BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON - By next month, several Northern Kentucky governments hope to apply for federal grants to help fund a bikeway linking Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties.
Supporters see the Quest River Path, a bikeway extending about 45 miles, as providing recreational and educational opportunities, as well as enhancing development.
"Obviously, it increases recreational opportunities for citizens," said Keith Logsdon, a planner with the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission. "But it also has health benefits and increases economic development opportunities.
"If we can get people using bicycles, we're not only meeting a transportation need," Mr. Logsdon said. "We're also creating more activity along the riverfront."
The regional bicycle - pedestrian path tentatively would extend from Pendery Park in Melbourne to about a mile west of where Ky. 237 intersects with Ky. 8 in Boone County, Mr. Logsdon said.
Most sections would parallel Ky. 8, intersecting with the state route at times and featuring dedicated lanes at some points. It would connect parks and historical overlooks in the three Northern Kentucky counties.
"This is a long-term project that we hope to fund in stages," said Kim Patton of Forward Quest, a group charged with implementing a futuristic vision for Northern Kentucky in 20 years.
The goal is to fund one section of the bikeway in each of the three counties each year, Mr. Logsdon said. He could not provide a timetable for the project, or an overall cost.
"It's just a great advertisement for Bellevue," City Administrator Don Martin said of the pedestrian - bike path. "I think that it brings a different kind of client or user to local businesses."
Covington City Commission will discuss an application for $80,000 in federal Aid Transportation Enhancement Program funds, formerly known as the ISTEA program, at its Nov. 24 meeting. The grant would help fund a section of the path from Highway Avenue, or Ky. 8, in Covington to River Road in Ludlow.
In Campbell County, Mr. Martin said, he also is applying for an as-yet-undetermined amount of federal funds for an 800-foot section of bike path just east of Riverboat Row. Besides the path, the grant also would help pay for bike racks, lighting, landscaping, fencing and some type of entryway.
In Boone County, the fiscal court also is discussing the possibility of applying for federal money to help build its section of bike path, along with a park-and-ride lot, bike racks and restrooms.
Applications for the funds are due in Frankfort on Dec. 4, and Northern Kentucky governments should know by spring if their requests have been funded.
If the local governments' grant requests are rejected, the project will still proceed, but may be scaled back in some areas. For example, Mr. Martin said, Bellevue likely would omit the lighting and landscaping if its grant application is rejected.
