ELSMERE, Ky. — Leaders and residents from three Northern Kentucky cities are voicing concerns over a state proposal to reduce Dixie Highway to one lane in each direction with a center turn lane.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has been meeting with officials from Erlanger, Florence and Elsmere as part of a listening tour after announcing the so‑called “road diet,” which officials say would improve safety along the busy corridor. The first of three public engagement sessions was held Tuesday in Elsmere.
Elsmere Mayor Marty Lenhof said he worries traffic will spill into neighborhood streets if the highway is narrowed.
“My concern is with the backups on the expressway … everybody comes down Dixie Highway,” Lenhof said. “Once you turn it into a one lane north and one lane south, a lot of those people will probably cut through our neighborhoods.”
Erlanger Mayor Jessica Fette said the city’s own analysis found longer wait times for drivers turning from side streets onto Dixie Highway — up 50% at some intersections.
“The most egregious in our mind was turning from Commonwealth or Stevenson onto Dixie Highway,” Fette said. “It’s going to negatively impact our residents severely.”
While KYTC maintains the project is intended to enhance safety and maintain access for businesses along Dixie Highway, some residents remain skeptical.
“They’re not listening at all,” resident Eric Bunzow said after attending the Elsmere meeting. “The three cities have already said, absolutely not. Why? Why? If they’re going to do it, they need to widen the road. But they don’t have the means to do that.”
The proposed configuration would affect Dixie Highway from Turfway Road to Commonwealth Avenue, converting the road into one lane in each direction with a center turn lane.
Bob Yeager, chief district engineer for KYTC District 6, said this road diet configuration would reduce crashes. He said there have been 640 crashes reported along this corridor in the last five years.
"We are removing the travel portion of the roadway four feet away from the sidewalk and four feet away from the utility poles, which have also been struck because they're right between the sidewalk and the pavement," Yeager said.
WATCH: How the proposed reconfiguration is being received by Northern Kentucky residents
Nancy Holian is the owner of Holian Granite and Bronze, which has been located along the Dixie Highway corridor for about 40 years.
"Where we are, there's accidents nearly every week," Holian said. "It's just it's frightful."
While state officials say the change could make the road safer, some local businesses worry it could slow down traffic and deter customers.
"We were so surprised with no notification that they're trying to do one lane each way, in a center turn lane. I just can't even imagine what that's going to be, and my concern is that people are going to say we're not going that way," Holian said.
KYTC will host their next public meeting in Florence on April 23.
"(The community wants) to be involved, and they would like to know why we're doing this and how we're doing this and how it's going to impact them," Yeager said.
Fette said the transportation cabinet has paused the project and is gathering input from city engineers, school districts, transit agencies and drivers.
“When I say they pumped the brakes, they actually did,” Fette said. “This is not an already decided project yet. Be present, be an active participant in this decision, because your voice truly matters.”
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