By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
Gov. Andy Beshear has announced the next step in the Brent Spence Bridge corridor project will take place soon, as the state plans to issue a request for proposals next week.
“That is a major first step, and essentially an invitation to engineering and construction companies to come forward and compete on who is going to help us design and build this transformational project,” he said during his weekly press conference at the Capitol.
Gov. Andy Beshear says the first proposals are due next week on the Brent Spence Bridge project. (Kentucky Today/Tom Latek)
This follows the announcement in late December that the project to build a companion bridge to the Brent Spence Bridge, which carries Interstate 71 and 75 traffic across the Ohio River between Covington and Cincinnati, Ohio, has been awarded federal funding of $1.6 billion.
“I will tell you, there will be multiple RFPs that come out over time, but a first major RFP is another step that it’s going to happen,” Beshear noted. “We’re going to get this project done, we’re going to do it without tolls, what people have been talking about for decades. We are delivering on it, and we are moving fast.”
The Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project includes improvements to approximately eight miles of highway and the addition of a companion bridge on the west side of the existing Brent Spence Bridge. This additional capacity will alleviate congestion, improve safety, and open up this nationally significant freight corridor, which carries an estimated 3% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product annually. Current plans also call for the separation of local and interstate traffic, which will improve access to local businesses and communities in both Covington and Cincinnati.
“This is going to bring good construction jobs that ultimately boost the economy,” Beshear said, “This is going to change the lives of those who work on it for the better. It’s going to be really incredible for the region, for our state, and for our neighbors across the Ohio River.”
Beshear added, the entire project is expected to take six to eight years, but he hopes to speed up the timeline by being prepared. He pointed out preparation sped up the process with the two Louisville Ohio River bridges, which were completed ahead of schedule in 2015 and 2016.
