A Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) pilot project will provide residents and businesses in Covington the opportunity to experience how well transparent noise walls work to dampen highway noise without blocking views to the local business district and beyond.

KYTC will soon begin working on the construction of transparent noise barriers along Crescent Avenue in Covington, located just to the west of Interstates 71 and 75 (I-71/75). See-through material will be used in the noise walls along a 1,000-foot stretch to cut down noise pollution from the highway without sacrificing sight lines to Downtown Cincinnati and the Ohio River.

“Of course, everyone is concerned with noise, but they’re also concerned with the loss of views in the area, particularly from Goebel Park and from the west side of the interstate looking toward the Cincinnati skyline or the Covington-Mainstrasse area,” said Gary Valentine, KYTC’s BSBC major project coordinator. “We heard that, so we started kicking around the idea of transparent noise barriers.”

Clear barriers have long been seen in coastal states and in Europe, and more recently have been adopted in Ohio and Tennessee. This project will be Kentucky’s first utilization of the concept. With completion expected in 2024, the pilot project is intended to provide the Covington community the opportunity to see transparent barriers in place before they provide feedback on final noise wall decisions for the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project.

Media Contacts

KYTC: Naitore Djigbenou – 502-782-4829
ODOT: Matt Bruning – (614) 466-6906

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