HENDERSON, Kentucky - Regardless of which route is picked for a new Interstate 69 bridge, the heavily traveled U.S. 41 strip through Henderson has major change in store.
The road currently sees interstate-level traffic, about 40,000 vehicles daily. It’s a mix of locals and long-distance travelers, family automobiles and truckers. As anyone who drives U.S. 41 regularly will attest, bottlenecks are frustrating and turning left can be dangerous.
A new I-69 bridge is still years away, but Henderson officials and the I-69 Ohio River Crossing project team said it isn’t too soon to contemplate the project’s impact on U.S. 41. A meeting between city government leaders, plan commission members and project engineers last week included a lot of brainstorming and information sharing.
Some said a less crowded U.S. 41 could make it a dangerous speed trap. That led to a discussion of ways to calm traffic and make the corridor more attractive. Long-term possibilities include narrowing the road to three lanes with a center turn lane and adding landscaped roundabouts.
Some officials showed interest in bicycle and pedestrian paths, with connectivity to Henderson’s downtown.
All said they want businesses along U.S. 41 to succeed, even as some vehicular traffic is diverted. The corridor has hotels, restaurants, retailers, car dealers and a bevy of convenience stores.
“U.S. 41 will have to reinvent itself in some form or other,” Mayor Steve Austin said. “It’s going to be difficult to keep 41 as vibrant as it is right now."
The Central Corridor 1 route is endorsed by I-69 BridgeLink, a group of elected officials and business leaders in Evansville and Henderson.
It involves a new four-lane bridge east of U.S. 41, and one of the existing U.S. 41 bridges would remain in service with two-lane traffic. Interchanges would be built along the new I-69 at Veterans Memorial Parkway in Evansville, and U.S. 60 and the south end of U.S. 41 in Henderson.
West Alternative 1 involves a four-lane I-69 bridge near the current U.S. 41 bridges, and it keeps one U.S. 41 bridge in service. West Alternative 2 is a six-lane I-69 bridge, with both U.S. 41 bridges going out of service.
The I-69 project team decided the Evansville/Henderson area needs six lanes of cross-river traffic, and all three scenarios total six lanes. The new bridge, regardless of route, will have an automated tolling system. Decisions on the amount of those charges are far in the future.
Officials said change is inevitable on U.S. 41, but the corridor is not likely to become a ghost town.
“(U.S. 41) might not have the same type of traffic, and it might have different origins and destinations,” said Brian Aldridge, lead engineer with the traffic team. “But regardless of scenario, there’s still a significant amount of traffic on 41.”
The project team says it will announce a “preferred alternative” for the I-69 route by fall, with a Record of Decision and final Environmental Impact Statement by the U.S. Highway Administration to follow in 2019.
Any construction schedule depends on funding. But putting even one U.S. 41 bridge out of service will save the two states about $125 million through 2060, according to the project team.
Henderson officials said they want to proactively think about how the U.S. 41 corridor will be impacted by the bridge’s eventual construction, and last week’s conversation likely will be the first of many.
“I really think the planning that is going on right now, assuming it makes it through the political maze, is going to be very beneficial for Henderson,” said Herb McKee, chairman of the City-County Planning Commission.