Infrastructure shortcomings: ‘Our region model doesn’t really build sustainably’

Jakob Staley, Editor-In-Chief

July 28, 2026

Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project render. This project is a $3.6–$4.05 billion project reshaping eight miles of I‑71/I‑75 between Ohio and Kentucky.

Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana (OKI) Regional Council of Governments

Cars and trucks are causing high traffic, bridges that are not big enough to support thousands of extra vehicles, key buildings haven’t been updated in years and many more things are affected by the growing population in Northern Kentucky.

Governor Andy Beshear has top priorities for the Commonwealth, which have focused on transforming Kentucky’s roads, bridges, high-speed internet and water systems to drive economic growth and safety. He calls infrastructure the foundation of economic development, according to Kentucky.gov

Senior Communications Specialist at Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana (OKI) Regional Council of Governments, Jim Pickering, said, “As a rule, population growth increases the number of people who rely on the same roads, bridges and transit systems that were initially built for fewer people, which can quickly overwhelm infrastructure that wasn’t designed for that level of demand.”

Pickering mentions two major projects in the Northern Kentucky region that have been affected the most by the growing population: the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor and the Covington Fourth Street Bridge.

Infrastructure Improvement Projects

Title: Brent Spence Bridge Image ID: 891374915110 Article: FILE – In this Sept., 22, 2011 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in front of the Brent Spence Bridge in Cincinnati. The bridge, which carries traffic on Interstate 75 between Cincinnati and Covington, Kentucky, has received lower grades throughout 10 years of inspection reports. The bridge, which is owned by Kentucky, has been deemed safe, but its deteriorating condition concerns some experts. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

The Brent Spence Bridge Corridor:

The Brent Spence Bridge Corridor is a $3.6–$4.05 billion project reshaping eight miles of I‑71/I‑75 between Ohio and Kentucky. Major construction has begun in May and will continue through the decade.

The existing bridge, built for 80,000 vehicles, but carrying 160,000–170,000 cars daily, will handle local traffic, while a new companion bridge will carry interstate and freight movement. This separation improves safety, reduces congestion and enhances access to CVG, one of the world’s fastest‑growing cargo airports.

Ashby Drummond, research analyst at BEnky, believes the Brent Spence is feeling the most pressure, as the region’s population is growing and it is a main transportation for workers between Kentucky and Cincinnati.

“A lot of our residents work in Cincinnati, and vice versa. A lot of the people we pull in from a labor force perspective work live in Cincinnati, but work here. So the strain that the bridge work is… a major thing that needed to get done from a population perspective,” Drummond said.

Executive Director Joshua R. Wice at the planning and development services of Kenton County said the bridge has needed to be replaced for a while and has been a topic of discussion for decades.

“They were talking about it when I was a kid in high school and in college. So that bridge is an example where we haven't kept up, but again, money,” Wice said.

The bridge in its current state isn’t good for the roads leading up to the bridge either, with cars and freight trucks sitting in stop-and-go traffic. Pickering sits in traffic miles back from the bridge and sees this issue every day.

“You'll see two lines of traffic stagnating to get on the Brent Spence Bridge three miles back up to the bridge every single time of the day,” he said.

A lot of the main traffic on the bridge isn’t tied to just population growth; it's also tied to freight. 30,000 trucks pass over the bridge daily, according to OKI. Drummond believes the biggest issue truck drivers run into is the incline of the slope on the Kentucky side.

“Semi trucks can't go up that slope if they're carrying a certain load at more than maybe 20 to 25 miles an hour, and so that really leads to a massive backup in traffic, and that's not really resident-dependent,” Drummond said.

Covington Fourth Street (KY 8 Licking River) render. The new bridge will include separated shared‑use paths and stronger connections to major redevelopment in both cities, while easing local pressure on the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor. (Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana (OKI) Regional Council of Governments)

Covington Fourth Street:

Covington’s Fourth Street (KY 8 Licking River) Bridge carries 13,000 vehicles a day between Covington and Newport. The Fourth Street Bridge is currently being replaced to improve safety and multimodal access to help the residents in the region get around better.

Demolition began in the spring, with construction to last about 2.5 years, with reopening expected in the summer of 2028 (full completion fall 2028). While KYTC has not released a final cost estimate, the timeline is confirmed.

The new bridge will include separated shared‑use paths and stronger connections to major redevelopment in both cities, while easing local pressure on the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor.

The Covington Fourth Street Bridge will help the region’s growth by making it easier to get around. The bridge will include a bike and pedestrian path. Even though it’s not as big as other projects that will help traffic flow, Pickering still sees it as having a major impact.

“It's a critical artery where people from Covington and Newport can move about back and forth,” Pickering said. “The Fourth Street Bridge keeps traffic off 75 and I-71 and 471, so it alleviates traffic congestion, literally all over the tri-state area.”

Drummond sees the Fourth Street Bridge project is proactive, thinking about the future of development in Newport and Covington.

“They're really taking the approach of better inner city connectivity, better biking, better trail access, better quality of life, and that's less of a traffic jam,” Drummond said.

Pickering believes that these major project renovations will help accessibility while alleviating the strain of sitting in traffic.

“These projects will improve safety, reduce congestion, support cleaner air, and maintain essential regional and national transportation corridors,” Pickering said. “They also strengthen equitable access to jobs and services for the 8‑county region.”

KY 536 connecting 177 Decoursey Pike to Staffordsburg Road. A specific construction completion date to connect KY 536 to KY 177 is not yet finalized, as the extension from 17 to 25 is ongoing and is planned to be finished by the fall of 2027. (Jakob Staley)

The KY 536 Expansion

Another project in the area that will help the population growth in the region is 536, Wice noted. The KY 536 - Mt. Zion Road improvement project is a multi-phase, 25-year initiative to upgrade a critical east-west corridor across Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties, according to OKI.

Wice believes the area has needed to be renovated on for more than 20 years, with all the growth in Independence and other cities in the area. When that project is finished, it will be suitable for the future with the growing population.

“Once 536 opens, you shouldn't have to do any maintenance on that for even repaving or anything like that, for 10 plus years, because they are building that with anticipation of what the future traffic might be, not the current traffic,” Wice said.

Senior planner and demographer at OKI, Michael Outrich, sees population growth as most affecting our aging infrastructure. He believes the development Northern Kentucky is building is not financially sustainable for the long term.

Water and sewer also fall into the category of infrastructure. Drummond believes the population growth isn’t a huge strain on water, but pressure might come from an economic development side.

“When you compare residential water use versus industrial water use, you’re not going to see a lot of strain given from the population and residential side,” Drummond said. “It’s going to be something you may talk about from an economic development standpoint, like a data center that comes in and needs a lot of water to do a lot of high-tech cooling. That is something that has been a place strain on the water infrastructure, not necessarily residents.”

If growth in the region continues, Outrich believes there will be risk, especially in our existing infrastructure. He cited the National Infrastructure Report Card, in which Kentucky was given a C grade.

“It’s not good, it’s where we put our money. It’s what we invest in; it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what the future problem center will be if we’re not fixing some of the problems we have now,” Outrich said. “It’s a hard question to answer. I don’t like it, I don’t like where it’s going to go.”

Wice has seen how infrastructure has changed with the growth in the region. He saw this when 3-L Highway was redone from Covington to Independence, going from a two-lane road to a four-lane road. He believes that infrastructure projects like this will keep advancing, just like this one, because of elected officials.

Total population change in the state of Kentucky from 2020 to 2025, according to KyPolicy. (KyPolicy)

“As long as you have elected officials who want to continue investing in infrastructure and roads, I think they will and I don’t think they will stop,” Wice said. “We need to make sure we’re consistently planning with all of our partners to make sure we’re looking down the road in the future so we’re not in a bad situation with infrastructure for the next generation.”

Drummond said the future investments the region needs to focus on are from an economic development standpoint. He believes that site development and getting the right infrastructure to sites are crucial.

“If a business can’t get access to the right types of infrastructure, the water, the electricity, then they’re just simply going to look for another site,” Drummond said. “We view getting those sites ready and having them have the infrastructure that is needed as a top priority.”

Pickering believes the most important infrastructure investments to support population growth are in the way of getting ready for future creation, like EV and multi-use infrastructure.

“We really need to prepare our roads for electrification for EVs, electric vehicles,” Pickering said. “Electrification is increasing with building the multi-use path, bike paths and the pedestrian paths…making neighborhoods smarter. It would be safer for pedestrians and help with the movement of population growth.”

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