Wednesday, February 03, 1999
Covington alternative for 12th St. is promoted
BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — Residents opposed to the state's plan for widening 12th Street are touting a plan of their own.
Citizens United to Re-think 12th got help from an urban designer and came up with a proposal to counter the state's idea to widen the street with a tree-lined median.
The counterproposal will be unveiled at tonight's public meeting with state transportation officials, but generally calls for less demolition of housing and businesses.
“We're just trying to get them to realize that they can accomplish what needs to happen with much less money and less destruction,” said Connie Hammonds, whose husband's car service business would be gone under the state's plan.
They want a chance to work with the city and state to develop what's best — a more sensitive way, members say, to deal with beautification of the neighborhood. And they want any leftover money not necessary for the enhancement (the state's price tag is $12.5 million) to be put toward other roadways they say are neglected, such as Madison Avenue, Fourth Street, Winston Avenue and Hands Pike.
It's flexible
The citizens' position paper says their plan offers enhancement to the area and alleviation of traffic snarls for less than $9 million. It suggests things such as putting electric lines underground, planting trees and starting a plan for rehabilitating the buildings in the area. Many of the buildings that would be demolished are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, they say, and many of the jobs lost to demolished businesses would never be regained by the city.
But their plan is not concrete. A key part of it, actually, is that it's flexible. At a minimum, the group wants to put community residents and business owners in the loop before decisions are made.
“We have considerations that should be included,” said Lisa Gillham, another member.
TV appearance
The Covington Business Council (CBC), however, supports the state's widening idea, saying the new roadway would help spur economic development in the rest of Northern Kentucky's largest city. Opponents disagree, calling the project merely a way to build a divisive moat through Covington. Construction is to begin sometime in fiscal year 2001.
Mrs. Hammonds will speak at today's event, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in the middle of the state's 4-8 p.m. hearing. Other speakers: Mayor Denny Bowman; business owner Gary Flannery; Beth Sullenberger, executive director of the Cincinnati Preservation Society; and Menelaos Triantafillou, a local urban designer and landscape architect. Some of the same opponents are appearing on an InterMedia cable television show this morning.
Mr. Bowman has long been among the opponents. He wants money to be spent on other improvements around the city. He and others fear the state's version will produce nothing more than a throughway from Interstate 75 to the new aquarium and other attractions in Newport.
Both presentations will be at John G. Carlisle Elementary School, Pike and Holman streets.
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