Kentucky state representatives and a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) official were on hand at the Grand Banquet Hall in Covington on Thursday to talk to Northern Kentucky business leaders about the progress of the 4th Street Bridge project, and unveil some new details.
Those details included tentative timelines, the new design process and the estimated cost of the project.
Rep. Sal Santoro (R-Union), Rep. Buddy Wheatley (D-Covington) and Mike Bezold, project development and design branch manager for KYTC, spoke on the matter at the Covington Business Council’s June Luncheon.
“We have two urban areas that need a bridge, and really, it’s time,” Santoro said.
The 4th Street Bridge project is still in the design phase, Bezold said. For context, the project was first discussed by local leaders in 2008. There’s $65 million set aside to fund the project, but Bezold says KYTC estimates the bridge could cost anywhere from $25 to $65 million.
The new 4th Street Bridge will be multi-modal, featuring lanes for pedestrians and cyclists as well as cars. In April, KYTC unveiled renderings for four of the proposed bridge designs.
“Whatever we build out there, I want it to look great when the Bengals are playing a Monday Night Football game and the national cameras are looking at Newport and Covington,” Bezold said. “I want this bridge to look great. I want this to be the highlight of the telecast.”
The Kentucky Heritage Council, KYTC and local elected officials will be the decision-makers on selecting the bridge design.
Instead of using the traditional design process, KYTC is opting to use a progressive design-build process. Choosing this way ensures the contractor building the new bridge would have input during the design phase, allowing the construction process to move more efficiently, Bezold said.
“We’re looking at this innovative building construction method so we can make sure that we are not just getting the best product that looks great and functions great, but it’s also buildable and it can be done in an economic manner,” Bezold said.
Bezold said he expects KYTC to select the design-build team early in 2023, and the final sections of a bridge design by middle to late 2023. If everything goes smoothly, Bezold projects construction on the bridge could begin by late 2023.
The plan is for the current bridge to remain open while construction crews build the new bridge, Bezold said.
When asked why the bridge couldn’t be built north of the current bridge, Bezold said two historic structures in Covington would prevent construction crews from building the bridge to the north of its current location.
On the Newport side, the Sanitation District 1 pump station, flood wall, and Ovation development are all factors that would prevent the new bridge from being built to the north of the current one. Bezold said KYTC investigated building a new bridge to the north of the existing bridge, but the negative impacts were too great to be considered feasible.
“The challenges related to the beautiful aesthetic bridge landing in a super cool, neat new development near Ovation, but also landing in a historic area with residential and business development, all present unique challenges,” Wheatley said.
