The Newport City Commission discussed two important infrastructure projects with Mike Yeager, a transportation engineer of PRIME AE Group Inc. out of Ft. Mitchell, KY. Yeager, formerly of the Kentucky Department of Transportation, was on hand to explain the US 27: Monmouth Street Corridor Project to the Newport City Commission and members of the public.
The scope of the project is to accomplish six goals:
- Improve streetscape/sidewalks
- Access management
- Underground utilities
- Street lighting
- Improve safety
- Improve bus stops
“The timing of the two projects now is such that we are trying to put them both out of construction at the same time,” Yeager said. “The benefit of that will be there’ll be one contractor and we can have better control of how the traffic is maintained throughout construction.”
According to Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli Jr., November 4, 2016 was when the City of Newport announced it had secured $7 million in federal grants for the 11th Street to Newport, Southgate boundary project to occur. However, Newport City Manager Tom Fromme pointed out that even though the project was announced in 2016, it took until 2020 and 2021 for the project to actually get funded.
“It’s taken six years to be here today to talk about how this project is actually happening, and what are the pieces of it and what the studies have yielded,” Guidugli said.
In addition, Guidugli said he believes the Carothers Road project was budgeted two years prior, in 2014.
“Just so everyone understands how difficult and how long these projects take from actually securing grants, to the studies, to actually doing the project,” Guidugli said. “So we’re a little closer to doing the project but I think everyone wanted to hear where we’re at now and what it looks like so that we better understand it when we get questions from the public.”
Yeager said that one of the goals from the beginning of the project was to make construction as “least disruptive as possible.”
The main goal of the 11th Street to the Newport, Southgate boundary project was to provide multimodal connectivity.
Multimodal paths are defined as transportation networks that provide access to jobs, education, health care, recreation, transit, and other essential services in urban, rural, and suburban areas across the United States. According to Yeager, some of the major components of the project begin at the streetscape. Multimodal paths in rural areas are generally 10 foot paths, in urban areas, they are eight foot paths.
“If anyone has walked along the corridor, especially to the underpass, it feels very unsafe,” Yeager said. “You’re right up against traffic. There are already poles that are right against the roadway that get hit all the time. So multimodal obstacles, connectivity, and safety was a big, big component of this.”
Two of the secondary goals of the project is to stimulate economic growth opportunities and to not add any additional congestion to the corridor, making it safer for bicyclists and pedestrians without creating any additional headaches for traffic.
“What we try to do is get a continuous free open eight foot path for the duration of the project,” Yeager said.
The multimodal path will be on the west side of the underpass.
Underground utilities are an important component of the project. If underground utilities are installed, it upgrades the area aesthetically and allows for more room for bicyclists and pedestrians.
A traffic impact study was also conducted to provide meaningful data for the decision making process. The study was conducted by doing a detailed intersection count of every signalized intersection from Highland Ave. in Fort Thomas to 11th Street in Newport, traffic counts were reflected for a 48 hour period.
From there, a traffic model is created to simulate what the existing traffic conditions are for the busiest times. It was divided into an a.m. and a p.m. period. The traffic count is collected by a machine. Cameras collect the traffic data, then a human checks over the data to ensure its accuracy. The study was conducted when school was in session because that is typically the busiest time of the day.
“The traffic impact studies show that you can make better use safer if you have a three lane section,” Yeager said. “It’s not going to create any additional congestion at any of the intersections. So instead of having four lanes we have three 12 foot lanes, and then the sidewalk, again, will be eight foot clear.”
PRIME AE met multiple times with TANK to discuss potential improvement and consolidation of bus stops along that stretch of road.
From 11th to 16th streets, there will be underpass lighting installed along the sidewalk and along the bridge. The new lights will go from just north of Carothers Road to Southgate.
“It’s super important to me because we have existing lighting all over the place that doesn’t does not adhere to our light ordinance,” Commissioner Beth Fennell said. “It says it can’t be shining on the other property. It’s an issue for the residents up there. Some of them are very close to that and when the different developments have taken place and lighting hasn’t been addressed, it becomes a big quality of life issue for them.”
Fennell said she did not want lights to intrude upon residential areas, shining onto peoples properties affecting their quality of life.
