Dedication Ceremony to be Held for Memorial of Northern Kentucky Woman Killed in Hit-and-Run

Gloria San Miguel would have been proud to know that part of her legacy included safer roads for cyclists and pedestrians.

A cyclist herself, as well as a mother, partner, neighborhood friend and Roebling Point Books & Coffee employee, San Miguel was a beloved member of the Northern Kentucky community. On Aug. 20, 2022, San Miguel was struck by a vehicle while riding her bike across the 11th Street bridge that spans the Licking River and connects Newport to Covington. She did not survive the hit-and-run incident.

A year-and-a-half after her tragic death, plans to honor San Miguel's life have materialized, complete with components that aim to make biking and walking through Northern Kentucky neighborhoods safer. Go With Glo Corner was created as a memorial and informational station for the public to use and enjoy.

“You try to find out of the darkness the light of saying, not everything is lost. We should be able to use her memory as a catalyst for improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists,” Richard Hunt, owner of Roebling Point Books & Coffee tells CityBeat.

Thursday, which is San Miguel’s birthday, Go With Glo Corner will see its official introduction to the neighborhood. On Feb. 22 at 11 a.m., outside of the Roebling Point Books & Coffee Covington location on Greenup Street, a ceremonial opening of Go With Glo Corner will commence. During the dedication, friends and community leaders will speak about San Miguel and Go With Glo Corner.

Made possible by a grant from the City of Covington, Go With Glo Corner is complete with “book benches,” a bike stand and a map that includes Northern Kentucky landmarks, trails and community partners. Plans for the corner to include a tree garden will be underway in the spring. The idea for the corner is not only to memorialize San Miguel, but to attract visitors to either enjoy the benches, use the bike rack or read informational maps that point out safe or “low-pressure” walking and cycling routes.
The maps, which were designed by Tri-State Trails, offer alternative routes to busy thoroughfares like Fifth and Fourth streets or Greenup Street, which leads vehicles and pedestrians over the John A. Roebling Bridge.

“People whip down Greenup and they're coming off of the Roebling and hitting those turns at 30 miles an hour. We have too many near-misses to think that everything's safe in the neighborhood,” Hunt says. “And we just wanted to raise awareness. We thought by having a few very visible things, either the signage or the benches, that people would stop and see some of the background information that we think is so important.”

At Go With Glo Corner, two large regional maps line the street, creating a nook where two book benches are nestled between trees. The book benches sit across from one another. Two giant books, pages fanned open where visitors can sit, are painted to represent things San Miguel loved and also one of her favorite books.

ArtWorks artist Hanna Smith painted the benches with colorful scenes from Wendell Berry’s The Mad Farmer Poems and the fable of the Three Little Pigs.

“The scenes on the benches reflect things she loved,” Hunt says. “Her guitar is painted on the side of one. She did a lot with urban gardening, and then Wendell Berry’s book on the back of one bench, The Mad Farmer Poems, was one of her favorite books. And then the Three Little Pigs on the back of the other one is the book she loved reading with [her daughter].”

Hunt says that during the dedication, he hopes people come to remember San Miguel and that it acts as part of their healing or grieving processes.

“We want people to feel welcome to come and sit,” he says. “To look at the maps, find safer routes through our communities. And then, really, maybe bring people back together again. It's been a year and a half. It’s also the culmination of a year-and-a-half's effort to bring this together.”

Made possible by community partners’ donations, labor or support, Hunt says, along with a grant from the City of Covington, Go With Glo Corner will be ready for public use Thursday after the dedication. Hunt says he hopes that the future brings opportunities for multiple installments of Go With Glo Corner in other neighborhoods around Northern Kentucky.

The Go With Glo Corner dedication ceremony is Feb. 22 at 11 a.m. at 306 Greenup St., Covington.


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