COVINGTON - Nearly 20 years and more than $1 million since the widening of 12th Street was first discussed, many residents say the delays have only increased the noise, heavy traffic and decay on the street. They want the much-delayed project to proceed.

        A survey conducted by a westside neighborhood group the week of Aug. 19 found that 23 of 24 property owners interviewed on 12th Street between Interstate 75 and Russell Street support the widening of the state route and the demolition of homes.

IF YOU GO

• What: Meeting of the Westside Action Coalition to discuss proposed 12th Street improvements   • When: 7 p.m. Sept. 10   • Where: John G. Carlisle School, 910 Holman Ave., Covington   Kentucky highway officials plan to present a couple of alternatives for 12th Street at a public hearing in October that has yet to be scheduled. Project Manager Mike Bezold said an environmental study should be completed by spring and appraisal of 12th Street properties slated for demolition should begin by summer.

        Project Manager Mike Bezold says the $13 million project is in Kentucky's six-year road plan. Appraisal of 12th Street properties slated for demolition should begin by next summer.

        As 80 percent is federally funded, the project that has cost the state $1.2 million in the past decade alone will not be jeopardized by Kentucky's budget woes, he said.

        But that doesn't satisfy area residents.

        “That is one of the aggravating things. The six-year plan has turned into a 20-year plan,” said Bill Clark, president of the Westside Action Coalition. The neighborhood group found that only one resident on the south side of 12th Street opposes the widening plan, which has been debated since the mid-1980s.

        “Basically it's got our hands tied,” said retiree Joe Lubbers, 64, a long-time resident whose home at 12th and Lee streets would be acquired under the state plan.

        “We can't do anything with our property. I had mine sold once (six years ago), then the guy backed out of the deal because the state was going to be coming in soon and tearing it down. The state says, "We're going to be doing something next year,' but next year never comes.”

        Since the mid-1980s, many of the tightly packed houses and commercial buildings along 12th Street have deteriorated while Kentucky transportation officials have debated various plans to widen and improve the street. Among the complications, the thoroughfare borders four historic districts and links Covington and Newport.

        Rebecca Ahlbrand, who lives on the north side of 12th Street, also is concerned about safety. Of the 17,000 vehicles using the street each day, according to state estimates, many are 18-wheelers, she said.

        “Traffic moves through here quickly, and with all the cars parked along the side, it's hard to see all the pedestrians,” Ms. Ahlbrand said. “A little boy was hit a year ago.”

        Many 12th Street residents park their cars with the passenger side wheels on the sidewalk to avoid getting sideswiped by fast-moving traffic.

        “And the noise is terrible,” Ms. Ahlbrand said. “When the trucks hit the breaks in the pavement and the sewer lids, your whole house vibrates.”

        The most recent proposal was to widen 12th Street from two narrow lanes to a two-lane boulevard with a 44-foot wide median between Interstate 75 and Scott Boulevard. Turn lanes were to be added at major intersections, and 57 homes and businesses on the south side of the street were to be razed.

        However, that plan was put on hold in February, after state transportation officials realized the traffic had changed significantly since data were last gathered in 1993, and new information had to be compiled, said Mr. Bezold, the project manager.

        Fresher data have been collected. Now, highway officials expect to spend the next two to three weeks running computer simulations to decide the number of lanes, where turn lanes are needed, and whether it would make more sense to remove parking along the south side of 12th Street instead of widening the street.

        Also complicating the matter was the recent listing of 12th Street as one of Kentucky's 12 most endangered historic places by the nonprofit group Preservation Kentucky.

        Although 12th Street is not part of a historic district, state historic preservation officials have determined that it is eligible to be one, and federal law requires that highway officials minimize damage to historic districts and neighborhoods, Mr. Bezold said.

        “Somebody with Preservation Kentucky should have looked at a map of the city before claiming that this strip should be preserved,” said Joan Lee, secretary of the Westside Action Coalition and a member of the city's Urban Design Review Board.

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