community objections, Kentucky is still calling for a four-lane bridge to connect Covington and Newport.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet on Thursday released four possible designs for a new $68 million Fourth Street Bridge over the Licking River – all with four lanes to replace the current three-lane bridge. It is one of just two bridges inside Interstate 275 that connect Newport and Covington.
The state made the four concepts public just hours before opponents of the four-lane plan, organized by the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for Transit and Sustainable Development, were staging a meeting to present alternative design ideas.
What the state proposed
The state concepts, in addition to featuring four lanes, include 12-foot paths on each side of the bridge for foot and bike traffic.
The proposals are:
An arch design, which would span 446 feet across the river, with three arches that reach 58 feet above the roadway.
A cable-stayed design, which would span 340 feet, with six concrete towers rising 74 feet above the road.
An inclined arch design, also spanning 340 feet, with two steel arches with a top height of 64 feet.
A suspension design, also at 340 feet long, which would feature four towers that reach 90 feet above the roadway.
What activists say
Covington resident Melissa McVay said four lanes will encourage speeding. "Three lanes is more than sufficient," said McVay, who planned to speak at the Thursday night coalition meeting.
In her day job as a senior planner for the city of Cincinnati, she is focused on slowing traffic and improving safety. "We're right-sizing streets every time we have the opportunity," said McVay, who said she's involved in the Fourth Street Bridge project as a private citizen.
The designs should also include room for eventual streetcars, said John Schneider, another coalition supporter and traffic expert.
He suggested a design with space for tracks installed from the start. "This is something builders do all the time," he said.
Upcoming meetings
Kentucky officials, in announcing the four design concepts, said they are considering outside input.
“We’ve listened to community members and local leaders since the project’s inception. We understand the desire for this bridge to be a signature structure while focusing on safety for all,” Cory Wilson, a branch manager for the transportation department, said in a press release.
The concepts pay heed to safety by separating vehicles from foot and bike traffic. Additionally, the final design will include more narrow lanes, pavement markings and other features aimed at slowing traffic, officials said.
The designs will also allow Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky to resume bus traffic at that crossing and provide "flexibility for future ... mass-transit needs," officials said.
State officials will present their conceptual drawings to the Covington Commission on Aug. 15 and the Newport Commission on Aug. 28. They will continue to accept public comment online and pick a design in October.
The existing Fourth Street Bridge, built in 1936, includes one eastbound lane into Newport and two westbound lanes into Covington. With 1-foot shoulders and 4-foot pedestrian paths on either side, the bridge is considered structurally obsolete and not compliant with standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The existing bridge, also known as the KY 8 or World War Veterans Memorial Bridge, will be torn down and replaced with the new one. Dates for a groundbreaking and project completion have not been determined.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How many lanes will new NKY Fourth Street Bridge have?
