In The News

DOT rejects $135M Ohio River bridges grant request

NEW ALBANY, Ind. — Backers of a plan to build two Ohio River bridges say a federal decision not to provide a $135 million grant won't hurt their efforts to land a key loan for the $4.1 billion project.

The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky., reported the U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday rejected a request for the grant that the Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority had hoped to use to attract a federal loan of $1.35 billion covering nearly one-third of the project's total cost.

"It would have helped if we would have gotten" the grant, said Steve Schultz, executive director of the authority. "But we're not depending on it because we have a long way to go and a lot of opportunities to explore."

David Nicklies, chairman of a coalition of business, government and labor groups that supports the project, said the grant was just one potential piece of funding.

"We are encouraged by what we heard at the last authority meeting about their consideration of a variety of funding sources, as well as options that can reduce the cost of delivering the project," he said.

The grant application said the grant would "significantly improve the financial feasibility of the project," which is years behind schedule because Kentucky and Indiana haven't decided how to pay for the two new bridges connecting southern Indiana with Louisville and a redesigned interchange in the Kentucky city.

Shawn Reilly, a co-founder of Say No to Bridge Tolls, said the grant denial was significant.

"This project is dead in the water unless it is divided and built in affordable phases," Reilly said.

The Bridges Authority, appointed by Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, plans to release a financial update in December, but a traffic study needed to complete a financing plan won't be ready until next year.

Authority leaders have declined to speculate when they will make a proposal to use tolls or be ready to sell bonds. Governments in Louisville, New Albany, Jeffersonville, and Clark County, Ind., have adopted resolutions opposing tolls on existing bridges.

Indiana has set aside about $500 million for the project as part of its Major Moves road-building program, which includes proceeds from leasing the Indiana Toll Road in Northern Indiana. Kentucky is responsible for paying a much larger financial share of the project but has committed only several hundred million dollars.

The project includes new bridges for Interstate 65 into downtown Louisville and one that would connect Prospect, Ky., and Utica, Ind.

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