Bellevue City Engineer Mike Yeager was at the June 11 council meeting to share an update on several grant-funded city projects.
Yeager, who is contracted with the city through Compass Infrastructure Group, said to the council, “There are a lot of projects going on. And if you compare Bellevue to any other city in Northern Kentucky, the amount of dollars you’ve been able to stretch with all these grants that you’ve gotten, it’s not even close.”
Grants fund big-ticket projects
“I really appreciate you coming and giving a report,” said City Administrator Frank Warnock. “One of the points to make is, we get these grants. We don’t get a big check. We get the obligation to advance the monies for the projects, which means we’ve got to have the money in the bank to pay for it. And then we get to apply for a refund, and we eat 20% of the cost. So it’s challenging. And these are hard projects. It’s pushing rocks up big hills.”
Council member Steve Guidugli noted that the city applied for and received approximately $5,750,000 in grants for various projects. Mayor Charlie Cleves said there were a few projects not on Yeager’s list because they had already been completed, and the list did not include a large FEMA grant.
PRIME AE, a Lexington-based civil engineering firm, has been developing the plans for many of these projects.
Project details and status
Road resurfacing — To save money, Yeager said, the city of Bellevue often will partner with Dayton on streets that run across both cities. Bids are out on the following roads and are due back on July 1.
- Clark from Center to Retreat
- Division from Lafayette to Washington
- Eden from Lafayette to Washington
- Lafayette from Fairfield to Prospect
- Prospect from Lafayette to Taylor
- Retreat from railroad tracks to Clark
If budget allows, the following roads could be added. If not, they will be added to the list for next year.
- O’Fallon from 6th to 9th (half in Dayton). City line runs right up the middle, so it will be an even split between Dayton and Bellevue
- Covert Run from Rossford to the new development on the former Shady Terrace site
- Riviera from Fairfield to Donnermeyer
Donnermeyer streetscape ($900,000) — From Riviera to Berry, an 8-foot-wide sidewalk will be constructed on the north side (Kroger side of the street). To better accommodate pedestrian traffic, there will be two mid-block crossings and median refuge islands, which also serve in traffic calming. The intersection at Berry will take on a more conventional form than it currently does, making room to accommodate some of the city’s park plans.
Another large piece of the project is that the utility lines overhead will be buried underground. There will also be some new decorative lighting on the south side.
“We’ve done this in other areas, and it just totally changes what the corridor will look like,” said Yeager.
Status: OKI has switched funds from Right of Way and Utilities to Construction, a sign that the plan is almost complete. There are a few minor adjustments, but final approval is expected very soon. Once this happens, the city will reach out to property owners for consent forms because sidewalks will run right up to the right-of-way line. The city would need permission for crews to come onto and stay on the property when that work is being done.
The hope is that construction could start late this year or very early next year.
Covert Run Pike sidewalks ($1.7 million) — The project will involve two 10-foot lanes and sidewalk extensions on the north side, from the existing sidewalk up to South Foote. The city completed another grant project a few years ago that built the sidewalk from Grandview Elementary down to Covert Run. This project will connect to that existing sidewalk network. It will make things a whole lot safer for the kids as they go down Covert Run, Yeager said.
On the south side, a new sidewalk will connect to the existing sidewalk network and go all the way up to the new development on the former Shady Terrace site.
Status: Preliminary plans have been submitted and are currently under review. There may be some delay because the environmental review coordinator for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has left to take another position in Frankfort. It is yet unclear how environmental reviews will be handled, but likely with a consultant, Yeager said.
Once the review is done and the plans approved, the city will work on obtaining the necessary consent and release forms signed for temporary easements.
Riverfront Commons project (approx. $800,000) — This project involves careful coordination with SD1. A new path will go from Patchen to Lafayette Avenue. A pump station is proposed for the end of Patchen, and the city is working with SD1 to ensure that construction of the path and the pump station happen at the same time. SD1 is also putting in a new second sanitary main that runs parallel to the Ohio River, and so the city is also working through all the logistics on that.
Plans are getting closer to completion, but the project faces the same issue with the environmental review. KYTC must address how to handle the work now that the position is vacant.
Two bridge projects ($980,000) — Yeager said a lot of coordination has happened with the railroad regarding repairs to the pedestrian bridge next to the Callahan Center. He said they finally have a plan of action. The city will bring in a crane to lift the bridge off the abutments in sections. The sections will be blasted and painted before being reset. All the wood decking will be replaced.
The O’Fallon bridge is in poor condition. Bellevue and Dayton have submitted a joint application for funding from the state’s new city-county bridge improvement fund. Initial design work has begun. The bridge will require a full deck replacement.
Lincoln Road sidewalk ($345,000) — Funds for this project come from the Safe Path to School grant. The mayor walked the same route many Grandview Elementary students take from school and identified 15 trip hazards. These include trees that have disrupted the sidewalk. The trees must be removed and the sidewalk flattened. The sidewalk is missing on the block between Ward and Van Voast. A new sidewalk will be constructed to fill the gap.
The city is waiting for a notification from the state to allow bids for construction to begin.
Frank Benke Way sidewalk ($436,000) — This project is at the very beginning stages. Survey work has been completed. The city is waiting for a draft set of plans from PRIME AE to review.
Fairfield Avenue sidewalk ($755,000) —If you’ve ever walked on Fairfield Avenue on the north side, it’s scary, Yeager said. There are no curbs, and it does not feel safe. The plan is to replace the sidewalk on that side from Riviera to Patchen and add curbs. On the south side, the sidewalk will be replaced from Riviera to Berry.
PRIME AE is working on the plans and could submit them to the city for review at any time. Once that is approved, the city will start to obtain signed consent and release forms, while KYTC works toward a solution on how to handle the environmental review.
An unexpected project completed
Yeager also noted city crews recently took care of a project (not grant-funded) on Covert Run Pike near the entrance to Ameristop.
A sinkhole had opened up, and upon investigation, it was discovered that SD1 had a pipe running through the culvert, and the backfill behind the wall was exposed. SD1 came in and cleaned up their issue, blocking off the water so it would no longer come through there. City workers then finished the repairs.
Yeager praised Bellevue public works crews for doing a great deal of work on their own, saving the city money, and for their partnership on numerous city projects.