The Brent Spence bridge was constructed in the 1960s to carry approximately 80,000 vehicles a day, but the daily I-75/I-71 traffic load has doubled that number in recent years.
The project is scheduled to be carried out in the three phases, with initial preparations made last year and construction expected to launch later this year.
But that timeline is now being questioned by some Democrats because one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders requires that government agencies “immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated” via the infrastructure law.
How Things Work at the Ohio Statehouse co-founder Rachel Coyle and others said it meant “Trump just stopped the Brent Spence Bridge project.”
The executive order called “Unleashing American Energy” includes a “Terminating the New Green Deal” section requiring all agencies to temporarily stop spending funds allocated under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The order requires a 90-day review of anything that’s funded by those laws. Agency heads then must submit a report to the National Economic Council and the Office of Management and Budget within 90 days, outlining any changes needed in those projects to align with the order’s goals.
Funds cannot be disbursed until approval from the director of OMB and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy is obtained based on the review recommendations.
Ohio and Kentucky officials told Spectrum News this week that they’re “pretty confident” the money for the project won’t be affected.
The Brent Spence Corridor Project aims to alleviate congestion on the bridge by reducing it to three lanes in each direction and having it carry only traffic to and from downtown Cincinnati and Covington, according to BrentSpenceBridgeCorridor.com. It also will include the construction of a two-deck companion bridge west of the Brent Spence Bridge with five lanes on each deck to carry regional and national travelers through the area. The project also will see improvements to the adjoining eight-mile roadway network (three miles in Ohio, five in Kentucky), such as the redesign of ramp configurations to improve traffic flow.
Second challenge for Brent Spence
There also has been an environmental challenge to the bridge corridor project.
The Greater Cincinnati Coalition for Transit and Sustainable Development recently said the project will “further pollute” the Ohio River and nearby Northern Kentucky and southern Ohio streams and wetlands. It is asking the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to shut down the project by denying what’s called a Water Quality Certification, saying the agency should not permit Ohio Department of Transportation “degradation to the Ohio River Valley’s vital source of water in favor of a highway expansion.”
The coalition is circulating a petition to get Ohio EPA to deny the water permit and asking supporters of its efforts to attend a 4 p.m. Jan. 29 public hearing either in person at the Lazarus Government Center, 6th Floor Summer Conference Room, 50 W. Town St., Columbus, OH, 43215, or by attending virtually by registering ahead of time via a GoTo Webinar.
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