COVINGTON, KY – The City of Covington on Tuesday received funding to further advance its ongoing infrastructure initiatives.
Covington was awarded $5.1 million to fund two of its streetscape projects from the Surface Transportation Program for Northern Kentucky (SNK) funds grant through the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI).
The SNK grant provides publicly funded surface transportation improvements to the OKI region. Covington submitted two project applications to OKI that were selected for funding.
City Manager Larry Klein stated, “This is more great news for the City. Over the past five to six years, Covington has received roughly $15 million in federal transportation grants from OKI. This funding is a significant boost in accelerating our capital plans and economic development efforts, and affirms the City’s commitment to investment in its infrastructure to improve the quality of life for residents, businesses and visitors alike.”
The two projects that are scheduled to receive funding from OKI are 7th Street from Washington Avenue to Greenup Street, and Madison Avenue from 8th Street to 11th Street.
The scope of both streetscape projects includes underground utilities, street trees, mast arm poles, decorative street lights and roadway resurfacing. Signal improvements to reduce delay will also be included.
The 7th Street project is estimated to cost $3,745,000, with $2,970,000 covered by OKI-SNK funding. The Madison Avenue project is estimated to cost $2,745,000 with $2,170,000 covered by OKI-SNK funding. This equates to a total of $5.14 million in federal streetscape funding.
Included in Covington’s Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan, the two projects will create positive impacts by increasing safety, efficiency of traffic signals and traffic flow throughout Covington. Additionally, the projects will provide an opportunity to increase the number and size of the catch basins to better capture the storm water from the roadway.
Development Director/City Engineer Mike Yeager stated, “We have been strategic with our grant applications as there is an alignment between transportation initiatives and capital investment. These projects are in alignment with the economic development projects currently underway in the area. The projects will directly support the Mutual Building, Hotel Covington, Braxton Brewery and the new 108 market rate housing Duveneck Square Development project.”
In 2012, Covington engaged in a targeted economic development opportunities strategy, resulting in several job creation and development projects. Covington continues to implement this strategy and is seeing the return on its investment.
Mayor Sherry Carran stated, “The City of Covington is extremely appreciative to OKI for awarding the City with this grant. Thanks to OKI and the hard work of Development Director/City Engineer Mike Yeager, Public Services Director/Assistant City Engineer Rick Davis and their grant team in submitting the application, the City is able to continue moving forward with its positive momentum to improve its infrastructure.”
Add Comment