Mayor wants trucks banned from bridge

Officials want to keep trucks off the span during commute times.

CINCINNATI (AP) — A heavily traveled bridge spanning the Ohio River from Kentucky to Ohio had one of the highest crash rates in the nation between 1995 and 2003, U.S. Department of Transportation data showed, a statistic the mayors of nearby counties hope to use in their attempt to ban trucks from the bridge during rush hour commutes.

Officials in the Kentucky and Ohio want to keep trucks off the bridge during morning and evening commute times to reduce crashes and congestion, Covington, Ky., Mayor Butch Callery said.

The Brent Spence Bridge averaged 22.8 wrecks per lane-mile each year from 1995 to 2003, the Department of Transportation data showed. That places it near the top of the list of crash-prone bridges, led by the George Washington Bridge with 225.5 crashes per mile. Two other New York City Bridges rounded out the top three with crash rates between 49.4 and 67.5.

Brent Spence was labeled “functionally deficient” by the transportation department because it was intended to carry 80,000 vehicles a day and now handles about 150,000. Its too-narrow lanes and lack of breakdown lanes also contribute to a high number of rear-end crashes.

From January 2002 through July 2007, Cincinnati police were dispatched to the bridge 1,558 times, including 365 wrecks that had no injuries and 66 wrecks with an injury, police data showed.

Callery gave the information about the conditions on Brent Spence Bridge to Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory. Mallory said his transportation staff will look into the matter this week and see if surrounding mayors agree to restricting trucks on the bridge.

Callery ultimately wants another bridge built to replace the Brent Spence Bridge.