COLUMBUS – Ohio and Kentucky have asked the federal government for nearly $2 billion to fix and replace a bridge that became a symbol during the debate over the infrastructure bill passed last year.
Governors Mike DeWine (R-OH) and Andy Beshear (D-KY) announced Tuesday that they jointly submitted an application asking for $1.66 billion in federal funding to make the needed improvements to the Brent Spence Bridge over the Ohio River.
The 59-year-old bridge connects Cincinnati with northern Kentucky and has become a bottleneck on a heavily used freight route that connects the Midwest and the South.
“With the current supply chain crisis in our country, the issue of ensuring that this major transportation corridor stays open and moving has never been more urgent,” DeWine said.
Overhauling the bridge was a big selling point for President Joe Biden.
“President Biden and Congress enacted the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to make the federal government a full partner in nationally significant projects like the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said.
The Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project will consist of constructing a companion bridge next to the existing span to improve traffic flow and safety.
Improvements will also be made to the interstate network on either side of the bridges throughout an eight-mile corridor from the Western Hills Viaduct interchange in Ohio to Dixie Highway in Kentucky.
“The Corridor project is the exact sort of regionally significant, economically transformative project that should be funded through the bipartisan infrastructure law,” Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman said.
The federal funds would represent approximately 60% of the $2.77 billion project.
The states will split the cost of the new bridge evenly with each one responsible for the needed work on its side of the river.