INDIANAPOLIS— Illinois won’t pony up any state or local tax dollars to help build a new bridge across the Wabash River near New Harmony, the state’s top transportation official told Indiana.
In a letter addressed to Indiana lawmakers – state Sen. Jim Tomes, R-Wadesville, and state Rep. Wendy McNamara, R-Mount Vernon – Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Ann L. Schneider made her state’s position clear.
“When prioritizing which transportation needs would be best served given the funding available, our existing systems have to take precedence,” she wrote, adding that Illinois will “respectfully decline” to participate in financing a new bridge.
It was a setback for those who hope to see a new bridge linking New Harmony to nearby White County, Ill. built after the current bridge – a tollway that has stood for 81 years – was shut down in May after an engineer said it was no longer strong enough to support even its own weight.
The Indiana Department of Transportation has offered to contribute $10 million toward the construction of a new bridge. A private investment firm, New York-based National Standard Finance has also expressed interest in financing such a project.
Still, it’s not clear whether a bridge that could cost around $25 million to build, and would also need on and off ramps on both sides of the Wabash River and would come with maintenance costs, can be financed without Illinois’ involvement.
Indiana Department of Transportation spokeswoman Cher Elliott said Illinois’ move won’t affect Indiana’s stance.
“INDOT’s offer to contribute $10 million in federal funds toward the cost of a replacement bridge has not changed and remains on the table through the end of this year,” she said.
Tomes, whose office passed along the letter Tuesday, said he remains hopeful that officials in Indiana and Posey County can find a way to repair the old bridge or build a new one.
“As a local legislator, this is a top issue for me,” he said. “I know how important the bridge is to the vitality of our community and will continue to join other area officials in exploring all options.”
In her letter, Schneider pointed to two bridges within half-hour drives of the New Harmony bridge – one to the south near Mount Vernon, Ind. and one to the north that carries Interstate 64 across the Wabash River.
“These bridges are currently open to travel and operating to serve the public. It is thought that some of these river crossings could be used by the travelling public to access the New Harmony, Ind./Crossville, Ill. region with only a modest amount of additional mileage and travel time incurred,” she wrote.
The entire process in New Harmony is tricky, since the old bridge is not run by state or local officials, but instead by the White County Bridge Commission – a private group established by Congress in 1941, and funded not by taxpayers but by tolls.
That commission’s three members for decades have hoped to hand the bridge over to a local or state government, but because it has needed repairs and would require regular maintenance, the group has found no takers.
Since the bridge has carried only about 1,000 vehicles per day – mostly farmers or Illinois residents who worked at New Harmony restaurants or inns – its toll profits have not been high enough for the commission to take on millions in debt that would be repaid over years.
Indiana transportation officials have pushed local officials to consider a new bridge with automated toll collections – a cost-cutting move that would prevent the new bridge from needing the 14 employees that the old one had.