After recent meetings, including with federal officials last week in Washington, D.C., Henderson Mayor Brad Staton says there’s enough support on all levels to keep both of the twin bridges open once the I-69 project is complete.
Staton said he and commissioners Rodney Thomas and Kelsey Hargis met with U.S. Rep. James Comer during a trip to the capital last week, when Comer showed strong support for keeping both bridges open.
In a January meeting before the commissioners’ trip to Washington, Staton said he and Henderson County Judge-Executive Brad Schneider met and spoke with Indiana state legislators, who also support the bridge staying open.
Additionally, new Indiana Gov. Mike Braun during his campaign came to a meeting of Bridgelink, an advocacy group of both Kentucky and Indiana representatives that aims to keep the bridges open, and said he wants both bridges to remain open, Staton said, who added that the current Indiana secretary of transportation and infrastructure, Matt Ubelhor, has also indicated his support of keeping both bridges open.
With Kentucky state officials also in agreement, Staton said there’s support on all levels to keep both bridges open.
“We are laying the groundwork for keeping both twin bridges in place,” he said.
One key point for that to occur involves an environmental record of decision from years ago, when Kentucky, Indiana and federal officials, signed off on the document which states numerous times that the southbound twin bridge will be closed, Staton said.
Staton said it’s not unheard of for this type of document to get changed and with the support in place he believes it can be done.
Commissioner Rodney Thomas mentioned at a candidate forum last October that he believed there was no way to keep the southbound bridge open. But after meeting with Comer and others in Washington last week, he said he believes there’s enough support to keep it open.
“I was wrong (about initial opinion),” he said. “I’ve changed my tune totally on that one, thank goodness.” He also added he believes there’s enough support for the bridge to stay open.
During the Washington trip, which revolved around the commissioners attending National League of Cities conference, the group also attended an I-69 advocacy dinner with Mexican, Canadian and officials of states along the I-69 corridor. The foreign officials spoke about the importance of I-69 for their respective countries’ automotive industries, Staton said.
Staton also said local representatives met with Federal Emergency Management Agency officials and discussed getting a disaster declaration for the ice storm that occurred here in early January.
Staton said FEMA officials said there was a lot of change at the time as President Donald Trump took office and local documentation of the storm arrived in Washington. He said they had not yet moved Henderson’s documentation from FEMA to the president. He said they were under the impression that the early January storm was a snowstorm, which would be tougher for FEMA to declare as an emergency.
The mayor said FEMA directed the city to submit a second package detailing the damage incurred from the storm.
A federal emergency declaration would allow for more certainty in getting reimbursed for the cost of the cleanup from the storm, Staton said. He said the current estimate is $1.3 million-$1.5 million for the cleanup.
