COVINGTON, Ky. — A group of nonprofit organizations are expressing environmental concerns about the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project. They’re asking the Federal Highway Administration to not approve the project until their concerns are addressed.

What You Need To Know

  • The Devou Good Foundation wrote a letter to the Federal Highway Administration expressing concern that the proposed Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project may violate federal and local laws

  •  Those laws include the National Environmental Policy Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s implementing regulations, and Ohio Department of Transportation’s own Title VI/Nondiscrimination Plan and assurances submitted to the federal government

  •  Officials with the project say they are committed to following all civil rights and environmental laws in pursuing the project

  • Matt Butler, president of the Devou Good Foundation, says he wishes the money would be diverted to a light rail, expanded bus services and more bike trails

Even on bitter cold days, Matt Butler likes to get some exercise by riding his bike through Devou Park in Covington. Butler’s ride, however, sometimes comes along with taking in a whiff of diesel fuel, and hearing the noise of hundreds of cars driving over the Brent Spence Bridge. With a project underway to expand the bridge, Butler is anticipating more noise and more smell.

“Not only are there significant environmental impacts, their plan is to build the freeway even closer to people’s houses, which will bring in more pollution, more noise to their neighborhoods, and they’re not really doing anything to address the terrible impacts of the interstate when it was built through the neighborhoods of Covington,” he said.

Butler is the president of the Devou Good Foundation, which is one of several local nonprofits that form the Coalition for Transit and Sustainable Development of Greater Cincinnati. 

They wrote a letter to the Federal Highway Administration expressing concern that the proposed Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project may violate the National Environmental Policy Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s implementing regulations, and Ohio Department of Transportation’s own Title VI/Nondiscrimination Plan and assurances submitted to the federal government.

“The Federal Highway Administration should not provide an environmental approval for this project until the civil rights and environmental justice issues are properly analyzed, addressed, and resolved. The project may disproportionately affect minority populations and low-income communities, and past discriminatory practices and policies must be taken into account,” Butler said in a statement.

Butler expanded on some of his concerns about the project’s footprint to Spectrum News 1. 

“What ODOT and KYTC (Kentucky Transportation Cabinet) are planning will induce demand. So over the last eight years, the traffic counts have actually gone down on the corridor. So by doubling the number of lanes to 16 crossing the river, what we see will happen is the number of drivers will go up, which will of course bring more pollution to the area, more crashes, more collisions, more injuries, more death,” he said.

Butler also said he’s concerned about increased air pollution in Devou Park.

In response to concerns set forth by the city of Covington, ODOT and KYTC came up with plans for the project they said significantly reduced the footprint laid out in previous plans.

“When we’re out in the neighborhoods, we’re really hearing feedback on the utilization of noise walls. We hear that noise is a significant concern along the corridor, as well as drainage,” said Stacee Hans, Kentucky Project Manager for the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project, at a public meeting in December. “So through this project we were able to commit to reducing or eliminating all of our interstate storm water.”

KYTC sent Spectrum News 1 a statement on Thursday saying: “We received notification of this letter yesterday. We remain committed to working with the Federal Highway Administration to ensure this project meets all federal environmental and civil rights requirements. Gov. Beshear has previously stated this project is moving forward with no tolls.”

OKI, the metropolitan planning organization for the region, sent a statement as well, saying: “OKI believes that both the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet have been actively following all federal requirements regarding the Brent Spence Bridge Project. We have nothing but complete confidence in these state departments of transportation.”

One of the mantras of the Devou Good Foundation is “expand transit, not highways.”

Butler said he’d like to see some of the funding for the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project go toward a light rail system, expanded bus service and more bike trails.

“Get people out of their cars. Give them actual transit solutions that will fix these problems,” Butler said.

The full letter can be read here.

Related Stories