Two Covington parks are expected to shrink as part of the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project.
Portions of Goebel Park and Kenney Shields Park, which both border Interstates 71/75, will be sold to the Kentucky Department of Transportation in order to accommodate the projects.
The massive infrastructure project which will add a second span to the west of the existing Brent Spence over the Ohio River between Covington and Cincinnati, and also add traffic capacity to the highways, is moving quickly forward.
Executive Director of Project Management for KYTC Gary Valentine said the City of Covington has been coordinating with the state since 2012 to sell portions of Goebel Park for future infrastructure projects.
Mainstrasse Village resident Frank Murphy told LINK nky he’s been aware of the interstate expansion for years. The parks are located in that Covington neighborhood. He said it’s always good when projects ease traffic, but he hopes the parks will be able to be helped throughout the process.
“I hope the park and area maintain it’s great walkability,” Murphy said. “The projects might make Mainstrasse attractive to people even more because of less traffic. It’s kind of exciting, too. There’s lots to do. There’s the walkability to everything, but it’s going to change a little bit.”
In 2010, Covington held public hearings to inform the public on the impacts of the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project on Goebel Park. Renderings of the plans at the time showed the highway expansion would take out the basketball courts in Kenney Shields Park, portions of the walking path, and the right-of-way buffer between the park and the interstate.
“It really doesn’t change the impact to the park,” Valentine said. “It still stays the same that was documented back in 2012. What we are doing is working with the City of Covington and with the Parks folks on how we can make Goebel Park better in the long term.”
In 2015, the Federal Highway Commission published a Finding Of No Significant Impact for the Brent Spence Bridge Replacement/Rehabilitation Project. One of the environmental commitments from the document ensures no property transfers or construction activities will commence until approval from the National Park Service.
“While we’re going to have to take some of the park and it’s assets, we’re actually going to be freeing up land,” Valentine said.
The document says the project will require 2.59 acres of flood-prone property from the southwest corner of Goebel Park, which will be replaced by 2.38 acres of state-owned property that’s at a higher elevation than the impacted portion of the park.
“While we may have to take two three acres, the intent is that we’re going to be giving back two to three acres also,” Valentine said.
Approximately 360 feet of the walking trail space will be impacted. Mitigation efforts include reconstructing the walking trail in a new location within the park, which will be determined through a collaborative effort between KYTC and Covington.
The basketball courts at Kenney Shields Park in the shadow of I-75 will be impacted, with mitigation efforts including $77,600 of public funds going toward the construction of replacement basketball courts and other outdoor recreation facilities within the park.
As of now, no land has been purchased. KYTC is currently working with the Federal Highway Commission on another environmental impact update, which is updated every few years to keep impact mitigation current to the most recent plan.
“We were not going to buy any property from a park system or from a historic district until we get through this environmental update,” Valentine said.
However, there could be a silver lining to the expansion for residents. A low-lying field at Kenney Shields Park near I-75 acts as a quasi-stormwater detention pond. Rainwater containing partially treated sewage has to be has to be treated several times a year by the City. The site was previously ruled out as a prospective location for a dog park due to health concerns.
The infrastructure projects could eliminate the low-lying field, and the sewage concerns that go along with it.
In June, KYTC and Covington reached an agreement that will lessen the impact of the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project on Covington’s residential, business and environmental landscape. $500,000 was committed over the next five years to hire a project director who will act as a liaison between Covington and the state of Kentucky regarding the project.
Part of their agreement was for Covington and KYTC to work together to mitigate the impact the construction will have on items like recreational amenities, which include biking and walking trails.
