$1.6 billion federal grant announced for long-awaited Brent Spence companion bridge
State and local leaders announced Thursday that the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor's long awaited construction project has been given the green light thanks to two federal grants totaling $1.6 billion.
"Ohio and Kentucky have been discussing the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project for almost two decades, and now, we can finally move beyond the talk and get to work," Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a Thursday news release. "This project will not only ease the traffic nightmare that drivers have suffered through for years, but it will also help ensure that the movement of the supply chain doesn't stall on this nationally significant corridor."
Groundbreaking on the project will likely occur in late 2023 and completion is slated for 2029. It includes a new companion bridge next to the Brent Spence Bridge and other improvements to the corridor which total $3.6 billion. Ohio and Kentucky will need to work together in the coming years to finance the rest of the project's costs.
Today’s announcement is a celebration of all the hard work over the last two decades and a transition to the next phase – actually building the Brent Spence Bridge companion bridge & corridor solution. Read the full statement from Chamber CEO, Jill Meyer. https://t.co/J3B9yFPmsA pic.twitter.com/NyjUDkIQ4R
— Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber (@CincyChamber) December 29, 2022
"Once complete, drivers will have a more enjoyable and efficient drive and we'll have the infrastructure in place to support the booming economy in this part of the state," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in Thursday's release.
More information about the project and the grants supporting it will be provided by the federal government next week.
Cincinnati, I’m here with some amazing news for the future of our City. Just this morning, we have been awarded over $1.6 billion in federal funding for the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project.
— Aftab Pureval (@AftabPureval) December 29, 2022
The Brent Spence Bridge Corridor spans 8 miles from the Western Hills Viaduct in Ohio to Dixie Highway in Kentucky. Every day 160,000 vehicles and $2 billion in freight cross the corridor, twice as much traffic than it was designed to carry when it was built in the early 1960s.
The federal grants announced Thursday include:
$250 million from a Multimodal Projects Discretionary Grant. These grants go toward large projects that have economic significance.
Nearly $1.4 billion from the Bridge Investment Program to be distributed under a multi-year grant agreement with Ohio and Kentucky's transportation departments. The program was created by U.S. Sen. Rob Portman's bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and is designed to provide funding for bridge projects across the country.
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell also helped secure the funding alongside Portman.
"For decades, inadequate capacity on the aging Brent Spence Bridge has created headaches for drivers traveling between Kentucky and Ohio. Today, we're taking a major step toward fixing the problem," McConnell said in Thursday's news release.
“This historic amount of support from President Biden and our federal partners means that we’re on pace to reshape our infrastructure and the economic growth of our region for generations to come,” Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval said in a Thursday news release. “They got it done, when for years, others could not."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: $1.6 billion federal grant announced for Brent Spence Bridge project
