Summer 2009

The Ohio River Bridges Project Update

In June, Kentucky Governor Steven Beshear proposed a bill that would allow Kentucky to participate in a financing authority with Indiana. And in a special session, on June 24, the Kentucky legislature passed House Bill 3.

In that bill, lawmakers approved a funding approach for major transportation projects, including the $4.1 billion Ohio River Bridges Project.

Summarizing the effect of the bill on the Bridges Project, the Louisville, Kentucky Metro Council will work with Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson and Governor Beshear to appoint a group of Kentucky members to work with Indiana to create a bi-state authority for the Project. A Kentucky state authority and the General Assembly would have to ratify the creation of the bi-state authority. Indiana would have to sign off on that decision-making body.

The purpose of the bi-state authority is to determine how to pay for the Project; building two new bridges across the Ohio River and reconfiguring the Louisville interchange where Interstates 64, 65 and 71 converge, known as "spaghetti junction".

"Governor Daniels and I recognize the importance of modern river crossings to both of our states. Kentucky and Indiana are quite literally at the hub of America's interstate commerce," Governor Beshear said at the initial bill signing last month. "We also recognize that these are massive projects, too costly to be undertaken entirely by one state with only our traditional sources of transportation revenue."

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Ohio River Bridges Project will improve congestion, safety and mobility at "a major mid-America crossroads" where three interstates converge and serve as a major north-south freight corridor between Mobile, Alabama, and Chicago.