It also will be smoother for the eyes, if the city adopts and follows a proposed plan for how areas along the street will be developed after the widening, officials say.

"In terms of its impact on your impression of Covington, it'll be huge," said Joe Meyer, the former state senator who is very interested in the project because he lives on 11th Street.

Meyer said outsiders tell him, "When they come to Covington and go to the central part of the city, their inclination is to sort of hunker down, lock the doors, and pray they can get through the area without anything awful happening to them."

That should change dramatically based on the city's corridor redevelopment plan, which city commissioners are expected to adopt Tuesday, he said.

"The new environment, with the much broader street, the much greater openness, the feel, ought to be a much more welcoming environment that tells people we're committed to the future of this community," he said.

Lexington-based H.W. Lochner Inc. and Winter & Company, based in Boulder, Colo., created the $64,152 plan. It calls for shops and residential buildings along the street's southern edge that fit the older brick architecture of the surroundings - with small parks and wrought-iron fences.

"Basically, it's going to be a mixed-use neighborhood corridor," said City Planner Annalee Duganier. "Not big-box stores, but smaller kinds of things to try to be compatible with some of the historic structures that will still be remaining on the north side of the street."

Traffic in the surrounding neighborhood will be more separated from the widened 12th Street - also known as State Route 1120.

The reason? The widening plan includes a 20-foot-wide median that will prevent traffic using Lee and Banklick streets from crossing 12th Street.

"I think the 12th Street development is going to hopefully come to fruition," said City Engineer Terry Hughes. "And I think everybody's going to be pleased with what they've got when we get done."

But as he talks about it, Hughes literally crosses his fingers with hope.

"I've always said, if we want businesses and convention centers, and new residences, we've got to make it so people can come into town," he said.

The widening would reduce traffic on 5th Street, the city's other link to the interstate, improving the bottleneck at 5th and Madison Avenue. A reconfigured intersection at 12th and Madison would ease movement there, he said.

"Hopefully," Hughes added, with emphasis. "It'll be the first time we've had state money spent in Covington for a long, long time."

David Jones, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's chief district engineer for District 6 describes the project as "very likely."

"As a matter of fact, what we've shown so far is that we've got a desire to expedite this project as much as possible," Jones said. "We've got clearance on environmental. We've got the right-of-way funds authorized to move ahead with this project, so I would think the chances are very good that we'll complete this project."

He expects the state to start contacting property owners early next year about purchases. Property acquisition, which might cost $9 million, may take 12-24 months, he said.

The state likely will buy the White Castle at 12th and Madison, because plans have the highway going through part of the restaurant, he said.

The estimated the $7 million construction project is to start in 2007, and likely will take one or two construction seasons, Jones said.

Covington already has seen one benefit: The state last week demolished two dilapidated buildings the city recently sold at 509 and 511 W. 12th.

"Those properties were necessary for the construction and maintenance of the highway," Jones said.

Many support the widening, which will allow parking on both sides of the street. Others don't.

"I wasn't for it at all," said Lucille Hicks, a renter at 507 W. 12th St., in the path of the widening. "Then again, the little people have little say-so."

"I don't want to see them tearing down people's homes to build a street," said Hicks, who has lived in her block 11 years. But she was glad the long-abandoned buildings next to her were bulldozed.

What Northern Kentucky traffic improvements would you like to see? E-mail us at letters@enquirer.com; fax (513) 768-8410; or send a letter to Enquirer Editorial Page, 226 Grandview Drive, Fort Mitchell, KY 41017

E-mail mrutledge@enquirer.com