LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Traffic is back and flowing again on the Clark Memorial Bridge after re-opening Saturday evening, just a day after a Sysco semitruck driver was left dangling in the air after being involved in a four-vehicle crash.
Drivers like Brandon Bailey have been driving back and forth for the last two days.
"I drove yesterday morning; I was on my way to work and I seen it and it really wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be really," he said.
Bailey is a truck driver, and all he could think about was the tough situation the Sysco driver was in.
He used to drive his semi across the narrow bridge, but he stopped a long time ago.
"[A] bridge like that, I don't really feel like a truck should be on there because it gets tight; when you look outside your mirrors I mean they look like they're getting ready to smack every pole," Bailey said.
Monday afternoon, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) bridge designers and a contractor met on the bridge to address the sidewalk and railing damage.
A state transportation cabinet engineer discussed that damage on Saturday.
"While there is damage that needs to be repaired, the assessment confirms that the bridge is safe for vehicular travel," James Ballinger, the state highway engineer at KYTC, said.
Other drivers like William Trabue Sr. didn't hesitate on driving across the bridge. He was just happy he didn't have to pay to cross using the toll bridge.
"I just didn't think about it after the guy told me it was just the sidewalk that was messed up," Trabue Sr. said.
However, some are still fearful after Friday's crash. Kelly Titus said seeing the sidewalk crumbling was enough for her.
"I don't know, I've seen all those movies where the bridge falls apart and I'm just afraid to drive on it now because I don't trust that," said Titus.
She lives in Louisville but works in Jeffersonville.
Titus said her friends have already been driving across the bridge.
"They were worried and obviously they saw the concrete crumbling and all that stuff, and it was just really anxiety inducing," she said.
KYTC is monitoring traffic control. Officials added securing and fabricating the steel on the bridge will determine when construction can start.
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