Licking River Greenway ideas heading to the public

The first design phase of the Licking River Greenway project has been completed, and Vision 2015 is taking the ideas to the public for feedback.

The idea for the project sprang from the Vision 2015 visioning process, which identified parks and open spaces as a quality of life and an economic development issue.

The group then decided to take the lead on its development as part of a much larger effort to improve parks and green spaces in the Northern Kentucky region, such as Southbank Partners' plan for Riverfront Commons.

"It just seemed like a natural to many people, considering the high-profile effort to develop a greenway and trails along the Ohio River," says Mike Phillips, Vision 2015 park initiatives coordinator.

Engineering and design firms Woolpert Inc. and Human Nature Inc. have been hired to plan the Greenway from the Ohio River to I-275, a five-mile stretch lining both banks of the Licking.

Working alongside the designers is an advisory committee representing all of the jurisdictions along the river, as well as citizens skilled in such fields as hydrology and aquatic biology.

Phillips says that they have scheduled dozens of presentations with neighborhood groups, elected officials, and key property owners.

"The Greenway will be a great stimulator of neighborhood park development along the Licking," Phillips says.  "Several excellent opportunities have been identified, and the cities they fall into are excited about them.  We think these grassroots additions to a regional asset like the Greenway will add great value to our urban core neighborhoods and stimulate redevelopment."

Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Source: Mike Phillips, park initiatives coordinator, Vision 2015
Photography by Scott Beseler