LAKESIDE PARK — Motorists wondering about the sloping section of Buttermilk Pike near its intersection with Dixie Highway may be glad to know the slope is only temporary.

        The project calls for widening Buttermilk to three lanes from the Fort Mitchell post office east to the Kearney Court townhouse and to five lanes from there to the Dixie Highway intersection. Sidewalks will be added on both sides of the road the length of the project.

Russ Speagle of Spartan Construction adjusts the width of a concrete form for a curb at the Covington Post Office on Buttermilk Pike. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        But right now, Buttermilk looks like a split-level road. It looks dangerous, too — the south side towers over the north by at least 10 feet with a guard rail at the edge.

        But Mr. Plunkett said that's not how the road will look when work is done. He said the south side will be knocked down 8 to 10 feet.

        “By lowering the grade, we improve the intersection,” Mr. Plunkett said.

        The $2.2 million project to widen the heavily used road is scheduled to be finished in October. said Bill Plunkett, a design engineer with the Kentucky Department of Transportation District 6 office in Fort Mitchell.

        “It's running pretty smoothly so far,” Mr. Plunkett said of the project.

        According to traffic studies the state conducted, some 16,200 vehicles a day traveled Buttermilk Pike in 1994.

        Butch Wainscott's business, Greyhound Tavern on Dixie Highway in Fort Mitchell, is less than 100 feet from the road project at the corner of Dixie and Buttermilk Pike. Greyhound customers headed north on Dixie Highway must continue north to Superior Drive, turn left and then turn around to enter the restaurant parking lot near the Huntington Bank branch.

        Mr. Wainscott said that the construction has significantly reduced business at the popular restaurant.

        “There's no doubt there's been a downturn,” Mr. Wainscott said Wednesday.

        Christie Arlinghaus-Clem of Crescent Springs still visits the Greyhound at least twice a month, but she said construction has nonetheless been a pain.

        “I have to say this: I've had to avoid Buttermilk Pike,” Ms. Arlinghaus-Clem said.

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