Bridges News

as submitted by Kay Stewart of The Bridges Coalition

Kentucky General Assembly approves Bridges funding

The Kentucky General Assembly, in a special session that concluded late Saturday, showed their continued support for the Bridges Project by providing significant funding over the next two years – an amount which Democratic Leader Ed Worley said is at “the level to keep” the project “on course.” The road budget includes $105 million in new GARVEE bond funding in addition to the $231 million already authorized – for a total of $336 million. The road budget legislation can be read here.

Click here to read the Courier-Journal story.

Kentucky representatives call for Finance Plan by the end of the year
Kentucky state representatives also focused on bridges in the special session with passage of a resolution urging a project finance plan by the end of the year. The resolution calls on Gov. Steve Beshear and Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson to "ulitize their best efforts" to help make that happen. Lawmakers from Jefferson County sponsored the resolution.
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Nation’s worst bottlenecks: I-65/Spaghetti Junction is #11
A report released last week on the nation’s worst bottlenecks is further proof that we need the Bridges Project completed as quickly as possible. The American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) findings assess the level of truck-oriented congestion on the national highway system. While larger metropolitan areas such as Atlanta, Los Angeles and Chicago can be expected to have the worst interstate highway bottlenecks, Louisville’s Spaghetti Junction at the Kennedy Bridge ranks No. 11. Travel in this bottleneck, which does not meet current safety standards, will continue to grow worse without action to build bridges, according to a federal study.
To see a list of the worst bottlenecks and a summary of the report’s findings, click here.
To read the news release about the report, which quotes Keith Bucklew, Director of Freight Mobility at the Indiana Department of Transportation, click here.

Kentuckians for Better Transportation’s newsletter also contains information about the Kentucky state budget and other transportation developments.

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