BY LISA DONOVAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Abandoned bus ramps on the south side of Dixie Terminal downtown will be torn down soon to make way for a temporary bridge to facilitate travel between Covington and downtown.
The goal is to relieve congestion during the two-year overhaul of Fort Washington Way, which begins this summer.
The ramps, out of use since 1996, when the Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky (TANK) closed its bus depot, will be removed in July.
The new bridge, which will cross Fort Washington Way, will link Third Street in downtown Cincinnati and Covington via the Roebling Suspension Bridge. It should be open in October, torn down in spring of 2000.
"This will allow us to maintain access to the Cincinnati business district, the riverfront and Covington for both vehicular and pedestrian traffic," said Jeff Wallace, a spokesman for the expressway project. "It's being designed as a temporary reliever."
Project planners debated whether to build the bridge, which will cost between $600,000 and $800,000. The cost is figured into the overall $146.9 million price tag on the expressway project.
While planners worried about the expense of a bridge that would be torn down in two years, they finally decided it was necessary to relieve congestion.
To maintain traffic flow, two sets of traffic signals will be installed -- one just north of the Roebling Bridge on the newly constructed Levee Way and another at Third Street.
A sidewalk and stairs on the west side of the bridge will provide pedestrian access from Covington, Third Street and surface parking lots west of Cinergy Field.
Construction to narrow and straighten the east-west Fort Washington Way into an eventual eight-lane expressway is scheduled to begin in July and conclude in August 2000.
The work will close off portions of the expressway, as well as central downtown and riverfront exits, which eventually will close permanently.
"We have to accelerate the construction to meet the August 2000 date, and the temporary bridge allows us to simultaneously demolish and replace all the existing bridges -- and still maintain access," said John Deatrick, the city engineer supervising the project.
