Amid funding delay talk, Covington asking federal delegation
to pave way for project to move forward
COVINGTON, Ky. – City of Covington officials have spent the week advocating at the highest levels on behalf of the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project, the multi-billion-dollar transportation overhaul many years in the design and funding process and on the cusp of actual construction.
Amid news from the White House about possible delays in the awarding of federal money allocated to the multi-dimensional plan to improve the safety and efficiency of the bridge and its approaches, Covington Mayor Ron Washington and other city officials have been reminding federal legislative leaders and regional transportation advocates about the importance of the project.
“As a route for $2 billion in goods a day and many thousands of workers’ commutes, the Brent Spence Bridge’s impact on local, regional and national commerce cannot be overestimated,” Mayor Washington said. “We are confident that the White House will in time recognize the value and urgency of the project, but the Greater Cincinnati region’s economy – nay, the entire Eastern region of the United States – cannot afford even the shortest delay. It’s taken us decades to get to this point, and we cannot and must not take our foot off the pedal.”
The mayor and others, for example, have had conversations with high-ranking staff from the offices of Kentucky Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul and U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, as well as the office of Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno. They’ve also talked with leaders at the OKI Regional Council of Governments and regional business groups.
The bridge spans the Ohio River between Covington and Cincinnati and carries the combined Interstates 71/75. With daily traffic counts doubling its original 80,000-vehicle-a-day capacity, the bridge has become a congested bottleneck along one of the nation’s most critical north-south corridors, costing businesses and workers both time and money.
The project – whose design has been underway since 2005 – has three components: the construction of a new bridge to carry regional and national travelers, improvements to the existing bridge to carry local traffic, and improvements along 8 miles of approaches on both sides of the river.
The most recent cost estimates were at least $3.6 billion, with the federal government allocating $1.6 billion of that in January 2023. But any delay would cause the project construction cost to rise. Even a conservative 1 percent escalation due to a 90-day pause could translate to an increase of $36 million-plus on this project alone.
“Covington was instrumental in right-sizing the project to mitigate the impact on the region, in pushing federal officials to forgo tolls as a funding mechanism, and in fighting for amenities like nearby bike paths and aesthetic improvements like lighting and sound barriers,” Mayor Washington said. “Given what’s at stake here, I assure our businesses and residents that we will continue to be vocal in moving the project toward the construction phase, and our federal partners share our cautious optimism.”
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