Projects in Cincinnati and neighboring Northern Kentucky will see millions of dollars in support from federal grants distributed by the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments.
OKI today announced 24 winners of the $41 million in federal Transportation Alternative and Surface Transportation Block Grants, including several in and around Cincinnati.
The Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority will get $5,347,765 for clean diesel buses as part of a Smart Technologies Advancing Regional Transit Program the transit authority is launching. The money will be used to replace 40 buses in Metro's aging fleet, and to institute new, high-tech ways of tracking the maintenance needs of the vehicles.
Another large federal grant will go to efforts to replace the Western Hills Viaduct. The roughly $330 million project to replace the crumbling, circa-1931 double-deck span will need funds from Cincinnati, Hamilton County and the state and federal governments. The project will get $6 million in grants awarded by OKI.
Cincinnati Red Bike also came up big, grabbing a $500,000 grant to establish 20 more bike share stations and 200 more bikes in and around the city. Some of those bikes will be e-bikes, according to Red Bike's application.
A shared use path in west Covington along the Ohio River will get more than $700,000 in grants, and another shared use path in Dayton, Ky. will get $800,000.
“With unanimous support, the board of OKI has delivered a $41 million infrastructure package that will strengthen the eight-county region,” OKI Board President T.C. Rogers said in a statement. “Today’s awards are a meaningful investment in our multi- modal transportation network. These projects improve mobility and safety for drivers, transit riders, cyclistsand pedestrians. What’s more, they enhance quality of life."
A number of other trail and pedestrian projects in the Greater Cincinnati region also received funding via the grants. See all the grant winners and more information about the projects here.