The governors of Indiana and Kentucky have signed an agreement to share construction costs for two new toll bridges across the Ohio River that are projected to cost truckers $10 to cross.
The project, expected to cost $2.6 billion, calls for Kentucky to oversee financing and construction of the new Interstate 65 bridge into downtown Louisville, and Indiana to build the East End bridge between Clark County, Ind., and Prospect, Ky.
Construction is expected to begin later this year.
The Sherman Minton Bridge, which was reopened late last month after workers finished repairing a crack discovered in September, and Clark Memorial Bridge are not a part of the project and will continue to be free.
The six-year project has generally drawn support from truckers in the two states, although they don’t relish the idea of paying tolls.
“Obviously we need the bridges with the Sherman Minton going down over the fall,” said Jamie Fiepke, president of the Kentucky Motor Transport Association. “The overall project, we are very supportive of.”
The plan also calls for Kentucky to reconfigure Kennedy Bridge and modernize of the downtown interchanges on both sides of the river.
