The North Carolina Department of Transportation is on track to complete a year-long effort to name 23 bridges for state troopers killed in the line of duty by the end of 2025.
[Above photo by NCDOT]
NCDOT partnered with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol after discovering 23 fallen officers had been overlooked for the bridge naming honors.
“For many years, North Carolina has been naming bridges to honor law enforcement officers killed on the job,” NCDOT Secretary Joey Hopkins said in a statement. “But for many different reasons, 23 officers were never honored. We’ve been working with the Highway Patrol since last spring to make sure these officers are properly recognized for their sacrifice.”
In its 96-year history, 70 members of the state’s Highway Patrol have died in the line of duty. Colonel Freddy Johnson, the patrol’s commander, initiated this recent bridge-naming effort after hearing from several family members who lost loved ones yet did not receive such memorial dedications.
“We felt that it was very important to get everyone recognized for the sacrifice that they made,” Johnson said. “To the families, it’s like it happened yesterday and to see the heartfelt thanks from them has made this project so worthwhile.”
When law enforcement officers or emergency responders are killed in the line of duty, typically a family member or friend will complete an application and petition their local government to pass a resolution requesting that the state name a bridge to honor the fallen officer.
The local resolution is then referred to NCDOT, which works with the Highway Patrol to research the officer and the circumstances of the officer’s death. In following state policy, agency staff must ensure the request has strong support from the local community and the family.
NCDOT staff next draft a resolution that is then considered by the North Carolina Board of Transportation.
If approved, the agency then coordinates an event to officially dedicate the bridge in the name of the fallen trooper.
It’s not clear why some officers were overlooked, NCDOT said. In some cases, family or friends started but then did not complete the application. In other cases, people may not have realized that such an honor even existed.
Correcting those oversights is what sparked NCDOT’s current 23 bridge-naming effort, which has only seven bridges left to be officially renamed.
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