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Article Summary: One restaurant has already closed, several businesses report slower traffic, while others say they’ve actually gained customers. One month into the Brent Spence Bridge closures, the economic impact largely depends on where a business is located and who its customers were before construction began.
Instead of asking Is construction hurting Covington? — a more useful question is which businesses are getting hurt, and why are others doing just fine?
Covington Businesses React to the Brent Spence Bridge Closures
Stand outside Rosie’s Tavern on West Seventh Street during the dinner rush, and the traffic feels different.
Customers still arrive. Owner Dianne Gamble says getting into Covington has become noticeably harder since the Brent Spence Bridge closures began a month ago.
I feel we’re an island of Covington,
Gamble told WKRC, noting that visitors now have fewer ways into the city.
Just blocks away, another business is having a completely different month. Kung Brew says it’s actually seeing new customers due to the traffic changes. Meanwhile, Julie’s Consignment reports that business remains strong. Goodfellas, meanwhile, has watched sales decline.
The first month of construction hasn’t produced one single story. It’s produced several.
Lisse Steakhuis Becomes First Casualty of the Corridor Project
The closure that attracted the most attention was Lisse Steakhuis. The longtime restaurant announced it was closing, citing declining traffic caused by the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project.
Whether construction alone caused the closure is harder to determine. Pat Frew, executive director of the Covington Business Council, cautioned against assuming every restaurant closure traces back to bridge work.
There are always a variety of reasons that aren’t stated when restaurants close, Frew said. It’s easy to blame it on the bridge… but there could be a lot of other factors.
That distinction matters. Restaurants often operate on thin margins, so a business that was already struggling can tip over from a temporary drop in customers. Even when construction wasn’t the original problem, the impact can be severe. Lisse’s closure also fits a pattern playing out across the region’s restaurant scene. Here, rent, insurance costs, and thinning weekday traffic have pushed several operators past their breaking point independent of any single cause.
Geography Matters More Than the Brent Spence Ramp Closures Alone
The businesses reporting the biggest challenges appear to share something in common. Many depend on customers crossing the river from downtown Cincinnati. However, businesses that serve neighborhood residents may notice little difference. Or, they might even benefit if local traffic patterns shift in their favor.
That split explains why one block reports slower evenings while another reports new faces walking through the door. The bridge project hasn’t affected every customer equally. It has changed where those customers choose to go.
Northern Kentucky has seen this pattern before. When a fire shut down the southbound lanes of the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge carrying I-471 in November 2024, businesses just across the river in Newport split along nearly the same lines. Bourbon House Pizza on the Levee reported sales down roughly half, and Newport Pizza Company owners described a similar drop.
Meanwhile, Newport Business Council leadership noted that bars less dependent on cross-river traffic held up fine. The Party Source, straddling the Newport-Bellevue line, saw the same dynamic. Staff there said the drop hit hardest among customers who used to cross from the Ohio side.
In both cases, the deciding factor wasn’t the size of the business or the quality of what it sold. Instead, it was whether the business’s customer base depended on the bridge in the first place. This is a dynamic the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project has also reshaped on the Cincinnati side of the river. In that area, ramp closures have altered downtown access routes since late June.
The Long-Term Bet Behind the Brent Spence Bridge Construction
Nobody disputes that construction creates inconvenience. Even the Covington Business Council acknowledges businesses will feel discomfort during the project. The disagreement is about what happens afterward.
Supporters of the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project argue that modern infrastructure will eventually move more people through Covington. This could increase long-term economic activity — the same bet the wider region has placed on its transportation and logistics infrastructure. Frew believes that’s exactly what will happen. He says the completed project should ultimately bring more traffic into the city.
Kentucky is also preparing to spend $750,000 to promote businesses affected by the Brent Spence and Fourth Street bridge projects. Though officials haven’t yet announced details of the campaign, funding has been set aside.
The Real Test for Covington Is Still Ahead
One month is too early to know whether construction will permanently reshape Covington’s business districts. Summer tourism, vacation schedules, inflation, and changing consumer spending all influence sales independently of road closures.
The businesses that survive the next two or three years may not simply be the ones with the best food or products. They may be the ones with enough cash flow to withstand temporary disruptions while one of the region’s largest infrastructure projects unfolds outside their front door. Much as the Newport businesses that outlasted the I-471 closure did, largely on the strength of local customers who kept coming regardless of bridge traffic.
FAQs
Why did Lisse Steakhuis close?
The restaurant cited declining traffic from the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project, though Covington Business Council director Pat Frew cautioned that restaurant closures usually involve several factors, not just construction.
Are all Covington businesses losing customers because of the bridge closures?
No. The impact varies by location. Businesses that depend on customers crossing from downtown Cincinnati, like Rosie’s Tavern and Goodfellas, report slower traffic. Others, like Kung Brew and Julie’s Consignment, report steady or even improved business.
How long will the Brent Spence Bridge construction affect Covington?
The article doesn’t give a firm end date, but it notes that the disruption is expected to continue for as long as the corridor project is under construction, and that the real long-term effects on local business are unlikely to be clear for another two to three years.
Has this happened before in Northern Kentucky?
Yes. When a fire closed the southbound lanes of I-471’s Daniel Carter Beard Bridge in November 2024, Newport businesses split along similar lines — those dependent on Ohio-side traffic (like Bourbon House Pizza and The Party Source) lost significant sales, while less bridge-dependent businesses held steady.
What is Kentucky doing to help affected businesses?
The state is preparing to spend $750,000 to promote businesses affected by the Brent Spence and Fourth Street bridge projects, though officials haven’t released details of the campaign yet.
This article was developed using The Cincinnati Exchange’s proprietary AI-assisted editorial process. AI tools supported research, organization and drafting, while the final reporting, analysis, fact-checking and editorial judgment were reviewed and approved by a human editor.
