How we missed our chance for a safer bridge

The Licking Valley Girl Scouts Bridge is the highway bridge that replaced the Shortway Bridge between Covington and Newport. When it opened in 2001, I immediately noticed the span had a major drawback: Despite the 4 wide lanes of road traffic, it had a sidewalk on only one side and no bike lane whatsoever.

I repeat, this was 2001 - hardly ancient history. By 2001, highway planners should have known to include better pedestrian and bike access, especially since the roadway invited vrooming cars and SUV's. I complained about this bitterly in the years after the bridge opened. I warned point-blank that this was a dangerous - possibly deadly - situation. I pleaded for years for this setup to be corrected.

These warnings were not heeded by highway officials. Last year, a woman was hit by a car and killed while riding a bicycle on this bridge. It was a hit-and-run. A few days ago, a motorist pleaded guilty to a series of charges stemming from the tragedy.

Some local residents pointed out that this was preventable but that nobody tries to remedy things like this until after someone is killed. With the stark decline of our cities in this decade, it's also been noted that Boone County is now vastly outpacing Covington and Newport in adding new bike amenities.

Since officials were warned that the bridge was dangerous and refused to fix it, we should look into criminal or civil penalties against our officials.