LOUISVILLE — Residents set to opine on the Ohio River Bridges Project’s toll-based financing plan gathered for a public hearing Monday night at the Muhammad Ali Center.
However, instead of a podium at which to orate their opinions on the project — which proposes two new bridges over the Ohio River and a revamped Spaghetti Junction — concerned residents were met with posterboards and informal individual discussions. Members of the Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority — the agency charged with deciding how to pay for the proposal — were on hand to discuss concerns individually with residents. Those interested in formally submitting comments were told to write them down, e-mail them in or give their statements to a court reporter in the room.
The project seeks to build one bridge that connects downtown Jeffersonville and downtown Louisville and one bridge that connects Utica to East Louisville. During a meeting early this month, the bridges authority set a timeline that slates construction to start around August 2012. The project’s $4.1 billion price tag — and specifically the use of tolls to foot that bill — has been the subject of public discourse during the last six months. The commission recently released a target of $1 tolls on each trip for frequent commuters, but the proposal included few details.
Monday’s meeting featured members of different camps that have organized and spoke on the project and process as the debate has evolved: Those for building both bridges, those for building only an east end bridge and those strictly against tolls.
“I think it’s good for the public to have a voice,” said State Rep. Steve Stemler, D-Jeffersonville. “That’s what this process is about.”
However, he argued, “We can’t lose sight of the fact that we have to build the bridges.”
He said he believed that building only an east end bridge would not take enough traffic off the aging John F. Kennedy Bridge Memorial Bridge.
Asked about tolls, he said, “I want to be as minimal as possible but if that’s what it takes … we have to build the bridges.”
Stemler is one of a bevy of local officials who have voiced opinions on the project.
Clarksville Town Councilman Bob Popp is another. He was at Monday’s meeting representing the town’s residents that cross the state line to work, shop or for any reason, he said. Popp called the proposed tolls a tax on the local community.
“It should not be their burden,” he said, arguing that it’s a federal highway that should be funded by federal and state funds.
The project could be done in phases in order to make that possible, he said.
Popp was one of many fashioning a “No Tolls” sticker on his jacket.
Shawn Reilly, organizer of the Say No To Bridge Tolls group, said the authority’s draft finance plan — to which the hearing pertained — left travelers with more questions than answers.
It doesn’t specify who qualifies as a frequent commuter or how much other commuters would pay and for how long, he said.
Kerry Stemler, bridges authority co-chairman, said that more data on who uses the bridges, how often and why is needed before making such decisions. A study addressing those questions is under way and expected by spring, he said.
East Louisville resident Bob Barnes said he just wants to see Louisville complete the Interstate 265/Ind. 265 circle that nearly makes its way around the metropolitan area by building only the east end bridge. Many cities have one such highway that encircles it, he said. Barnes, a regular at bridge authority meetings, believed building the east end bridge would syphon off enough traffic to significantly reduce downtown congestion.
Kerry Stemler argued the authority was appointed to decide on financing, not to change the project from two bridges to one.
“The authority doesn’t have that authority,” he said.
“It’s understandable that people don’t want to pay tolls,” said Michael Dalby, president and chief executive officer for One Southern Indiana, a business organization that has voiced support for the current project.
However, he said, in the current fiscal environment, finding other funding for the project could be challenging.
“We have manufacturers that see this as absolutely critical to run their business,” Dalby said.
The bridges authority is required to provide an updated version of the financial plan by the end of the year. Christi Robinson, communications director for the authority, noted that comment from Monday’s hearing would be rolled into an executive summary that authority members would review prior to voting on the plan Thursday.
The authority meets again 9 a.m. Thursday morning at The Kentucky International Convention Center, 221 S. Fourth St., Louisville. That meeting is open to the public as well.
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