A $1 million federal study on upgrading Interstate 471 should benefit motorists well beyond that five-mile Northern Kentucky connector. Dangerous southbound backups on the I-471 "Big Mac" bridge from traffic headed to Newport on the Levee ought to be reason enough for a makeover. But the I-471 stretch from the Ohio River to Interstate 275 also will assume an even more vital role in regional traffic flows, once construction begins on a replacement for the Interstate 71/75 Brent Spence Bridge.

It would be a painful mistake to put off fixing I-471 and someday be forced to divert Brent Spence traffic onto I-471 still plagued with peak-hour problems. The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments is right to put plans in place to fix I-471, and area officials should do all in their power to secure financing.

The I-471 Daniel Carter Beard Bridge already handles more than 100,000 vehicles a day. Newport on the Levee's success exposed the woeful inadequacy of southbound I-471's hairpin off-ramp to Ky. 8. Exiting traffic sometimes backs up on the bridge all the way back to the Ohio end, risking a serious accident as other motorists abruptly close in from behind.

Newport studies before the Levee opened predicted congestion, but the estimated cost to fix that ramp alone is steep - at least $24 million. Newport City Manager Phil Ciafardini has argued we need to view I-471 improvements and a Brent Spence Bridge replacement as inseparable. "You cannot look at them independently," he said. "I-471 is going to have to handle extra traffic while the replacement bridge is being constructed."

Planners also believe traffic tie-ups need to be relieved at the southern end of I-471, where it joins the I-275 beltway. Fort Thomas City Administrator Jeff Earlywine has urged OKI to expand the study to include the stretch of I-275 north to the Combs-Hehl Bridge over the Ohio. Northbound lanes on that bridge also get dangerously backed up from motorists waiting to exit for Coney Island events, Riverbend concerts and River Downs races. To fix I-471, planners need to thoroughly assess its impacts of this region's broader traffic patterns.