The city of Newport is ramping up its accessibility with the addition of three new Red Bike stations.
Red Bike, the Cincinnati area’s popular bike-sharing program, announced in a press release that they will be adding a few new locations for residents and visitors to utilize. With four locations scattered throughout the city, Newport will now be home to seven bike stations.
“More Red Bike opportunities in Newport encourages exercise, reduces car traffic, promotes use of public transportation and fits in well with other local health initiatives like ‘Live Well Newport at the Levee,’ ” said Commissioner Fennell in a press release. “Biking, instead of car travel, encourages people to visit various parts of town on a more intimate level. Touring the town from bike level and outside of a car has numerous benefits and fosters a more intimate relationship with your surroundings.”
The new stations will be located at Bernadette Watkins Park on the city’s west side; in front of the Newport City Building in the center of Newport; and at the Campbell County Library’s Newport branch on the east side of town.
The city’s commissioner and assistant city managers worked together to secure a $106,636 grant for the stations through their partnership with Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
In addition to the grant, the stations received a contribution of $15,000 from Newport-based Southbank Partners, “which coordinates and promotes economic and community development in Northern Kentucky’s river cities,” according to the release.
“At Southbank, we work every day to improve the connectivity between the river cities and as well as the ability to walk and bike within those cities,” said Southbank President Jack Moreland in the same release. “Red Bike does all of that and more and is a perfect fit for the Riverfront Commons trails that is being developed and will eventually connect all of our river cities. This is just another great reason to visit Newport.”
The locations of these stations are important for the community, the press release states, bringing more traffic to the neighborhood’s west side, where improvements are welcoming new residents and businesses and assisting library and city government visitors.
The Newport stations will offer riders both traditional bikes and the recently implemented E-Bikes, which have an electric-assist feature that allows bikers to enjoy longer, easier rides.
“The E-Bikes are really a game changer,” Barron said. “The E-Bikes make traveling by bicycle much more practical. They allow riders to go farther and faster, all with a little less effort. Plus, they help tackle our many hills.”
See the full map of Red Bike stations here.
This article appears in Aug 7-14, 2019.