Also allows the state to start process of setting up a tolling authority
A bill passed by the General Assembly and waiting for action from Gov. Andy Beshear dedicates $150 million to building the bridge of the I-69 Ohio River Crossing project.
Henderson state Sen. Robby Mills said HB 546 in effect would negate a $377 million package that was signed into law during last year’s budget session and use $150 million of that package for Section 2—construction of the bridge—of I-69 Ohio River Crossing.
The 2024 funding that the General Assembly passed was contingent upon the state receiving matching funds from the federal government, Mills said.
The state senator said that there is no grant funding available from the federal government for at least a year. With that in mind, state legislators decided to cut loose some of the state money that had been dedicated to the bridge but dependent on a federal match, Mills said.
The $377 million included a GARVEE bond, federal highway dollars and cash from the state budget, Mills said.
The $150 million will be released to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to begin design and planning, he said.
Also within HB 546 is a directive that the state transportation cabinet must enter into a memorandum of understanding with the state of Indiana “to use tolling revenues to finance the I-69 Ohio River Crossing project”—a reaffirmation that tolling will be used to finance the I-69 project, Mills said.
This directive also allows the state to start the process of creating a tolling authority, an important next step, Mills said, because that quasi-governmental authority can begin the process of acquiring bonding needed to fund the project.
A tolling authority would be comprised of both Kentucky and Indiana appointments, Mills said.
Section 2 currently has a price tag of about $970 million, Mills said. He said in the future the Trump administration will need to pass a road bill, but currently federal grants are not available until more are authorized.
If Kentucky were awarded grants in the future, “it would be great,” Mills said. But that won’t happen for a while and “we realize we’ve got to move forward,” he said.
Mills said it’s too early to say what the toll for the bridge will be.
