BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
BEAUTY — A motorcycle crash Thursday at the Buck Creek bridge on Kentucky Route 40 has renewed calls for safety improvements at what Martin County Sheriff John Kirk describes as one of the county‘s most dangerous stretches of roadway.
The crash occurred while Kirk was investigating an unrelated motorcycle accident on Blacklog Road in Inez.
The first wreck happened when a motorcyclist lost control, ran off the roadway and came to rest upright in the creek below.
While deputies were still at that scene, Kirk received a report of a second motorcycle crash at the bridge crossing Buck Creek in Beauty.
The rider, part of a group of six to eight motorcyclists touring from Wisconsin, went over the bridge and into the creek below. Emergency responders found him injured and unable to climb out.
“He had some pretty serious injuries,” Kirk said. “I believe he went to Highlands and then was flown to Lexington.”
Kirk said the crash was far from an isolated incident. He described the bridge as a recurring accident scene because it lacks guardrails to prevent vehicles from leaving the roadway.
“That’s a trouble spot,” Kirk said. “There’s no guardrail on the bridge. There have been multiple wrecks there. A lot of times vehicles are on their tops. Just a month or so ago, I believe there were five in the car, and it ended up on its top. I believe they flew one out.”
According to Kirk, motorists unfamiliar with the area are especially vulnerable because of the curve approaching the bridge from the Warfield direction.
“This has been going on for years, and there are no guardrails on the bridge to keep you from going into the creek,” Kirk said. “It’s a trick curve coming from Warfield toward Inez. You can just drive off the bridge if you’re not familiar with it, and that’s what’s been happening.”
Following Thursday’s crash, Kirk said he contacted state Rep. Bobby McCool, Sen. Phillip Wheeler, Senior Advisor to the Governor Rocky Adkins and the chief engineer for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s Pikeville district to again raise concerns about the bridge.
He said discussions about replacing the structure have dragged on for decades.
“The project of replacing this bridge has been in the works for probably 20-some years,” Kirk said. “There’s always a holdup. Supposedly, they plan to do this in 2027, but they’ll have to come up with a solution before someone gets killed. It’s not a question of if but when somebody gets killed.”
While the long-term replacement remains pending, Kirk said immediate safety improvements are needed to reduce the danger for motorists traveling the route.
“There’s no guardrail, no warning, no signs to show what is ahead,” he said. “A tractor-trailer cannot stay on its side of the road when crossing that bridge.”
Kirk said utility work, including the relocation of a gas line, remains one of the obstacles delaying construction of a new bridge. Even so, he believes temporary safety measures should be installed without waiting for the replacement project.
“It’s time to do something — to quit sitting on our hands and do something,” Kirk said. “That could be your family member or my family member.
“It’s just a very dangerous spot, and in 2026, there is no excuse for it. This bridge needs to be replaced quickly. There’s still a gas line that needs to be moved, which will take several days to do. In the meantime, it needs guardrail and signage.”