Advocates call on Covington leaders to make changes for bicyclists’ safety

For bicyclists in Northern Kentucky, every turn comes with challenges — especially on the 4th and 11th Street bridges between Newport and Covington.

"I travel across those bridges on my bike. I worry, I worry that I'm going to get hit," bicyclist Carl Fox said. "I feel like there are times I’ve been purposely intimidated, I’ll put it that way.”

Statistics gathered by the Devou Good Foundation show some drivers on the 11th Street Bridge go as fast as 67 miles per hour, more than twice the posted speed limit.

"It's hard to understand where you're supposed to safely travel," Queen City Bike president Joe Humpert said. "And it's where a good friend of mine passed away."

Gloria San Miguel was killed while riding her bike with her partner along the 11th Street Bridge on Aug. 20. Following her death, Devou Good Foundation presented a solution to protect cyclists by creating a barrier wall and protected bike line. The nonprofit offered to pay for the changes, but the Kentucky Transportation of Cabinet's response only spoke of painting "share the road" onto the road.

Before the foundation lays its plan out to the city Wednesday, advocates spoke at Covington City Hall about the need for bike safety on the bridges.

"The state has punted the ball to you," resident Pat LaFleur said. "Will you catch it? And run with it? For us."

One by one, bicyclists pushed for change.

Jake Lee read a message penned by San Miguel's significant other.

"Every time the door opens at the house, Luna thinks it's her mother. Every time she sees a group of cyclists, she asks, 'Is one of them mom?'" Lee read. "Every time Luna sees a picture of Gloria, she says I can't wait for mom to get home from work. Think of your family, and about the families in this community that ride or walk on a daily basis. I'm begging you to do what's necessary to make these roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

"The fact is that this problem won't go away. The longer we ignore it, the more our community will get hurt, or worse, never come home."

Covington commissioners said the message was heard.

"Seeing you all here speak this passionately ignites a flame for us to advocate that much harder when we go to the state with the plans we'll talk about tomorrow," commissioner Shannon Smith said.

Mayor Joe Meyer said before public comment the city is in favor of designated bike lanes but had not been presented with any alternatives to the current setup.

WCPO will continue to update this story with more information when it is received.

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