Brent Spence Bridge project awarded $1.6B in federal funding
The Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project has been awarded substantial federal funding, allowing the project to move forward.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell recently announced that the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project will receive more than $1.6 billion in federal grants. The funding was made available through the passage of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that invested billions of dollars to revitalize infrastructure and spur the economy.
Groundbreaking on the project is anticipated for late 2023, with substantial completion slated for 2029.
“For decades, inadequate capacity on the aging Brent Spence Bridge has created headaches for drivers traveling between Kentucky and Ohio. Today, we’re taking a major step toward fixing the problem,” McConnell said in a statement. “Using my role as Senate Republican Leader, I stood with Sen. Rob Portman to break through gridlock and pass last year’s bipartisan infrastructure deal, delivering record funding for landmark infrastructure projects including today’s grant. Building a new companion bridge on the Brent Spence Bridge corridor will be one of the bill’s crowning accomplishments, bringing long-awaited safety improvements, traffic relief and rejuvenated commerce to Northern Kentucky and Southwestern Ohio.”
Project plans call for the construction of a companion bridge to the west of the existing Brent Spence Bridge, as well as improvements to the current bridge and the roadway network that ties into each bridge.
There also will be enhanced pedestrian access across I-75 in Cincinnati to reconnect downtown with western neighborhoods, and Cincinnati will regain nearly 10 acres to develop in the downtown area. In Kentucky, the project will include a new storm sewer system to reduce flooding and improve local roads, including enhanced pedestrian and bicycle facilities, in the area of the existing and new bridge.
Ohio and Kentucky will share the cost of the new bridge equally, and each state will be responsible for the needed work on its side of the Ohio River.
The Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project will address the second-worst truck bottleneck in the nation by improving safety and travel on the interstate connection that carries more than $700 billion worth of freight every year.
The Brent Spence Bridge was constructed in the 1960s to carry around 80,000 vehicles a day, but the daily traffic load on Interstate Highways 75 and 71 has reached 160,000 vehicles in recent years, according to a news release. Because I-75 is a key freight corridor stretching from Canada to Florida, the congestion affects commerce and commuters who travel the corridor in the eastern United States. LL
Related stories:
Related News
