COVINGTON, Ky. — The coronavirus has overshadowed many other topics candidates put on their platform this year.

What You Need To Know

  • Coronavirus has dwarfed other campaign issues

  • The safety of the Brent Spence Bridge for once isn't a big issue

  • The bridge opened in 1963 and safety has been a concern in past elections

  • More cars cross the Ohio River using the bridge than it was built to withstand

 

A prime example being the double-decker Brent Spence Bridge in Northern Kentucky that connects travel from Ohio into Kentucky.

“The 2018, 2016, 2014 elections, this is the least I’ve heard about the Brent Spence Bridge in an election across all of those,” said Ryan Salzman, a political science professor at Northern Kentucky University.

Salzman has been following the issues and concerns for the region since he moved into the area in 2012.

“There’s very few answers. I’ve been living in this area for 8 years now and the issues is the same since the day we arrived,” Salzman said. “It’s a functionally obsolete bridge but safety is not at risk but every year that passes there’s seemingly an increased urgency around this issue.”

The bridge is outdated and there are capacity concerns, sight distance, and safety but it can still work, explains Salzman. 

The issue is a campaign topic for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Amy McGrath who is challenging incumbent Mitch McConnell.

“It may be makes a decent policy issue for her (McGrath), but for him (McConnell), he’s proving in this election he’s not going to address it but that may be logistical. He doesn't see it as something that’s going to damage his candidacy in Northern Kentucky so he’s not too worried about addressing it,” Salzman said.

Salzman points out that whenever the bridge does get fixed, help from the federal government will be critical with estimates ranging in billions of dollars.

The bridge opened in 1963. The initial capacity for the bridge was an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 cars per day. That has doubled in the last five decades.