COVINGTON, Ky. — A new travel pattern in northern Kentucky aims to keep drivers safe as they enter onto the Brent Spence Bridge.

What You Need To Know

  • KYTC is implementing a “Texas Turnaround” in Covington

  • The new travel pattern aims to keep drivers safe by giving them more time to maneuver lanes while entering the Brent Spence Bridge

  • Drivers will be redirected from Fourth Street in Covington to the turnaround, which will loop back to the Pike Street exit, and back onto 75 North

  • Covington’s mayor says the change will be a net positive, but the traffic created by construction could be a challenge for Covington

Despite some potential construction frustration, many are saying the new “Texas Turnaround” is a much needed change.

When he’s working a home rehab job, Gary McClendon is in Covington every day. When he goes home, he takes the Fourth Street ramp going north onto the Brent Spence Bridge. Maneuvering over to 75 North is a little more of a challenge than he’s up to after a hard day’s work.

“You don’t have very much time. Little time and little room, so you know you got to make it quick,” McClendon said.

According to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, many of the rear-end crashes and sideswipes on the Brent Spence Bridge happen because drivers entering northbound at Fourth Street who wish to continue on I-75 have little more than the length of the bridge to cut across two lanes of traffic.

The sudden weaving action leads to slowed traffic, quick stops, backups and increased likelihood of rear-end collisions.

“You don’t have much time to maneuver,” said KYTC Public Information Officer Nancy Wood. “I mean, there’s been accidents over the years, people trying to shuffle in. There’s a lot of lane changes happening right there.”

Wood said the solution to making this safer for drivers is the Texas Turnaround, so-named because it originated in Texas and has been used there in several places. This one is the first of its kind to be implemented in northern Kentucky.

The state-funded Texas Turnaround will increase the time and space drivers have to change lanes by shutting the current ramp from Fourth Street to northbound I-71/I-75 and directing drivers to enter the highway at a location further south via a long, continuous U-shaped ramp.

That new route begins on the Fourth Street ramp to southbound I-71/75, continues on the exit ramp to Pike Street/12th Street, and then circles underneath the interstate on the “inner” side of Pike Street and parallel to the current entrance to northbound 1-71/75 from Pike Street (on the north side of the current concrete pillars).

Wood said it will be four lanes the whole way with continual traffic and no lights.

“This is going to be marked with signage, and actually, you probably won’t even notice a difference,” she said. “And that way you’ll have more time to make your maneuver safely as you’re going into Ohio.”

The work for this $8.8 million project begins March 16 and is scheduled to be completed by December 1. In the meantime, drivers can expect to see some lane and ramp closures, starting with the right lane on the Pike Street exit.

Covington Mayor Joseph Meyer said it will be a net positive for the city and the region, but not without its drawbacks to Covington.

“In terms of the change itself, I think it’s really good, because it improves safety and reduces the congestion that will be on the bridge once the project is finished. Any construction project on the interstate is a miserable experience for us, period. We’ll have to tolerate it and do the best we can with it, and we hope the project proceeds smoothly and is finished in a timely way,” he said.

Meyer said anytime there is a change like this, people will inevitably have questions.

McClendon is one of them, but he said in this case, change is a good thing.

“That sounds like that’s gonna improve safety conditions here. I think that’s a good idea,” he said. “Once they get used to it, I think it’ll be just a process where they get used to it. And the change, any time you initiate something new, you’re gonna have some complaints, but they’ll be okay with it.”

The project will include:

  • Re-striping the lanes on northbound I-71/75 to provide an additional travel lane between Pike Street and the bridge.
  • Rebuilding the viaduct that carries northbound traffic exiting the interstate to Covington’s Fifth Street in order to accommodate the traffic pattern running underneath.
  • Upgrading traffic signals for local traffic on Pike Street.
  • Safety features for pedestrians, such as crosswalks and new sidewalks, in the Pike Street area.

The current construction timeline (depending on the weather and thus subject to change):

  • 10 p.m., March 16: Closing one of the two lanes on the exit ramp from southbound I-71/75 to Pike Street.
  • Early to mid-April: Closing the entrance ramp from Pike Street to northbound I-71/75 and closing the exit ramp from northbound I-71/75 to Fifth Street. These are expected to be closed for about 180 days.
  • October-November: The current Fourth Street entrance ramp directly to northbound I-71/75 at the entrance of the bridge will be permanently closed to traffic toward the end of the project. It will, however, remain accessible to emergency vehicles.

Detours:

  • Once the northbound exit to Fifth Street is temporarily closed, drivers will have to exit at a point further south (12th Street/M.L. King Boulevard), head east and then turn north on Main Street. 
  • Drivers on Pike Street wanting to head north on the interstate will be directed to southbound I-71/75, the Kyles Lane exit and then the northbound entrance ramp.

You can check the progress of the project here.

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