Kentucky, Ohio request nearly $2 billion for bridge improvements

CINCINNATI — Ohio and Kentucky have requested the federal authorities to spend $2 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure deal to construct a brand new Ohio River bridge and to repair an present outdated span that has lengthy been the supply of frustration for commuters and politicians, their governors mentioned Tuesday.

Overhauling the Brent Spence Bridge, which connects Cincinnati with northern Kentucky, was a giant promoting level for President Joe Biden in the course of the debate over the federal infrastructure laws.

He touted the challenge final July at a CNN city corridor in Cincinnati, vowing his administration would “repair that rattling bridge of yours” if the laws handed. Simply earlier than signing the invoice final November, Biden mentioned he anticipated the bridge would lastly get funding.

Governors from each states introduced Tuesday that they collectively submitted an software asking for $1.66 billion in federal funding to make the wanted enhancements.

“The time is now to put money into transformative infrastructure that helps our rising workforce and protected journey alongside one of many nation’s most essential commerce corridors,” mentioned Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat.

The bridge has change into a bottleneck on a closely used freight route that connects the Midwest and the South. Its visitors woes have been a logo of the nation’s rising infrastructure wants for many years.

Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine mentioned he was optimistic that the federal authorities would award the funding.

“With the present provide chain disaster in our nation, the problem of making certain that this main transportation hall stays open and shifting has by no means been extra pressing,” DeWine mentioned.

The Federal Freeway Administration declared the bridge functionally out of date within the Nineties as a result of its slender lanes carry extra automobiles than it was designed for — the 160,000 automobiles it now sees each day is double what was supposed.

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