Brent Spence Ohio-Kentucky Bridge Wins Federal Environmental Approval

The long-planned Kentucky-Ohio Brent Spence Bridge won environmental approval from the Biden administration on Friday, a “major milestone” for the bistate project that has been in the planning for more than 10 years.

“This is an important step forward in bringing efficiency to our nation’s supply chain,” said Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine. “The project will address one of the nation’s worst trucking bottlenecks by improving safety and travel on an interstate that carries more than $400 billion worth of freight each year.”

Because I-75 is a key freight corridor that runs from Florida to Canada, traffic congestion affects commercial and commuter traffic up and down the East Coast. The Brent Spence Bridge was built in the 1960s to carry around 80,000 vehicles a day. Now, daily traffic on Interstate 75 and I-71 reaches approximately 160,000 vehicles and $1 billion in freight each day.

The Federal Highway Administration issued a “Determination of No Significant Impact,” or FONSI, decision Friday based on the project’s social, economic and environmental effects, as well as mitigation measures for unavoidable impacts and public comments. A further environmental assessment was required for the project as it has been 12 years since an initial environmental assessment was approved in 2012.

The decision allows the project to move forward to design and construction and paves the way for a groundbreaking “in the coming months,” according to officials.

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Biden administration at the end of 2022 gave states a $1.6 billion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act grant to support the interval.

Local and federal officials have been eyeing an improvement in Brent Spence for years. In 2014, the states estimated the price at $3.57 billion and envisioned a public-private partnership. In 2022, DeWine and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, has announced they had signed a memorandum of understanding that included a slightly smaller, tax-free project, removing what had become a sticking point for some lawmakers. The bridge will be structured as a design-build project.

Beshear called Thursday’s environmental clearance “a major milestone for us.”

The Brent Spence space won bipartisan support at the federal level from the Biden administration and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who helped secure funding by pushing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act through the Senate in November 2021.

“This is a big step in supporting the president’s commitment to rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure,” FHWA Administrator Shailen Bhatt said in a statement. “This bridge is a vital freight connector for thousands of people in Kentucky and Ohio, and the investment in the Brent Spence Bridge will ensure that surrounding communities and communities across the country will benefit from these improvements for decades to come.”