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President Obama to visit outdated Ohio River span

CINCINNATI — After highlighting an outdated Ohio River bridge in the rollout of his jobs plan, President Barack Obama will personally visit the span linking the home states of the Republican leaders as he presses for congressional support.

The White House said Thursday that Obama will travel to Cincinnati on Sept. 22 to again offer the Brent Spence Bridge as an example of a badly needed, major infrastructure project that would create jobs in a nation with 9.1 percent unemployment. Obama cited the span a week ago during his address to Congress detailing his nearly $450 billion jobs proposal.

The nearly 50-year-old bridge carries more than twice its original traffic capacity of 80,000 vehicles daily and has shown signs of decay and worsening safety issues. It also is on major truck routes, connecting Ohio and Kentucky — the home states of House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Officials say it carries 4 percent of the nation's gross domestic product every year and a rehabilitation project would bring tens of thousands of jobs. But the cost of the needed overhaul has been estimated at $2.4 billion, and funding commitments are still lacking after years of discussion.

"There's a bridge that needs repair between Ohio and Kentucky that's on one of the busiest trucking routes in North America," Obama said in his Sept. 8 speech.

McConnell afterward said that while he was glad Obama brought up the bridge, he criticized "lumping a crucial artery for goods and services in America together with a call for another stimulus and massive tax increases."

Boehner spokeswoman Brittany Bramell said Thursday that the congressman "has long supported repairing the Brent Spence Bridge and is pleased the president is bringing additional attention to the need for it to be improved and eventually replaced."

Boehner, whose suburban West Chester home is near Interstate 75, which runs across the Brent Spence, gave a speech in Washington on Thursday in which he said there are some opportunities for common ground in Obama's job plan. But he called the plan "a poor substitute" for growth policies.

Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who last month gathered business and labor leaders in Cincinnati to call for action on the bridge project, said in a statement Thursday that Obama's visit "should serve as a reminder to Congress that we need to put partisan bickering aside and create jobs and promote long-term economic development by investing in infrastructure."

The visit is also another reminder of Ohio's high-profile role in the coming 2012 presidential campaign. Obama carried the swing state in 2008, after George W. Bush won it twice. Obama was in Columbus on Tuesday to promote the jobs plan, and Vice President Joe Biden spoke in Cincinnati on Labor Day.

Kevin Jones of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at [email protected] .

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