BROOKSVILLE, Ky. - County officials along the AA Highway will meet here Wednesday to discuss further how to prevent deadly wrecks from occurring on the busy thoroughfare.
The meeting - set for 1:30 p.m. at the Bracken County Courthouse - will involve judge-executives from Campbell, Bracken, Pendleton, Mason, Carter, Lewisand Greenup counties.
Sally Davis, Gov. Paul Patton's Northern Kentucky liaison, as well as representatives of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and Northern Kentucky highway officials will attend the meeting that Campbell Judge-executive Ken Paul called at the governor's request.
"Anything we can do to save people's lives, we'd be interested in," said Bracken County Judge-executive Dwayne "Pie" Jett. In his county, two people have died on the AA Highway this year.
Efforts to make the AA Highway safer intensified after a 69-year-old Alexandria woman died at the highway's Poplar Ridge Road intersection Aug. 10.
The accident was one of three fatalities in Campbell County this year - all on the AA Highway, according to Kentucky State Police statistics.
In recent weeks, local and state leaders have joined police, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and the governor's office in announcing a number of measures to reduce deaths and injuries on the AA Highway, which runs from Wilder in Campbell County east to Grayson in Carter County. They include:
Last month's crackdown on speeders by police agencies responsible for the Campbell County portion of the AA Highway. Even though posted speed limits are 55 mph, police say it's common for AA drivers to exceed the limits by 20 mph or more.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's agreement to install 200 large signs alerting AA motorists to intersections.
Campbell Fiscal Court's pledge to pay for lighting at nine county roads that intersect the busy thoroughfare.
A visit by the Drive Smart program, which uses a visual roadside radar to let motorists know how fast they're traveling.
"The state's already put up some signs (indicating AA intersections in Bracken County), but more would help," Mr. Jett said. "Residents seem to think more lighting at the crossroads would help, too."
Low-lying areas along the AA Highway in Bracken and Pendleton counties are especially prone to visibility problems in the fall because of the fog triggered by the nearby Ohio River, Mr. Jett said. In Pendleton County, Judge-executive Donald Mays said the AA problem is bad.
"Our section (of the AA) goes from a four-lane highway right into a two-lane (highway)," Mr. Mays said. "Most of the time they're coming out of a four lane and don't even know it. It's just a bottleneck. On top of that, you've got all those side roads to contend with."
Since Campbell County's speed crackdown began, there have been at least three serious accidents on that county's section of the AA, including the Aug. 10 fatality.
While charges were not filed in two of the accidents, authorities are still investigating an Aug. 21 wreck that seriously injured a California man. Police said he drove his pickup under a southbound tractor-trailer as it climbed a hill on the AA between East Alexandria Pike and Enzweiler Road.
"We're working on ways to prevent additional tragedies," Mr. Paul said. "But unfortunately, some of the accidents have been due to driver error. No traffic signal, no light, (and) no sign is going to prevent human error."
