The City of Newport will soon move on a project to improve the appearance of Monmouth Street.

The effort includes the painting of light posts, benches, and garbage cans, the changing of street lights to LED bulbs, and an improved sidewalk appearance.

A lot of the current sidewalk pavers have fallen into disrepair many years before they were expected to, City Manager Tom Fromme said at this week's city commission meeting.

"We're still not sure why the pavers failed. They failed in different areas," Fromme said, noting that the 700 block of Monmouth near Dixie Chili was in particulatly bad shape. "The engineers are not sure. They should have lasted fifty years. They lasted fifteen and some should have been replaced three or four years ago."

This time around, the city will opt for stamped concrete instead of pavers, Fromme said.

The project will be put out for bid and multiple contractors will be sought for the various tasks. The city is expected to spend $225,000 in total on the project, funds from the federal community development block grant (CDBG) allocated to Newport.



Once the sidewalk work, which is expected to stretch from 10th to Third Streets on Monmouth, is approved by the Kentucky Heritage Council, it will be put out to bid. Fromme said the work should be completed during the current calendar year.

Meanwhile, new mast arms for traffic lights - after a lengthy bureaucratic process - will arrive next week and be installed in various spots where needed. "They were very costly and very time-consuming," Fromme told the city commission during its caucus meeting. "Third and Saratoga (Streets) have been down for almost two years, and not for a lack of trying. It's just a long process and very bureaucratic."

-Michael Monks, editor & publisher