COVINGTON, Ky. — City officials in Covington, Ky., expect to receive an update next month on a planned replacement bridge to better and more safely connect the river city to Newport, Ky.

The update on the Fourth Street Bridge, also known as the KY 8 Licking River Bridge, will take place July 18 during a meeting of the Covington Board of Commissioners.

Project details about the KY 8 Licking River Bridge are available on the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s District 6 website. The state agency has also released a video about the project.

But the upcoming update plans to include up-to-date details on things such as the design, timeline and overall project goals. A major factor is going to be cost. Covington Mayor Joe Meyer said the project must fall within a total budget of $68 million.

“Like the rest of the elected officials, my email (inbox) has been blowing up with a petition for us to take some type of action with the state of Kentucky on the Fourth Street Bridge,” Covington Vice Mayor Ron Washington told his colleagues recently. “I’ve said before that we have limited ability to do anything with that project — it belongs to the state of Kentucky. They make the decisions on it.”

The Fourth Street corridor is becoming a major development zone in Covington, Ky. (Spectrum News 1)

Built in 1936, the Fourth Street Bridge carries traffic across a stretch of State Route 8 that carries traffic across the Licking River in Northern Kentucky.

A 2016 traffic study found the layout of the three-lane truss bridge should be sufficient at that time. But city officials stressed that the study didn’t account for future growth in the urban core related to development. Two noted examples include the Ovation site in Newport and the former IRS site several blocks west in Covington.

Officials also stressed it doesn’t provide enough room for flexibility should “transportation uses evolve in the future.”

Initial goals for the project include making it safe for cars, bicyclists and pedestrians. They also want to make sure it meets modern standards for accessibility and can accommodate future growth.

“Fourth Street is a state route that cuts through the heart of downtown, but it’s perceived as a physical and mental barrier for pedestrians, bicyclists and others, essentially walling off part of Covington from itself,” City Manager Ken Smith said of the bridge earlier this year.

“As we reintegrate the 23-acre former IRS site back into the neighborhoods and business districts that surround it, it’s critical that we redesign the look, feel and function of Fourth Street in order to make that happen.”

Bob Yeager, chief district engineer for KYTC District 6, said the state has been working closely with city and county leaders on the replacement bridge.

Earlier this year, the City of Covington revealed it had been working with KYTC to study ways to reconfigure Fourth Street from three lanes to two lanes. The goal would be to create a dedicated bike lane and wider, more pedestrian-friendly sidewalks.

The parties also need to decide how to safely accommodate pedestrian and cycling needs during construction.

“Our relationships with the local agencies, through previous public input, has made it clear that pedestrian and bicyclist safety is critical,” Yeager added.

As far as the design of the span, officials have voiced a strong desire for it to be “not only functional but also visually appealing.” Elements may include a viewing area “bump out” on the north side of the bridge, according to the city.

Meyer is a member of the committee along with Covington’s historic preservation staff. The mayor recently gave his fellow commission members a report on the committee’s first meeting. He said the project’s architect, Rosales + Partners Inc., presented images of a dozen bridges that “completely fell within parameters of our expectations.”

In a release, Covington officials said no land north of Fourth Street would be affected. The expanded bridge would take up land to the south that is now a state-owned parking lot. Approaches to the bridge would have to accommodate the existing floodwall on the Newport side of the bridge, Meyer said. The floodwall was built after the bridge.

The publicly stated project goal is to announce a bridge type by fall.

Commissioner Tim Downing noted the update is important because it will give residents an opportunity to see the plans and weigh in.

KYTC has overseen over two years of public engagement, including a virtual public meeting in April 2021, an in-person public meeting in March 2022, an online survey in March 2022, and an Aesthetics Committee formed in May 2023 with local officials.

Public input is still being gathered via the project’s Contact Us form.

“I think it would be helpful for the public to fully understand who they should be communicating with in order to be able to make certain that their voice is heard, and their voice has impact,” Downing added.