The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) recently submitted a joint application for $1.66 billion in federal grant funding through the Multimodal Projects Discretionary Grant to improve the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor.
The grant request would cover approximately 60 percent of the remaining $2.77 billion project cost.
The corridor runs through Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. The Brent Spence Bridge carries Interstates 71 and 75 over the Ohio River. It was opened in 1963 and carries more than 160,000 vehicles daily, twice the capacity it was designed to safely accommodate, and nearly 43 million tons of goods by truck annually.
The Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project will replace the bridge and complete interstate work throughout an eight-mile corridor from the Western Hills Viaduct interchange in Ohio to Dixie Highway in Kentucky.
The new bridge will increase traffic capacity, alleviate congestion, and improve safety.
The states equally will split the cost of the bridge while being individually responsible for work on each side of the border.
Engineering work will move forward while the federal government considers the application, KYTC and ODOT said. The agencies will begin meeting with companies interested in working on the bridge and will work to acquire property needed for the project.