Two proposed bridges, one redesign and more than 20 years is all that has stood between the Ohio River Bridges project and actual progress, until this week.

The Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority, or the bi-state authority, met for the first time Tuesday afternoon to help determine a funding mechanism for a $4.1 billion project that will build a downtown bridge and east-end bridge connecting Louisville and Clark County and would reconstruct Spaghetti Junction in the former.

Gov. Mitch Daniels, R-Ind., Gov. Steve Beshear, D-Ky. and Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, a Democrat, the appointing officials of the 14-member, bi-state panel, kicked off the meeting. Meeting business

“Someone said we’re seeing light at the end of the tunnel; my friends we’re seeing light at the end of the bridges,” Abramson said.

It would have been more appropriate if Abramson had said the group is trying to figure out how to buy the light, because for work to even start on the two bridges and redesign, countless hours of planning will need to take place, including finding more than $4 billion in funding.

One thing was clear to the board, as it was urged on by both governors and the mayor.

“My thoughts to you that are about to become the board of directors for this all-important project are simple,” Daniels said. “Please be prepared to move quickly. We say in Indiana, ‘we like to move at the speed of business, not the speed of government.’ I hope you will adopt that mentality, because we are late to this party anyway.”

To expedite the process, the first minor hurdle was to determine the structure off the bi-state authority.

The governors suggested, and each was unanimously approved by the board, to name: Joe Prather — a Beshear appointment — as chairman of the authority; Kerry Stemler — a Daniels appointment — as the co-chairman of the authority; Charles Buddeke — a Beshear appointment — as treasurer; and Pat Byrne — a Daniels appointment — as secretary.

Additionally, an executive director was appointed to serve as the chief administrator for the authority.

Steve Shultz, former chief counsel to Daniels during his first term as governor, was named to the position. While it has yet to be determined what Shultz will be paid to be the lead administrator for the authority, it was a position deemed necessary by the appointing officials.

“It’s a very important position, because this is going to be the person who really conducts the day-to-day operations of this authority,” Abramson said. “This is a full-time task, and obviously the members of this authority have other jobs ... but there isn’t any question that we need a full-time focal point that’s going to ramrod this project on a day-by-day basis.”

Beyond setting up the structure of the coalition, the whole point to creating an authority and the crucial question looming is how will the bridges be funded.



Funding mechanisms and cost

In 2007, an initial financial plan estimated the cost of the two bridges and interchange redesigns to total about $4.1 billion.

Kentucky’s portion of the cost — 72 percent — equaled about $2.9 billion.

Indiana’s portion, the remaining 28 percent, was estimated at about $1.15 billion.

But early on, it was evident that regular funding scenarios would not work to pay for such a large project.

“Such a commitment to a project of this magnitude would require the postponement of many other projects across Kentucky,” said Mike Hancock, acting secretary for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. “The project was too big for our traditional funding sources.”

What Hancock foresaw came to fruition in a hampering local construction projects by causing a freeze in the Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency’s Transportation Improvement Plan, as well as exceeding the amount of money each state could raise.

Although Kentucky was able to raise $536 million through traditional funding methods, an additional $1.4 billion out through the year 2016 in innovative financing for the project was still needed, according Hancock.

Indiana already has funding in place, mainly from revenue generated by the lease of the Indiana Toll Road in Northern Indiana, according to The Bridges Coalition Web site.

The most common and likely suggestion to cover the gap in funding is using tolls to pay for the construction of the bridges.

“It is very highly likely that our eventual solution here will involve a user fee, which is to say tolling method of finance,” Daniels said. “This is, in my judgment, the fairest and most direct way to get this job done.”

For residents that make a daily commute across the river in either direction, the idea of paying tolls is not very popular. However, if tolls are implemented, the cost of the bridges will not only be paid by the daily commuters, but by anyone accessing the bridges.

To mitigate some concern, the possibility of charging different rates depending on where the owner of the vehicle lives, will be considered an option.

“If tolling indeed is necessary, and it appears that it most likely will be, we will be talking about the amount and the duration of the tolls,” Prather said. “We will be looking at the possibility of whether there is a way that local people can be charged in one manner and those people who are passing through another.”

Authority members did not specify whether or not only new bridges might be tolled, or if existing spans — such as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge — would be included.



Timeline

The one aspect of the project that was stressed over and over during the authority’s first meeting was speed. Initial plans for the project posted on the Ohio River Bridges Web site extends the term of construction out to 2024.

“We’re going to beat 2024,” Daniels said.

Beshear agreed, and said he expected the timeline to be much shorter.

“We’re not looking to 10 to 15 years out. We’re looking at the next few years,” he said.

However, no one was willing to give a more definitive estimate on when the bridges are likely to be completed.

“I don’t think that we can put a time on it, but I don’t think that either Gov. Daniels or I think of this is as a 10- to 15-year project,” Beshear said. “We want this done as fast as possible. I’m not sure what that means, but to me it means faster than 10 years.”

Daniels jumped back in and said, “It better not be [10 to 15 years from completion].”

The timeline is important to each state, not just because the project has been stalled for decades, but because it is a vital part of the infrastructure and economic growth in Southern Indiana and Louisville.



The need

“We’re at the crossroads here, both Indiana and Kentucky are, of the United States, and so much of what goes on in terms of the transportation back and forth of goods and services,” Beshear said.

Alternatives to the existing plan — such as the 8664 proposal, which would build an east-end bridge only and remove Interstate 64 from Louisville’s waterfront — are not being sought.

The project as it stands now will be limited to a downtown bridge, an east-end bridge and a reworking of Spaghetti Junction.

Once the bridges have been completed, the expectation is that they will aid in the Louisville metro area in being of significant importance to transportation throughout the rest of the country.

According to Reed, the approach from Ind. 265 to the new east-end bridge — estimated to cost $190 million — will factor largely in the future economy of Southern Indiana.

“This will provide significant development opportunities on our side of the river, most notably [to] the River Ridge Commerce Center,” he said.

When the bridges will actually be built and when the advantages will be apparent to the region are still likely years away.

But the authority’s goal may be clearer after its next meeting.

“I think that we need to set a goal for when we want to have this complete, because I think we all work better if we have some timeline to work against,” Prather said.



ON THE WEB

• The Bridges Coalition — www.buildthebridges.com

• Ohio River Bridges project — www.kyinbridges.com



SO YOU KNOW

• The Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority board is made up of 14 members, seven from Indiana and seven from Kentucky. For the authority to pass a proposal, each state’s representatives must approve the provisions by at least a four-person majority.

Indiana board members are: Pat Byrne, secretary; Jerry Finn; Diane Fischer; Pete King; Lisa Kobe; Kerry Stemler, co-chairman and David Tharp.

Kentucky board members are: Charles Buddeke, treasurer; Jamie Fiepke; Sandra Frazier; Dr. Charles Moyer; Joe Prather, chairman; Joe Reagan; and Ben Richmond.

The executive director of the bi-state authority is Steven Shultz.



WHAT’S NEXT

• The next meeting of the Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority is scheduled for 10 a.m. Feb. 10 at the Muhammad Ali Center in downtown Louisville. After the next meeting, it is likely that the authority will set up at least one regular meeting per month, switch between holding meetings in Indiana and Kentucky.