For years, they've been jerked around by government officials who can't decide how to fix the sorry thoroughfare. Now some preservation group with a Frankfort address is calling the street one of Kentucky's most “endangered” places.

        Yeah, 12th Street is in danger, all right — in danger of dilapidation and despair brought on by bureaucratic delay. Property along the congested, ugly street should have been purchased and torn down years ago to make way for widening.

        Instead, transportation officials have studied the issue for 20 years. The street changes are in the state's current, six-year plan, but officials recently redid ancient traffic studies and may alter the design accordingly.

Eager to leave

        During years of delay, Covington politicians and preservationists have occasionally interjected populist arguments against getting rid of anything.

        But that's not such a popular idea anymore. A recent concept for the street calls for the purchase of about 50 properties, some already abandoned, others in disrepair. Only about five businesses would be affected.

        Property owners are so eager that they've taken to posting signs in their yards, demanding the street be widened. The West Side Action Coalition surveyed 24 property owners between Interstate 75 and Russell Street and found that 23 wanted to get out.

        Lack of progress, however, wasn't exactly the “danger” the preservation group had in mind.

Hardly "endangered'

        In its list of endangered places, Preservation Kentucky Inc. identified 12th Street as a draw for German and Irish immigrants in the late 19th century.

        “Today, narrow streets and tightly packed houses encompass the close-knit 12th Street communities they created,” the group's brochure states.

        The road-widening project would “eliminate 40 structures and extend through four historic districts, endangering the historic significance of this area,” it continues.

        Nonsense. The street is so inadequate now that trucks can barely pass each other safely. Widening the lanes, installing a landscaped median and adding turn lanes will only enhance, not hurt, nearby neighborhoods.

        To be fair, Preservation Kentucky Past President Janet Johnston says the group doesn't oppose the widening, but only hopes impact on historic buildings will be kept to a minimum.

        Still, some want to know who nominated the area as “most endangered.”

        Newport resident Bob Yoder came clean. Nine months ago, over hummus at the York Street Cafi, he and about seven other preservation types casually brainstormed a list for Northern Kentucky, he tells me.

        “It's just a list,” says Mr. Yoder, a board member of Preservation Kentucky.

        Yeah, how about that? Unexpectedly, this nonprofit group has gotten a lot of mileage out of its public relations experiment, which shows that it could be a powerful tool.

        Next time, just leave 12th Street out of it.

        E-mail kgutierrez@enquirer.com or call (859)578-5584

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