Newport, KY – Tri-State Trails, in partnership with The Devou Good Project, will launch a new program called Connect NKY to expand active transportation infrastructure in Northern Kentucky. Bicycling advocates have galvanized around an idea to encourage positive change for all road users in response to the “NKY Hates Bicyclists” Facebook group that received public attention in September 2018.

Connect NKY is a privately-funded challenge that enables individuals, organizations and their respective cities to actively improve bike and pedestrian connections for their community. Government entities and nonprofit organizations are encouraged to submit a proposal to receive technical assistance to pilot a pedestrian or bicycling infrastructure improvement. 

The goal of Connect NKY is to advance safe, supportive, and equitable infrastructure through a community-powered process of testing and building more people-centric infrastructure. This process, typically referred to as Tactical Urbanism, has been successfully used around the world to rapidly and inexpensively prototype new street configurations that better serve the needs of pedestrians and bicyclists. In turn, this process can inform permanent investment.

“We hope Connect NKY can serve as a model to demonstrate how local governments can better engage the community when planning pedestrian and bicycling facilities,” said Wade Johnston, Director of Tri-State Trails at Green Umbrella. “By piloting an infrastructure idea, we get an opportunity to inexpensively see how it works in the real world before investing precious taxpayer dollars to make it permanent.”

Connect NKY is made possible by the generous support of The Devou Good Project. “We’re excited to partner on this innovative project,” said Matt Butler, Chair of Special Projects at The Devou Good Project. “We hope Connect NKY can show Northern Kentucky residents and leaders the tremendous potential we have to become more walkable, bikeable and livable.”
Connect NKY will provide technical expertise of YARD & Company to work with the selected community in engaging, designing, and implementing the tactical demonstration project in spring 2019. Tri-State Trails is hosting a workshop about the Request for Proposals process on February 12 at 4pm at ROAD iD in Covington.  Residents, government representatives, and elected officials are encouraged to attend. For more information about Connect NKY, visit ConnectNKY.org.