Published: January 13, 2006 04:04 pm            

Railroad says K&I Bridge won’t open to walkers

Officials hope to convince Norfolk Southern otherwise

A campaign to spearhead the opening of the Kentucky & Indiana Bridge to pedestrian and bike traffic has been nixed by the company that owns the railroad.

When asked about the possibility of opening the 1910 railroad span to walkers and bikers, Rudy Husband, a spokesperson for the Norfolk Southern Corp., said, “The answer is no. There’s significant liabilities when there’s an act to use a railroad for recreational purposes.”

According to a statistic from the Federal Railroad Administration, 482 nonrailroad employees nationwide were killed in 2004 while on railroad property and Husband said the 2005 numbers look to be even higher that that.

Individuals working on the Kentuckiana River Trail project that would connect the Indiana Greenway Project to the Louisville Waterfront and River Walk, named the K&I Bridge as an integral part of linking the nine mile loop from Floyd County to its metropolitan neighbor. The Kentuckiana River Trail will also run through Clark County.

“It’s a key link,” said Valla Ann Bolovschak, owner of the Admiral Bicknell Inn along Main Street and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’ appointee to the Greenway Commission.

While researching the project, Bolovschak came across a consent decree from Louisville’s Metropolitan Sewer District that earmarked $100,000 for public access to the K&I Bridge and said that another $50,000 was available for the project from the Louisville city government.

“The bridge is a connection to make it a complete project,” said David Karem, president of the Louisville Waterfront Development Corp.

Karem, Bolovschak and others have partnered together to get the bike-and-pedway started. They have received oral and written support for the Kentuckiana River Trail from Daniels, 9th District Rep. Mike Sodrel, Kentucky Congresswoman Anne M. Northrup and mayors from Jeffersonville, New Albany and Louisville.

Bolovschak remains optimistic about someday taking a walk on the K&I Bridge despite the railroad’s position.

“Rails-to-trails are happening all over the United States,” she said.

She intends to meet with Norfolk Southern Corp. officials at their Knoxville, Tenn., office in about two weeks to discuss the issue.

“We have this beautiful landmark, but it’s inactive,” Bolovschak said.



History of the Kentucky & Indiana Bridge

The Kentucky & Indiana Bridge was built starting in 1910 to handle local and urban services between New Albany and Louisville.

At the time it was constructed, the bridge was one of the largest and heaviest plain-truss bridges in the world. The K&I measures nearly 6,000 feet in length and is 225 feet tall at it’s highest point.

The bridge’s 70-foot width originally included two pairs of railroad lines flanked by wagon ways paved with wooden blocks. The railroad blocks handled automobile traffic until 1952, when they were replaced with steel gridwork.

It was closed to vehicular traffic in early 1979, when a road bed partially collapsed under the weight of an overloaded gravel truck.

Owned by the Norfolk Southern railroad company, more than 30 trains a day cross the bridge.

Information taken from the Clark-Floyd Counties Convention and Tourism Bureau and Norfolk Southern Corporation.

        

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