11th, 12th Street in Covington could become two-ways

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the City of Covington are currently in discussions about a possible two-way conversion of 11th and 12th Streets, the latter of which is also referred to as Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.

KYTC District 6 Chief Engineer Bob Yeager delivered remarks on preliminary plans for the projects to residents of Covington’s Eastside neighborhood Wednesday evening during the Eastside+ Neighborhood Association’s regular meeting.

11th and 12th Streets are currently one-way roads, with traffic moving in opposite directions. The conversion would see both roads converted to two-way, and restricting state traffic (i.e., traffic back and forth between Newport and Covington) to 12th Street and the Girl Scout Bridge. At that point, 11th Street would return to the city.

“The idea is it will slow traffic because two-way traffic basically has to go slower because you can’t keep the traffic going at 30 miles an hour through signals because someone’s coming the other way,” Yeager said. “So, it would look more like what 11th Street on the other side of the bridge looks [like] now.”

Yeager also discussed other traffic calming measures that could eventually be implemented on 12th Street, most notably plans to install a stop sign (in both directions) at the end of 12th Street just before people enter the bridge.

Attendees were especially appreciative of this proposal, as the current layout of the bridge can have the effect of encouraging speeding. Several attendees attested to heavy traffic, even street racing, on the bridge.

“As soon as the sun goes down, they’re drag racing across the 12th Street Bridge,” said resident Mark Dwertman.

Safety on the bridge and on 12th Street has been a recurring concern among residents. Yeager himself even referenced the death of cyclist Gloria San Miguel, who was struck by a car and killed in 2022 while crossing the bridge, although he did not mention her by name at the meeting.

Data from the cabinet indicates that fatality rates of so-called “vulnerable road users,” which refers to anyone not in a car, including pedestrians and cyclists, have been trending up in recent years, and Yeager said the conversion is part of the cabinet’s effort to generally improve conditions for all modes of transportation on state roads, not just vehicles.

The city even recently opened its first dedicated bike lane, which follows a half-mile stretch of West 4th Street, between Garrard and Johnson Streets.

“It’s obviously a tricky corridor that everybody knows is a problem,” said resident Spencer Keith, who moved to the neighborhood about three years ago. “It’s a combination of the volume of traffic, the speed and the size of vehicles that come through.”

Resident and former city commissioner Pam Mullins wanted to know if measures would be put in place to curtail semi truck traffic from coming out of Newport, especially with the impending closure of the 4th Street, or KY 8, Bridge.

“I just have a feeling that… there’s going to be increased truck traffic coming across 12th,” Mullins said.

Yeager said that anytime there were changes, it would take time for people to adapt. With the two-way conversions, however, in time he thought, “the trucks will find a different out. They won’t want to go and stop at every single street. They just won’t do it.”

Even if a truck fails to realize the 4th Street Bridge was closed, Yeager believed they would be more likely to take the Clay Wade Bailey or another bridge to get back to Cincinnati.

The deal is still in the works, but Yeager said the conversion would take place in conjunction with road resurfacing in the spring.

“We want to make it more like a neighborhood street that just happens to have state vehicles on it,” Yeager said.

The cabinet will give a similar presentation to the Covington Board of Commissioners at the city caucus meeting on Tuesday. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Covington City Hall on Pike Street.