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Bridges project cost cuts by the numbers

$800 million
Rebuilding Spaghetti Junction in place rather than moving it to the south

$215 million
Eliminating flyover ramps and making other design changes on the Indiana interstate approach to the newly expanded I-65 bridges

$174 million
Reducing the East End bridge, roadway and tunnel from six to four lanes

Public comment

• Along with the newly released plan, the public will have a chance to comment on the original 2003 recommended alternative and a no-build alternative. Tolling scenarios for the new Interstate 65 bridges and the east-end bridge will be studied for construction alternatives, environmental factors and the authority will also examine alternative delivery models while the SEIS process is ongoing.
Two meetings for the general public will be held:
• Indiana meeting — 4 to 8 p.m. June 27 at the Holiday Inn Lakeview Louisville — North, 505 Marriott Drive, in Clarksville.
• Kentucky meeting — 4 to 8 p.m. June 28 at Holiday Inn Hurstbourne, 1325 Hurstbourne Parkway, in Louisville.
For more information go to www.kyinbridges.com

Related Photos

  • This is what Spaghetti Junction may look like.

    06-03 spag junction Alt wb.jpg

  • This is what Spaghetti Junction looks like now.

    06-03 spag junction now wb.jpg

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June 2, 2011

Slash and build: Officials estimate $1.2 billion in savings on bridges project

By BRADEN LAMMERS Braden.Lammers@newsandtribune.com

LOUISVILLE — Savings estimates related to the Ohio River Bridges Project have more than doubled, officials said Thursday.

Changes in the plan to build an east-end bridge, downtown bridge and reconstruct Spaghetti Junction proposed by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer were expected to save half a billion dollars

“At that time, conservative estimates showed the construction cost alone could be reduced by more than $500 million with three major changes,” Beshear said. “We have a better sense of those projected savings. According to the updated analysis, we could reduce the estimated cost of this project by $1.2 billion.”

The cost reduction would lower the overall cost of the project from $4.1 billion to $2.9 billion.

While there has been a major change in the expected savings for the project, the scope has not been altered from the $500 million cuts that were proposed.

The changes included rebuilding Spaghetti Junction in place rather than moving it to the south; reducing the east-end bridge and its approaches from six to four lanes; and includes design changes made to the proposed downtown Interstate 65 bridge, which includes removing a pedestrian walkway because of the access being provided by the completion of the Big Four bridge. In addition, the redesign on the downtown portion of the project will eliminate flyover ramps and streamline the design on the Indiana interstate approach.

According to officials involved in planning the bridges project, the change in cost savings relates to reduced land acquisition, professional services savings and removal of related inflationary costs.

“The $1.2 billion in savings is the physical cost plus inflation,” Beshear said.

The bulk of the cost-saving measures are related to changes made to Spaghetti Junction, which is expected to save the project $800 million.

“The major thing that we’re doing here is we’re moving this project back within the existing footprint, reducing the amount of right-of-way required for the project, reducing the number of loop ramps ... and just by looking you can see the great difference in scope and scale of the project,” said Mike Hancock, secretary of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

Other savings could add up to $215 million by reducing the cost of the Indiana approach to the I-65 bridges. The design changes would eliminate some of the costly flyover ramps and reduce the amount of land needed, said John Sacksteder, project manager with Community Transportation Solutions and general engineering consultant for the bridges project.

“That’s the predominant amount of the savings,” he said, referring to the Indiana side of the project. “We’re taking it down to more traditional ramps .... and [by] taking those flyovers out, the footprint also gets reduced down.”

That would mean fewer parcels of land will need to be purchased for right-of-way access. Sacksteder added the acquisition of the parcels on the Indiana side has not begun, except for one piece of land that was purchased.

What has still not been included in the project’s new price is savings that could result from financing.

“The project’s price tag could go even lower, as a result of the Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority, which is working to develop a financing plan to close the funding gap and reduce the construction timetable through public-private partnerships,” Beshear said.

Tolling has remained a financing option for the project and a $1 price for local commuters remains the authority’s goal despite the most recent reduction in costs.

While opponents to using tolls as a financing mechanism for the project applauded the cost savings made to the project, they still made calls to local officials to remove tolls as an option for financing the downtown bridges.

“With the reduced cost estimates for the project we are calling on Gov. Beshear and Mayor Fischer to prioritize this project in the Kentucky Transportation Department’s budget and to fully fund the project without the need for tolls on the I-65 corridor,” said Shawn Reilly, cop-founder of the Say NO to Bridge Tolls group, in a press release.

An approval on a tolling plan is likely to be part of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Study process moving forward, said bridges authority Executive Director Steve Schultz. The SEIS is required to be completed by each state’s transportation agency because of the length of time that has passed since the original record-of-decision was filed, in 2003. Officials with the bridges authority and project planners have repeatedly said, and reaffirmed Thursday, they expect the SEIS update being prepared will be completed in August 2012. The 2003 record-of-decision took 5  1/2 years to complete.

The 12-year timeline could be cut to six or seven years by adopting some of the innovative approaches to constructing the project. But the plans have not been included in the project to date.

“We really haven’t seen the savings from the power of the private sector, yet,” Fischer said.

Time also has been a major factor in the authority and the planning organizations citing cost savings that can be realized from the project. It has been estimated that for every month the project schedule is moved forward, it could save as much as $10 million per month.

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Ryan Stonecipher, a junior from Corydon Central High School, makes a jack screw on a metal lathe at the Prosser Career Education Center. The school has changed its name from the Prosser School of Technology to better reflect its mission.

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