7:42 AM March 17, 2006
Ind., Ky. to build new bridge Associated Press March 17, 2006
MADISON, Ind. -- Indiana highway officials this week committed to build a new bridge across the Ohio River in Jefferson County with the help of their counterparts in Kentucky. The bridge would replace a narrow, 77-year-old span that carries more traffic than was originally anticipated. "This is long overdue," said state Rep. Billy Bright, R-North Vernon. "I've traveled this bridge a lot. It's very tight, and there's no room for error. It's dangerous." The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet already had the project in its six-year plan, with about $15 million slated for design work through 2008, along with $20 million for construction. The project was not part of Indiana's 10-year highway plan. But Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Tom Sharp on Tuesday said in a letter to Bright that his department would adjust priorities to match the Kentucky plan. "This will be a big project," he wrote. The bridge, which would connect Madison, Ind., and Milton, Ky., was last upgraded in the late 1990s after Kentucky transportation officials labeled it dangerous and limited the traffic that could travel it. Andrea Clifford, spokeswoman for the Kentucky cabinet's Louisville district, said Wednesday the state hopes to hire a consultant to help design the bridge this spring. Public hearings could begin next year, with construction expected to begin in 2012. Madison Mayor Al Huntington said several months of lobbying transportation officials in Indiana to cooperate with Kentucky might be paying off. "Each time I went to Sharp, I would tell him Kentucky was making progress," he said. About 400 people from Kentucky commute to Jefferson County for work, and about 1,100 people from the county work in Kentucky, according to the Indiana Business Research Center. The bridge would cost Indiana as much as $200 million, which would be paid for with federal money and proceeds from the planned lease of the Indiana Toll Road, transportation officials said. |