The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has granted the City of Fort Thomas $592,300 from the federal Transportation Alternative Program (TAP) to build sidewalks on North Fort Thomas Avenue. Currently there aren’t any sidewalks on this part of the Avenue.
“This grant award will provide sidewalk connectivity on the northernmost portion of the community, which is vital to our goal of pedestrian connectivity throughout the entire city,” said City Administrator Ron Dill.
The TAP grant will allow for infrastructure improvements in the city without any direct costs to the residents. Fort Thomas’ Comprehensive Plan emphasizes development of varying types of pedestrian accesses as a high priority, including sidewalks and trails. The development of these sidewalks will provide access for residents of this area of the community. It will also explore pedestrian corridors and opportunities for connectivity on a regional level.
“Since the City has a long-standing policy that extension of new sidewalks can only be considered if there are grants or other funding mechanisms to supplement construction costs, it is crucial that Fort Thomas received this federal and state grant opportunity,” said Dill. “We are very excited to be able to move forward with design and implementation of this project.”
The city has retained Southbank Partners, Inc. to manage this project. President of Southbank Partners, Jack Moreland, will work closely with the City of Fort Thomas to satisfy all the requirements of this project.
“I’m very thankful to Southbank for their tireless effort to help Fort Thomas obtain this grant, said Mayor Eric Haas. “We have been talking about the need for sidewalks on this stretch of Fort Thomas Avenue for many years, and I’m excited we are finally in a position to be able to proceed.”
