The impact that comes with the closing of the Simon Kenton Memorial Bridge is just beginning to be felt by the two communities on opposite banks of the Ohio River which will be most affected by the move.
Earlier this summer, an inspection of the historic span revealed corrosion damage to several suspender cables. State highway engineers put the bridge on a monthly inspection rotation, and began planning both short- and long-term improvements. A weight limit reduction designed to keep anything beyond passenger cars and pickup trucks from using the bridge was put in place.
During the November inspection, conducted Monday, engineers did not like what they saw, officials said. After consulting with state and district engineers, the decision to close the bridge until repairs are made was reached. Getting from one side of the river to the other now means a trip a few miles west to reach the newer William Harsha Bridge.
Closure of the bridge means it is closed to all traffic — vehicles, bicycles and even pedestrians, officials said Wednesday.
Now area residents must deal with the closure and how it will affect everything from their buying habits to daily commute.
“The bridge is one of the lifelines for commerce and tourism for downtown,” Maysville City Manager Matt Wallingford said. Officials agreed the closure could not have come at a worse time of year with the holiday shopping season just getting started.
“I don’t like it but I understand it,” Wallingford said of the decision to close the bridge. Safety for travelers is paramount as is preservation of the bridge, an iconic symbol of the area, he said.
The repair project includes installation of temporary support rods and brackets at 19 locations adjacent to damaged suspender cables – the vertical cables extending from the main suspension cable that support the bridge’s driving surface – as a short-term safety measure and to hopefully return the bridge to a more normal weight limit while longer-term repairs are considered.
The work will be done by Judy C. Harp Company, Inc., under a $254,535 low-bid Kentucky Transportation Cabinet contract.
The contractor has until April 15 to complete the work but officials said work could be finished sooner and the bridge reopened.
Wallingford said he has been in contact with Allen Blair of KYTC’s District 9 office and he plans to work with the city to ease the impact as much as possible.
“He’s going to work with us to get signage (on entrances to Maysville on Kentucky 8, Kentucky 9 and other areas) to make sure we get people funneled into the downtown,” Wallingford said.
Aberdeen City Council Member Billie Eitel said she expects there to be some impact on her community with the bridge entrances barricaded.
“I will say it will hurt some,” she said.
Restaurants and other businesses which depend on traffic from Maysville may feel the pinch, Eitel said.
She said she talked with someone at a business just a few days ago who she said was anticipating a loss in business to mirror the loss of access.
The councilwoman said the village may also experience a loss in revenue because of the closed bridge.
Eitel said she prefers to look at the closure from a positive perspective.
“If they found that much wrong, we are better off with it closed,” she said.
While the closure is certainly an inconvenience for many, it is a necessary move to preserve the bridge, Wallingford said.
“I hate it, but I get it,” he said.
A bit of good news is that the necklace lighting on the bridge will remain on during the closure, Wallingford said, unless repairs require those to be turned off at some point during the project.
The suspension bridge was built in 1931. Its main span is 1,060 feet long, and the total length of the bridge is 1,991 feet. The bridge was designed by Modjeski and Masters and was open to traffic on Nov. 25, 1931. While some of the cabling on the bridge may be original, much of it was replaced during previous rehabilitation efforts, officials said.
