A number of people have asked the City about the delay in finishing the final phases of the Riverfront Common’s river’s-edge trail, so we are providing this background information about this project and the reason it has been delayed.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (“KYTC”) must approve all design plans for projects receiving federal funding, which Riverfront Commons in Dayton receives. Phase I of this trail was approved by KYTC and completed in 2020. KYTC approved the design plans for Phase II in 2022, but when the City received the construction bids after they were advertised, they were nearly $1 million higher than the prior City Engineer’s estimate.

Because of this projected deficit, the city asked its new City Engineer to redesign Phase II of the trail to address issues that caused the cost increase. The City also submitted a new grant request for additional federal funding to cover the increased costs. In October 2023, the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) Board approved our application for further funding for $571,220 to construct Phase II of the trail.

During this same period, the City Engineer prepared design plans for Phase III of the trail and submitted these plans, along with updated Phase II design plans, to KYTC for its review on February 16, 2023. On January 14, 2024, the City Engineer submitted refined plans to KYTC showing additional design information caused by construction of the the new Velo Riverside apartment building near the end of trail.

From 2023 through the current date in  2024, both the design plans for the final two phases have been undergoing “environmental review” by KYTC. KYTC informed the City Engineer late last month that KYTC’s District 6 preservation coordinator sent the Phase II and III design plans to the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), along with 12 other projects, for SHPO’s review and approval.

The City Engineer asked KYTC if the Riverfront Commons project could be moved to the top of this project stack at SHPO and KYTC District 6 confirmed to the City Engineer that this project would have priority at SHPO. Late on Friday, Sept. 6, the City Engineer learned that the SHPO had approved the design plans for the final two phases of the Riverfront Commons project.

Now that the SHPO has approved the design plans for this project, KYTC needs to provide its final sign-off of the design plans for Phase II and III. Once the City receives this final approval, it is required to advertise for construction bids for a minimum period of three weeks. The City Engineer has already prepared a construction bid packet for both Phase II and  III, and the City is ready to advertise for this construction work as soon as KYTC issues its final approval.

The hope is that this approval will be forthcoming in short order so the city can solicit construction bids this fall. Once a contractor is selected to do the construction work, the City is hopeful that this contractor can undertake preliminary construction work on the final two phases of the trail — such as tree removal and grading work — this calendar year, with actual construction of the remaining portion of the river’s-edge trail starting in earnest in the spring of 2025 and with completion of the complete trail a few months later.