Many motorists who drive across the bridge connecting Milton, Kentucky and Madison, Indiana could be temporarily ferried across the Ohio River in 2011.Transportation officials in Kentucky and Indiana are proposing a ferry service that would operate during the scheduled replacement of the bridge's superstructure.Kentucky Department of Transportation spokesperson Andrea Clifford says if federal stimulus funds are secured as hoped, preliminary work on the project would begin in mid-2010."But in early 2011 we would have to start removing the current superstructure, and at that time in order to help mitigate the impact, we would provide a free ferry service," she said."We would run two ferries during the day, most of the day, and maybe one ferry during the overnight hours. Each ferry could accomodate up to about 24 cars, and it takes about 12 minutes to load, get across the river and unload. So during the peak hours we could carry about 240 cars an hour."Clifford says officials want to hear public input on the ferry proposal via an on-line poll.A photo of the proposed ferry route can be seen here.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.