Historic Old Richardsville bridge set to reopen

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - Repairs to the historic Old Richardsville Road bridge are complete and ready to reopen.

The bridge, which dates back to 1889, has been closed since March of 2018 after a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet inspection found structural deficiencies.

“Old Richardsville bridge, kind of a county landmark so to speak. It really has a lot of historic relevance as far as being old bridge of this type as well as a lot of local lure. You know, when I was growing up it was known as the haunted bridge, but there’s a lot of folks in this county that it means a lot to them. It’s been closed for, you know, over two years,” said Josh Moore, Director of the Warren County Public Works Department.

The repairs were nearly complete and ready to reopen last month, but vandals painted graffitti on it which delayed the reopening.

“We were fortunate enough to get some funds from the state through the secretary of transportation’s office to make some improvements to the bridge to get it back safe, but still maintain the character that it has had for hundreds of years. That work is complete. We were finishing up, just had a few more things to touch up and we had the graffiti issue and some other vandalism in the area,” Moore said.

A 99-year-old resident of the area and WWII Veteran will be the first to drive across the bridge, Moore says.

“We are going to do all that we can do to make that happen. I think he’s lived there since the 40s maybe. He can remember a lot of things happening on that bridge,” Moore said. “Different types of transportation, different stories. I’m sure some are funny, some are sad and some you can’t repeat. So, we’re just excited to make that happen for him. He’s been an active member of this community for a long time.”

The bridge is on National Register of Historic Places.

Warren County Public Works say they are planning a ribbon cutting for December 21st.

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