click on any icon for specific streetscape opportunities and solutions
what is COVstreets?
COVstreets is a hub for Covington residents concerned to make streets safer, easier to navigate, and more welcoming for everybody who lives in, works in, and visits the quirky city we love. Soliciting input from every neighborhood, we advocate for streets, sidewalks, and bike paths designed for people first, no matter how folks travel: in cars and buses, on bicycles, and on foot.
COVstreets looks to connect people on every aspect of the streetscape, from sidewalk to sidewalk, and to facilitate cooperation among groups with different priorities – in order to craft a ‘complete streets’ regimen that represents the full range of Covington neighborhoods and voices
why COVstreets?
Even as nearby cities have redesigned streets for safety and a broader range of uses in recent years, Covington has fallen behind on common streetscape improvements – in 2025 Covington has four speedbumps, a handful of audible crosswalk signals, no protected bike lanes, and entire neighborhoods lacking sidewalks.
Covington doesn’t have a comprehensive streetscape agenda, so residents resort to proposing changes block-by-block and intersection-by-intersection. City staff lacks the resources to assess those suggestions, and even critical improvements take years to implement. And no matter how immediate the need, sometimes even dedicated voices don’t get through to a city hall that lacks the political will for sustained attention to safe streets.
COVstreets activates residents from every neighborhood to share ideas and build mutual support. Let’s say bike lanes aren’t a great fit for your neighborhood, and your priority is a more rational plan for street paving. Can you get behind bike lanes downtown if neighbors there advocate for paving on your block in return? Here’s the reality: you have a much better chance of getting traction at city hall if folks from five neighborhoods are on your side.
COVstreets is building the political critical mass we need to nudge city hall toward a sustained focus on street safety and coherent streetscape improvements throughout the city. That concerted effort can make every voice heard, support better streets, and build community all at the same time.
how does COVstreets work?
COVstreets starts from on-the-ground community input, building on front porch conversations from founder Aaron Wolpert’s 2024 campaign for city commissioner. Residents know who uses their streets and what improvements will work in their neighborhoods.
Sometimes, though, folks assume that their concerns apply only to this one stop sign down the block or to that one stretch where people drive too fast, and so don’t pursue a solution. Valid concerns, even when framed more generally, get lost in the shuffle of city business, if not outright dismissed by city staff and the board of commissioners.
This is where COVstreets comes in. Every streetscape concern has an analogue somewhere else in the city; in compiling and mapping hundreds of local problem spots, COVstreets turns those isolated intersections and missing sidewalks into common patterns that the city can’t ignore.
COVstreets connects disparate interest groups – from cyclists in Botany Hills to parents who want crosswalks in Latonia to drivers who want safe, well-maintained pavement in Hands Pike. COVstreets promises to leverage a shared concern with streetscapes into effective political action, forcing the mayor and commissioners to answer residents who band together for coherent, comprehensive change.