Weisenberger Mill bridge about ready for Mon. opening

Bill Jenkins of the Woodford County Road Department walked across the new Weisenberger Mill bridge yesterday morning. The department's Tom Fortenberry said the bridge will be ready for traffic, once state contractor Louisville Paving Co. installs the ends of guardrails.

Louisville Paving posted signs at the Scott County junction of US 62 and 421 saying that the bridge will open Monday, Dec. 23, but the state Transportation Cabinet has been unwilling to guarantee that. Construction went faster than expected largely because of favorable weather, Fortenberry said.

The state is paying for the bridge under a long-ago trade with Woodford County, which is responsible for the bridge under a previous agreement with Scott County. (South Elkhorn Creek is the county line.) The Woodford County Road Department was responsible for blocking traffic and posting signs after the state closed the bridge for safety reasons on July 1, 2016.

Replacement of the bridge was delayed by historical and environmental concerns. In response to concerns by nearby residents who feared a two-lane bridge would lead to more speeding and wrecks, especially in the curve on the Woodford County side, the state contracted for a one-lane pony truss bridge much like the one built in 1935.