Beshear announces funding for Kenton County

Yesterday, Governor Beshear issued this press release:

COVINGTON, Ky. — Gov. Steve Beshear, joined by local officials, today announced over $1.7 million in federal funding to various Kenton County communities. The funding is from two programs – Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) and Safe Routes to School (SRTS). Both programs go hand in hand with Gov. Beshear’s emphasis on investing in local communities.

“My administration is working to help communities thrive,” said Gov. Beshear. “This funding will help provide the citizens of Kenton County with projects that promote community pride and enhance quality of life.”

The projects announced today include:

• City of Ludlow – $40,000, SRTS
  This funding will allow construction of a new sidewalk and improve pedestrian crossing at two intersections to provide safe travel for students of Ludlow High School, Ludlow Middle School and Mary A. Goetz Elementary School. The Ludlow Independent School District serves an urban community, has only limited bus service, and the majority of students must walk to school.


• City of Crescent Springs – $163,840, SRTS
  The city of Crescent Springs will now be able to construct a quarter of a mile of sidewalks along Western Reserve Road from the Nordman Drive intersection to the Anderson Road intersection. Students of St. Joseph School will gain a safe route to and from school from the surrounding neighborhoods.


• Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky $1,521,328, CMAQ
  The Transit Authority of Northern Kentucky will purchase five full-size, fixed route replacement buses with these funds. The buses are 40-foot, low-floor buses equipped with bike racks, security cameras and wheelchair lifts. The current fleet includes 101 fixed route buses, which are set on a 12-year replacement cycle averaging eight new buses per year to maintain a safe, reliable fleet. This transportation improvement will greatly benefit the economic development of Northern Kentucky by continuing to connect employers with employees and by improving the overall efficiency of the transportation network.

CMAQ provides a flexible funding source for state and local governments to fund transportation projects and programs to help meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act and its amendments. The CMAQ Program supports two important goals of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet: improving air quality and relieving congestion.

CMAQ funds support transportation projects that reduce mobile source emissions in areas designated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as in nonattainment or maintenance of National Ambient Air Quality Standards.

Safe Routes to School projects are designed to encourage students in kindergarten through eighth grade to walk or ride bicycles to school – getting exercise and reducing motor vehicle traffic at the same time. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet administers the program in Kentucky.

The cabinet’s Office of Local Programs administers the grants and will contact recipient communities within a couple of weeks. More information about the federal programs are available at http://tea21.ky.gov/.