With federal grant funding approved, Dayton can soon move forward to complete its $2.2 million Riverfront Commons River’s Edge Hiking and Biking Trail.
At the council meeting on Aug. 12, City Administrator Jay Fossett announced federal funding for the project had been approved.
Federal SNK grants are specifically allocated for transportation projects in Northern Kentucky through OKI (the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments). Eighty percent of the funds will come from the federal government and 20% from the city’s capital improvement fund.
The project will create a 1.5-mile section that runs along the river parallel to Manhattan Boulevard from O’Fallon Avenue west to the border shared with the city of Bellevue. Heading east, it will extend to Mary Ingles Highway at Clark Street in Dayton. The Dayton trail section is part of the planned 20-mile Riverfront Commons trail connecting eight Northern Kentucky cities along the Ohio River.
A long time coming
Phase one of the project was completed in 2020.
“We were in the middle of the pandemic at that time, and we had designs for phase two,” said City Administrator Jay Fossett. “We sent out advertising for bids for construction in phase two…in 2022. Because of the pandemic and some other issues, they came in a million dollars over budget for what we wanted to do on phase two, so we didn’t have that money budgeted.”
The city requested more money through OKI, a clearinghouse for federal grants, and was awarded an additional $760,000 toward the project.
In the meantime, the city brought in engineer Mike Yeager of Compass Infrastructure Group to take a look at phase two as well as phase three, the final phase. He returned with a redesign that combined both phases.
Armed with the redesigned construction plans, the city sent out a new request for bids. Cincinnati-based Prus Construction, the firm that had completed phase one, provided the best bid. Members moved to approve that bid at Tuesday’s council meeting.
Moving ahead
The next step will be approval of the city’s construction contract with Prus by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Once approved, Prus plans to begin construction this fall with an eye toward completion in spring 2026.
The city is also seeking funds to improve its trail that runs along the top of the levee. It will then connect to Manhattan Boulevard and the Riverwalk, creating a three-mile loop on Dayton’s riverfront.
“This day has been a long time coming for the city of Dayton,” said Mayor Ben Baker in a statement released after the council approved the bid.
“The city has been working on this project for nearly 10 years, and we had to overcome some major obstacles to get to this point where completion of this portion of the project will finally be a reality next year,” Baker said.
