Roads and ramps into Covington will undergo several more closures in the coming months as construction related to the Brent Spence project continues.
Representatives from the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project, including spokespeople from the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, held a media event Monday, where they gave updates on the project to local reporters.
Exact timelines for the closures are still in flux; however, the representatives did confirm that more closures — and some re-openings — can be expected starting this winter and into spring.
Jake Ryle, a public information officer with KYTC, told LINK nky that the cabinet was still hashing out the details for each closure but that official closure and re-opening announcements would occur about a month in advance.
The traffic changes will occur in phases. The first re-opening, said Ryle, will be a southbound on-ramp to I-71/75 from 12th Street.
“We’re looking potentially over the next few months for a timeline for that,” said Ryle. “We’ll have more information about that in the coming weeks.”
The northbound off-ramp to 12th Street is currently expected to reopen sometime either late summer or early fall of next year, Ryle said.
The old 4th Street northbound on-ramp will also be reopened, and the Texas turnaround that has replaced it for years will be closed permanently “in the coming months,” Ryle said. 4th Street will have a dedicated traffic lane for merging into bridge traffic, he added. The Pike Street northbound on-ramp will close permanently with the Texas turnaround.
The southbound exit onto Crescent Avenue will remain open, and the road on the northbound exit onto 5th Street will be shortened to make room for work occurring in Goebel Park.
Simon Kenton Way and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard will both undergo closures at some point, Ryle said, to allow room for utility work. The timing on that is still being hashed out with the city. Only one of those roads will be closed at a time, and people will still be able to enter the Kenton County Government Center from its entrance on Pike Street.
A virtual rendering on the project’s website shows what the area around the government center, including both Pike Street and 12th Street, will look like once everything’s completed.
Stacee Hans, KYTC’s project manager with the corridor project, emphasized that the closures would be “stair steps,” she said. “They won’t be happening at the same time.”
Covington underwent several closures this summer, most notably the closures of the I-71/75 ramps at 12th Street and the closure of the southbound exit onto 5th Street.
Since the start of the closures, there has been worry among the city’s businesses that the construction might induce economic downturns. Elected officials have repeatedly reiterated that the city is open for business, even as they’ve recognized the worries of the public.
“I want to acknowledge the concerns and frustrations we have heard from residents regarding the recent ramp closures associated with the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project,” Mayor Ron Washington said earlier this summer. “The City of Covington is taking the feedback we received seriously.”
The representatives at Monday’s event had a similar message for concerned residents: In spite of the closures, the city remains accessible.
“Our communities are open for business,” said Ohio Department of Transportation Press Secretary Matt Bruning. “We know this is an impactful project. We’ve known that since the beginning, and I think most people are understanding of that, as well.”
