Indiana Department of Transportation commissioner Michael Cline and Kentucky transportation secretary Mike Hancock announced that the two states, working with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), will update the original environmental document for the Ohio River Bridges with new information. This will include proposed cost-saving options and limited tolling scenarios. The work will take place under a federally prescribed process known as a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS).
The two states plan to present the draft SEIS to the FHWA by summer. A public comment period will follow the FHWA review and a final document could be completed by December.
The update will evaluate cost-saving approaches involving rebuilding the Kennedy Interchange in the existing location rather than moving it south, reducing the East End Bridge from six to four lanes and removing a proposed pedestrian and cycle path from the design of a new downtown I-65 Bridge.
The proposal to remove the path is linked to a separate project to complete the Big Four Bridge. Indiana governor Mitch Daniels and Kentucky governor Steve Beshear announced on Tuesday that the two states, with the city of Jeffersonville, will allocate US$22 million to complete the bridge, turning an unused rusting hulk into a new pathway.
"We want pedestrians and bicyclists to have a better and safer way to cross the river than the downtown bridges, and we'll accomplish that goal with this plan," said Daniels.
