NKwhy?: How our local bridges earned their names

BY MAGGY MCDONEL | LINK nky DIGITAL EDITOR

With Cincinnati just across the river, many Northern Kentuckians traverse one of the bridges that span the divide each day for work.

In Campbell County, 37% of workers cross state lines for work. That number is 27% in Kenton and 18% in Boone, according to the Northern Kentucky Atlas.

Even those without jobs across the river travel back and forth to restaurants, bars and shops, to visit friends and family and even to watch sports and place bets.

Needless to say, the bridges that cross the divide into Cincinnati get a lot of traffic.

For those from the Greater Cincinnati area, you know the names of each of the bridges by heart – sometimes maybe not by the official name, but a name nonetheless.

This made us wonder: Where do their names come from?

Brent Spence Bridge

Working left to right as we look into Ohio, let’s start with the Brent Spence Bridge. The Brent Spence, often shortened to BSB, is a very popular item of discussion on both sides of the river and has been for decades.

It has gained national recognition in the past few years after it closed in 2020 for about six weeks when a truck carrying chemicals was involved in a wreck with another semitruck, causing a fire in the middle of the bridge.

President Joe Biden even stopped by earlier this year to tout the $1.6 billion in federal funding being promised to create an entirely new companion bridge, which will carry much of the traffic that the 60-yearold bridge currently carries.

Originally opened in November 1963, the double-decker structure carries travelers on Interstates 71/75 from Covington into downtown Cincinnati and vice versa. The bridge’s namesake is Kentucky’s longest-serving congressman, Brent Spence.

Spence was a native of Newport who was both an attorney and banker. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati, the Democratic congressman was in office from 1931 to 1963.

Clay Wade Bailey Bridge

Right next to the Brent Spence sits the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge, which carries U.S. Routes 42 and 127 over the Ohio River. This small bridge mainly carries local traffic, avoiding much of the craziness on the Brent Spence.

Built in 1974 for $13.5 million, the bridge gets its moniker from a Kentucky Post reporter. Clay Wade Bailey spent much of his 46-year reporting career as a Frankfort correspondent.

John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge

This historic bridge has spanned the great Ohio River for over 150 years, bringing car and pedestrian traffic from Covington into Cincinnati and back.

It was the longest bridge in the world when it was built in 1867, at 1,075 feet. Its eye-catching blue color and tall spires make it a truly iconic landmark.

The bridge was named after the civil engineer who designed it, John A. Roebling, who went on to design the Brooklyn Bridge.

According to the Covington-Cincinnati Suspension Bridge Committee, a group focused on preserving the bridge, when it was built, the Roebling was considered an “engineering marvel” that used state-ofthe-art engineering techniques, including its double cables that were “spun” and imported from England.

Taylor–Southgate Bridge

Moving across the Licking River into Campbell County, we’ve got the Taylor–Southgate Bridge, which crosses from Newport into downtown Cincinnati.

The construction of this structure was a bit complicated, with it originally being proposed for Covington in the mid-1980s. Issues between the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and the city of Cincinnati stopped the progress until 1991. Funding problems came into play, which slowed things even further, but it was eventually built in 1995.

The name combines two prominent Newport families, the Taylors and the Southgates.

James Taylor Jr. was a wealthy banker and slave owner who came to Newport in the 1700s from his father’s plantation with three enslaved men, who worked to develop the land that is now Newport.

Appointed the commonwealth attorney for Campbell County in 1798, Richard Southgate moved to Newport from Virginia in 1795; he became a state representative in 1803 and was a Kentucky senator from 1817-1821.

Purple People Bridge

Formerly the Newport & Cincinnati Bridge, the Purple People Bridge was originally a railroad bridge built in 1872. It was the first railroad bridge to span the Ohio River.

The historic structure has changed names several times. In 1904, its moniker was changed to the L&N (Louisville and Nashville) Railroad Bridge. Soon after, part of the bridge was paved for cars, and in 1987, it was closed to railroad traffic.

In 2001, it became a pedestrian-only bridge, and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2002, the Kentucky Legislature agreed to spend $4 million on restoration. At the time, the CSX Railroad and the state owned the bridge. The state donated its portion to Southbank Partners, and CSX Railroad donated its to the city of Newport.

Newport and Southbank Partners created the nonprofit corporation The Purple People Bridge Co., which maintains the bridge to this day.

The organization chose the color purple after it showed computer-generated images of the bridge in various colors to focus groups. It said that green and purple were the top choices; and after some thought, the group ended up going with purple.

Daniel Carter Beard Bridge

The Daniel Carter Beard Bridge carries eight lanes of Interstate 471 traffic from Newport into Cincinnati.

Built in 1976, the bridge’s official name comes from one of the Boy Scouts of America founders, Daniel Carter Beard. Beard was a Cincinnati-born author, illustrator and youth leader who originally founded the Sons of Daniel Boone, which eventually merged with the Boy Scouts of America.

Much to the chagrin of the Boy Scouts, the structure is often colloquially referred to as the “Big Mac” bridge. This nickname comes from its double yellow arch structure resembling the McDonald’s “golden arches” logo.

Foursome wins 33rd annual Point/Arc Golf Classic – again

event, which supports the Covington-based nonprofit organization The Point/Arc.

The Point/Arc was founded in 1972 to assist people diagnosed with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The nonprofit organization serves more than 1,400 people annually through its programs and services.

Kenton County leaders to meet with state legislators about road projects

A foursome that has won previous Point/ Arc Golf Classic titles again walked away with the hardware.

The foursome of Dave Wurtenberger, Rick Hoblitzell, Gary Hanser and Dank Theissen shot a 12-under par and was crowned champions at The Point/Arc’s Golf Classic held at Triple Crown Golf and Country Club in Union on July 17.

A record 27 teams attended the daylong

Mayors and other public officials from Kenton County identified several road improvement and expansion projects to focus on and set a date to meet with state legislators during a meeting on July 15.

Erlanger Mayor Jessica Fette broke down the projects into three categories: road expansion projects already on the books, possible future road projects and the maintenance of existing roads.

The group discussed several projects, including the expansion of KY 536, work at I-275 and Turkeyfoot Road, and ongoing maintenance on Madison Avenue in Covington and Dixie Highway in Lakeside Park. Group members also talked about potential projects, and the attendees shared different roads in the region they’d like to see improved.

“One of the roads that really gets overlooked is River Road,” said Villa Hills Mayor Heather Jansen, as an example, “because it’s falling into the river.”

Jansen said she hoped investment into maintenance on River Road could help drive economic expansion by creating opportunities for ports and connections to Boone County.

The attendees discussed strategies for bringing their desires to the state.

They talked about a former consensus group through the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and a municipal government league. However, many believed that such groups were too broad in their focus, at least for the issue of roads in the county.

“This is about Kenton County,” said Taylor

Mill Mayor Daniel Bell, who had previously served in both groups and claimed they weren’t effective for securing local interests.

Independence Mayor Chris Reinersman thought so, as well, and many in the group thought it would be better to have everyone on the same page regarding what they would lobby the state for.

“I like the idea of keeping this a local government initiative,” Reinersman said.

“Taylor Mill won’t get a dime out of (KY) 536,” Bell said, as an example of a project he thought was worth focusing on. “I know that it will generate revenue for the county and jobs for all of us.”

He also said the county needed greater east-west access, which he said would drive economic growth.

“Stevenson Road – our east-west access is terrible,” Bell said. “Traffic is horrendous. 275’s not going to get less traffic. It’s going to get more traffic, so we need alternative corridors to handle this kind of traffic that we have coming through Kenton County.”

Ultimately, the mayors agreed to meet with several state legislators at the Erlanger city building on July 28.

The meeting will be unofficial and not an open meeting. Likewise, no official action will be taken at the meeting.

The next meeting of the Kenton County Mayors Group will take place on Aug. 19 at the city of Ludlow’s General Offices on Elm Street.

Worker seriously injured after pole fell on him in Covington

A worker was in the hospital with serious injuries after a pole fell on him near Taylor Mill Elementary in Covington on July 18, police said.

Covington police said they are considering the incident a workplace accident.

A spokesperson with Kenton County Schools said the worker who was hurt was not an employee of Kenton County.

A construction site is located near the elementary school, but officials did not confirm whether that’s where the pole fell.

Man gets life-plus-20 sentence for 2022 murder, robbery of Covington man walking home

Zachary Ron Holden will serve life in prison and an additional 20 years for his part in a robbery that resulted in the murder of a 60-year-old man in Covington in 2022.

A judge sentenced Holden on July 17 to life in prison for the murder charge and an additional 20 years to serve consecutively for the first-degree robbery charge.

Holden is one of two people who were arrested for the death of Virgil Stewart, who was shot and killed on the 15th Street Bridge while walking home from work in September 2022.

Latoya Dale was also arrested and charged with first-degree robbery and murder. When investigators traced Stewart’s death back to Holden, he was already being held in the Boone County Jail on a separate robbery charge.

At the time of Stewart’s murder, Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders said Holden and Dale appeared to

“execute a strong-arm robbery” and Stewart was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Witnesses described seeing two people standing over him … demanding that he give it up, give the money, or something of that effect,” Sanders said. “He unfortunately died of his injuries.”

Sanders said the suspects got away with $6 from Stewart before he died.

“Absolutely tragic that someone would lose their life over $6. I wish I could say it’s shocking. It’s only shocking in the enormity of the loss,” Sanders said.

Investigators were able to identify a suspicious vehicle they believe was fleeing from the scene after poring over Ring doorbell camera footage from the area for over a month. That ultimately led police to Dale, Sanders said.

Dale is scheduled to reappear in court in August. She has been held on a $1 million cash bond since her arrest in September 2022.

City of Covington seeks part-time receptionist

The city of Covington is seeking a receptionist to work the front desk at Covington City Hall on a part-time basis, according to a recent announcement on the city’s Facebook page.

“The primary responsibility of this position is to provide day-to-day secretarial, clerical, and administrative support to ensure that municipal services are provided in an effective and efficient manner,” the announcement said. “Receiving and routing incoming calls, greeting visitors to City Hall and providing general information and assistance to the public.”

The shift that the city is hiring for is Monday through Friday from noon to 4:30 p.m.

The city is offering $16.55 an hour for the entry-level position. A full description of the role and an application portal are available on the city’s website, covingtonky.gov.