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THE RIVER CITY NEWS MORE COVINGTON NEWS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE
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by Michael Monks
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| Additional seating was required to accommodate the oversize crowd |
The turnout Wednesday evening at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center dwarfed the crowd reports from the same presentation the night before at Longworth Hall in Cincinnati. The concern on the Kentucky side of the river has reason to be much higher as the preferred design for the Brent Spence Bridge corridor project favors its neighbors to the north. The presentation by transportation officials from both states demonstrates plans to make access to Covington and several of the city's features more difficult and leaders of Covington past and present pleaded for changes, promising catastrophe otherwise.
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"Without access, Covington would be wounded a second time, maybe mortally," said City Commissioner Steve Casper, referencing the original Interstate 75 that divided West Covington (now Botany Hills) from the rest of the city. Casper's deadly prognosis for Covington without the city's desired changes to the bridge's plans was echoed multiple times by members of the 350-person crowd.
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"These are vital requests concerning the economic vitality of Northern Kentucky's largest city," said Brent Cooper, chairman of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and owner of C-Forward on Madison Avenue.
"These are vital requests concerning the economic vitality of Northern Kentucky's largest city," said Brent Cooper, chairman of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and owner of C-Forward on Madison Avenue.
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"The best real estate location in the world doesn't mean a thing if you can't get to it," said Chris Penn, co-owner of Cock & Bull restaurant in Mainstrasse.
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"Cincinnati has raised objection to Covington's access to the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge," said City Commissioner Steve Frank of of that city's plans for its streetcar. "I don't care what they want with their toy train!"
"Cincinnati has raised objection to Covington's access to the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge," said City Commissioner Steve Frank of of that city's plans for its streetcar. "I don't care what they want with their toy train!"
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| Citizens check out the various aspects of the plans |
The stakes really are that high, Covington leaders argue. Transportation officials recommend what is called Plan I for the new bridge which eliminates direct access to 5th Street when traveling northbound on the interstate. Drivers would be forced to exit at 12th Street and then travel on a city street with three stop lights before arriving at 5th. The City wants direct access to 5th from a collector distributor. While southbound travelers would have direct access to 5th and 9th Streets, those drivers would have to make their decision to exit in Covington one mile north of the river near the Cincinnati Museum Center. The City wants a direct ramp to 9th Street from the interstate.
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Additionally, Plan I closes the connection from Pike Street to Lewis Street, eliminating important access to Devou Park and makes Goebel Park Pool in Mainstrasse unusable. The bridge's threat to Covington's vitality is concerning to those who lived through the first time that the interstate harmed the city. "We suffered a blow when Florence Mall was opened," said former City Commissioner Jerry Stricker. With this bridge plan, "more businesses will shut down, more residents will move out and Covington will become a ghost town. Covington will no longer be Northern Kentucky's largest city. It will set the city back and it will never recover."
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"The federal government, they view this as an interstate only but this affects us," said City Commissioner Sherry Carran. "Everything we ask for is feasible, it's not pie in the sky."
"The federal government, they view this as an interstate only but this affects us," said City Commissioner Sherry Carran. "Everything we ask for is feasible, it's not pie in the sky."
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"Covington is special, it has a charm," said Mayor Chuck Scheper. "You don't see Covington's charm until you get to the bridge."
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One such charming landmark is the Carroll Chimes Bell Tower in Goebel Park adjacent to Designs Direct, a business that redeveloped and expanded the former Northern Kentucky Visitors and Convention Bureau building. "Businesses (in Mainstrasse) are fragile and any loss of income could put those businesses under," said Dave Meyer of Designs Direct.
One such charming landmark is the Carroll Chimes Bell Tower in Goebel Park adjacent to Designs Direct, a business that redeveloped and expanded the former Northern Kentucky Visitors and Convention Bureau building. "Businesses (in Mainstrasse) are fragile and any loss of income could put those businesses under," said Dave Meyer of Designs Direct.
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"We know once they see the river, the church spires, the businesses, they're going to want to get off here but by then it will be too late," warned City Manager Larry Klein.
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The bridge itself is only 4% of the entire length of the corridor project but the immediate area most impacted by it is almost entirely in Covington, which would create a ripple effect up and down Northern Kentucky's river cities. "Anything that disenfranchises Covington, disenfranchises every city on the riverfront," said Jack Moreland, President of Southbank Partners, an organization that spearheads development activities in the river cities.
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At least one speaker did not view the plan as all gloom and doom. Retired Covington police officer and 2012 city commission candidate Neil Gilreath suggested that the $2.5 billion price tag on the entire project could be narrowed down by spending some money on work on the I-471 bridge between Newport and Cincinnati and shifting some highway traffic flow for suburban drivers seeking access to I-275 that way, which, he says, would also increase east-to-west traffic in the cities.
At least one speaker did not view the plan as all gloom and doom. Retired Covington police officer and 2012 city commission candidate Neil Gilreath suggested that the $2.5 billion price tag on the entire project could be narrowed down by spending some money on work on the I-471 bridge between Newport and Cincinnati and shifting some highway traffic flow for suburban drivers seeking access to I-275 that way, which, he says, would also increase east-to-west traffic in the cities.
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That $2.5 billion price tag is still a long way from the $100 million currently on hand to fund the bridge project but while the actual completion could still be many years away, the fear for Covington's future is here now. "I am fearful that we are going to see this city die," said Candance Witte, a resident of the Riverside Plaza in Licking Riverside who referenced the Covington riverfront's recent history as a parking lot that now boasts of multiple small skyscrapers. "I have one question for the people from Frankfort. Did you get off at 5th Street (to get to the Convention Center) or did you come down 9th Street? And when you go back will you go to 5th Street or up 9th?"
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LOTS OF PHOTOS FROM THE MEETING ARE BELOW, JUST CLICK THE LINK!
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