Wade Johnston, the executive director of Tri-State Trails, a Cincinnati-based nonprofit aimed at improving cycling infrastructure in the tri-state area, gave a presentation to the Covington Board of Commissioners at their meeting last week, where he showcased the results of a year-long process of study on the city’s current cycling infrastructure and made some recommendations on how it could be improved.
“It’s a series of options and recommendations as opposed to a prescriptive plan,” said City Manager Ken Smith after the presentation. “So if you all [the commissioners] approved this, I don’t want to give the impression that we’re going to be able to go out and do everything that’s in here.”
No official action was taken at the meeting, and the recommendations were all preliminary.
Still, the presentation offered insight into some changes that could potentially occur within the city down the line. The details discussed last week pertained mostly to Covington, but Tri-State Trails is in the process of doing something similar for Newport with the hope of creating an integrated cycling network between the two cities.
“The vision for this plan is to serve as a roadmap for implementing a safe and connected bicycle transportation network that serves all ages and all abilities,” Johnston said at the beginning of his presentation.
Johnston gave an overview of the project, the steering committee of which has been meeting since January of last year. Since last summer, the project has collected public feedback at open houses and focus groups.
The project took stock of Covington’s current conditions and discussed some of the options on the table. Namely, Johnston talked about the different kinds of lanes and infrastructure the city could eventually employ, as well as each kind’s pros and cons.
“So the best facilities that we always try to advocate for are trails fully separated from cars,” Johnston said, “but we know that you all have a very historic and narrow street grid, so it’s not always possible to create those types of facilities.”
The next best options, Johnston said, were protected bike lanes, which provide dedicated spaces for riders, followed by conventional bike lanes, which are more integrated into car traffic than protected lanes and, finally, bicycle boulevards, which rely on signage to warn drivers of frequent bike traffic.
Johnston also showed maps of different sections of the city, showing which roads and networks ought to be prioritized. Johnston said that priority was given to traffic networks that could be easily integrated into existing cycling infrastructure.
In addition, Tri-State Trails recommended some policy and operational changes to create a more bike-friendly city overall. These included making a dedicated line item for bike infrastructure in the city budget, expanding the public bike share program,–which is currently suspended– creating dedicated detours for cyclists to circumvent construction projects and road closures and generally expanding education and advocacy for cycling, among other measures.
Toward the end of the presentation, Johnston broached the topic of funding for the project, saying that state and federal grants were available. He added that private fundraising events could also invest in the construction and maintenance of the infrastructure.
Commissioner Tim Downing requested more information on such funding sources. He also asked for finer details on the city’s options, so that he could make a more informed decision in the future.
“This is certainly something that we’re hearing from the residents out in South Covington. I see bikers all the time,” Downing said. “Nine times out of 10, they’re riding along the rumble strips… We certainly want to make sure that we’re giving individuals who are choosing to bike in our community a safer experience.”
Smith expounded upon the limitations the city would likely encounter when considering the options.
“Those include financial, staff capacity, our existing built environment… and the fact that a lot of these routes are state routes, and ultimately we don’t control what happens on those streets,” Smith said. “So the implementation is going to certainly involve trade offs, and we’re going to have to thoroughly consider that.”
The next meeting of the Covington Board of Commissioners will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. at Covington City Hall on Pike Street.