Published: July 16, 2009 01:42 pm      

Leaders applaud bridges legislation:Kentucky, Indiana governors sign off on bi-state authority

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels appeared side-by-side with his Kentucky counterpart — Gov. Steve Beshear — lauding recent legislation aimed at moving the Ohio River Bridges Project forward.

The project seeks to build two bridges between Indiana and its southern Bluegrass neighbor: one between downtowns in Jeffersonville and Louisville, with another in Utica crossing into Louisville’s east end.

During Wednesday’s event, Beshear ceremonially signed a piece of legislation that allows for a bi-state commission to be formed to make decisions on funding and plans for the project. Indiana legislators passed a similar piece of legislation during a recent special session.

“Our citizens cross this river every day — every day to work, to shop, to play, to visit,” Beshear said, prior to picking up a pen.

He noted that the legislation is important because it creates an authority which can issue bonds without it counting against the state’s bonding capacity. The bi-state commission also will have the authority to tally other revenue sources, he said.

Tolling has been discussed as a means of financing the $4.1 billion project, though neither of the governors specifically mentioned it during the press conference.

“We can say now more confidently than ever: The Ohio bridges project can and will become a reality,” Beshear said.

The project was authorized by the federal government in 2003. It would not only build the two bridges, but also reconstruct Louisville’s Spaghetti Junction — where Interstate 65, 64 and 71 come together near the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge.

Since its approval, funding has been the biggest hurdle, especially in Kentucky. The Bluegrass State’s share of the project is $3 billion; Indiana’s is $1.1 billion.



HOW MANY HOMES AND BUSINESSES WILL BE IMPACTED?

Right-of-way plans are subject to change. Current plans call for the following:

• Kennedy Interchange, also known as Spaghetti Junction — This section contains approximately 105 parcels: one residential and 30 business relocations

• Downtown Indiana approach — The exact number of land parcels in this section will be determined as plan development proceeds.

• East end Kentucky approach — This section includes approximately 99 residential properties, 38 of which will require relocation. The other 61 require partial land acquisition.

• East end Indiana approach — Fifteen to 20 residential and two business relocations are included in the preliminary estimates.

— Ohio River Bridges Project Web site

Indiana plans to use money garnered from the $3.8 billion lease of the Northern Indiana toll road, a program known as Major Moves, to pay for its share.

Despite lines on maps, “we are one economy, we are one community,” Daniels said.

“We are here to solve a very practical problem. Our citizens have already waited too long. Everyday without those bridges is a day of lost opportunity.”

Daniels also cautioned that the hard work begins now.

“We must cease the opportunity that these great public servants have given us,” he said. “And let’s move with real dispatch.”

The Indiana half of the commission will be made up of Senate and House of Representatives transportation chairpersons, transportation and finance authority department heads and longtime bridges supporter Kerry Stemler, who Daniels appointed Wednesday.

“I was very pleased,” Stemler said of the appointment. “I have been a strong supporter of this project for many years. The future of the whole state of Indiana is dependent on the success of this project.”

On the Kentucky side, the Louisville Metro Council will now have to approve a resolution that allows Beshear and Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson to appoint its half of the committee. The council has not yet passed that resolution, though 16 of its 26 members have signed on to support it so far.

“We have waited for years and years and years to get to this point. And what a great quantum leap we’ll be making,” Abramson said.

“This is truly a regional necessity.”

He believes the project will create more than 56,000 jobs.

Greater Louisville Inc. President Joe Reagan underscored that point as well.

“We’re celebrating something today that’s so much bigger than a transportation project — it’s a jobs project,” he said.

“Greater Louisville has its own stimulus plan and it’s called the Ohio River Bridges Project.”