By Trisha Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
The city of Fort Mitchell is about to embark on a sidewalk design that could address a problem plaguing many cities in Northern Kentucky.
“We have more kids than ever walking to school,” said Mayor Jude Hehman. “When OKI was looking for opportunities, early this year we put in for a grant, and we got $2 million for sidewalks. We do already have sidewalks, but we want to improve them and widen them. This city is a walking city.”
Hehman said in a short time the state will be making major changes in preparation of the new bridge, so Dixie Highway will look different in the city, with a new interchange, and a roundabout and new curbs and gutters. He said he wants to get the sidewalk project done before the state steps in with their work because Dixie Highway is the relief corridor when the expressway is congested.
“People are funny about when you do sidewalk work,” Hehman said. “Some people even tell me they don’t want sidewalks. I thought that since we are having so much trouble with kids riding the e-bikes and e-scooters, and walkers who need the sidewalk too, that if the sidewalk was wider, and we put markings on the sidewalks to let everyone know where they are supposed to stay on the sidewalk, we might be able to find a solution to the e-vehicles sharing the sidewalks with the walkers.”
So with the public works department thinking, ‘could the solution be that easy?’ next week the 5-foot-wide section of sidewalk between Burdsall and Pleasant Ridge will be torn up and be quickly replaced by an 8-foot=wide sidewalk. The project is expected to take up to three weeks.
“We had the money budgeted, approximately $50,000, and this will be a sample area, an example of what we think might help the situation of sharing the sidewalk,” said Hehman. “The $2 million we received from OKI will replace the sidewalks from Sunnymede all the way to Beechwood, and to the school, except for the section we are doing. The city will do the work on this sample of sidewalk.”
He said he has already met with Blessed Sacrament so they can explain the situation to the students who use the underground tunnel that gets them across the street at Burdsall.
“This will be a very visual example,” said Hehman. “We want feedback from the residents as to whether this will make a difference, and let walkers and e-scooters share the sidewalk without anyone feeling threatened. Then we can find out what works and what doesn’t work.”
He said there is plenty of space to widen the sidewalks three morefeet because there is a lot of greenspace due to the old trolley line. Hehman said Fort Mitchell is a tree-friendly city, and they want to keep the tree canopy along Dixie Highway, so they will be evaluating the trees that they have, although the city has already replaced about 60 percent of the trees that were found to be invasive or dying. He said after they widen the sidewalk there will still be at least twenty feet of greenspace between the sidewalk and the highway. No yards will be impacted by this project.
“We didn’t want to start the project before Halloween, because we know there will be a lot of foot traffic for Halloween,” he said. “We are probably going to put a little scooter emblem and a stripe that will show where the scooters are supposed to be, and where the walkers are supposed to be. We will tear out the old sidewalk one day and pour the new one the next day, and as soon as it dries people can use it.”
A program on safety was already presented in the parks, but Hehman said they are also going to remind the kids of the safety rules by doing a program in the schools, alerting the students to the dangers of cars and pedestrians, and how they should share with the walkers. He said they will have signs put up, also, telling kids and walkers alike to follow the striping on the sidewalks.
“I’m not afraid to make a mistake,” Hehman said. “This wouldn’t be a catastrophic mistake by any means. I want to try things. I realize all eyes will be on us, to see how it works. I feel like it has a good chance of succeeding and going a long way toward solving this problem of walkers and riders needing enough space. We will see.”