Members of the Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority passed the updated financial plan for the $4.1 billion Ohio River Bridges Project with a 13-0 vote Thursday morning.
The project seeks to build two bridges over the Ohio River — one between downtowns in Jeffersonville and Louisville, another connecting Utica to East Louisville — and realign Spaghetti Junction in Downtown Louisville, where Interstate 64, 65 and 71 come together.
The plan approved Thursday outlines revised cost estimates and financing options for the project. It has sparked interest on each side of the river as tolls have been flagged as a means of paying for the new spans.
The plan update does not specify how much the toll rate would be. The authority has set a target rate a $1 for frequent users of the bridge.
Critics have urged the authority to scale the project back and say too many questions about financing remain even after the financial update.
Thursday’s meeting followed a public information session on Monday. Prior to the vote, which took place at the Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, authority members talked about some of what they heard from the public during this week’s session.
Co-chairman Kerry Stemler said he heard concerns from residents about tolls being implemented in the next 18 months — well before the project is complete. Stemler called that a misconception, saying they would not be in place until the bridges are built.
No decision on what will be tolled and when has been made, said authority member Pat Byrne.
The authority has discussed tolling even on existing bridges in the past.
Authority member Jerry Finn said he heard questions about whether local traffic could be exempted from paying tolls, using an in-car transmitter that essentially gives them a free pass.
“I think that’s something that’s needing to be looked into,” he said, adding that questions about how that would affect toll prices and whether it’s been tried in other places would need to be answered.
Authority member R. Charles Moyer said many at the informational session told him the authority should redefine the scope of the project and build just the east end bridge, rather than two at once.
“We can’t split it,” said authority chairman Charles Buddeke.
The two bridges project is tied to a record of decision that was approved by the Federal Highway Administration in 2003, he noted. Members have repeatedly said the authority doesn’t have the authority to redefine the project, only decide on how to fund it.
“We can’t walk away from this record of decision,” he said. Authority members said getting a new record of decision that included only one bridge would delay the project by two to five years.
Though they didn’t get a chance to speak, those critical of the two bridges solution were well represented at Thursday’s meeting, fashioning stickers that proclaimed “No 2 Bridge Tolls.”
Shawn Reilly, one organizer of that opposition, said the east end bridge could be built in the footprint of the current record of decision and thus would not necessitate a new one.
“Divide [the project] and build it in affordable phases,” he said.
Paul Fetter, a fellow member of the group, said the project needs to be scaled back or free pass needs to be given to local traffic in order to quell the opposition.
“They’re going to have to look at something different,” he said.
Fetter called the current plan especially unfair to Hoosiers because they use the bridges by a 5-1 margin. And Indiana already has money in place to pay for its share of the project, through the Major Moves program. The tolls are being proposed to cover an approximately $2 billion funding gap between what’s needed and what has been received from state and federal sources thus far.
The fact that Indiana politicians haven’t taken notice of the inequity is completely baffling, said Fetter.
Gov. Mitch Daniels along with some state representatives have supported tolling as a means of paying for the project. However, local politicians have voiced opposition — the Jeffersonville City Council, New Albany City Council, Sellersburg Town Council, Clarksville Town Council and most recently the Clark-Floyd County Tourism and Convention Bureau have passed resolutions opposing tolls in one form or another. On Thursday, the board acknowledged that those resolutions had been passed, reading them into the minutes of their meeting.
When it was finally time for the roll call vote, a few of the members re-affirmed their support of the project and the funding plan.
“I'm disappointed tolling revenue is a necessity,” said Byrne. “We need to continue to focus and work together.”
Finn called the bridges plan critical to the area’s safety and well-being. Stemler called it one of national importance.
“I feel we have done due diligence” said authority member Ben Richmond. “This project makes this area grow.”
Just a few hours after the bridges authority meeting the plan was sent to the Kentucky Public Transportation Infrastructure Authority. After that, it will be submitted to the Federal Highway Administration as required by Kentucky legislation enacted earlier this year. The authority has set a target construction start of Aug. 2012.
The next Bridges Authority meeting is 10 a.m. Jan. 6. The location of the meeting has yet to be determined.
© 2011 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.