Tolls: The Unanswered Questions

Ohio River Bridges - Tolls & Costs

Estimated cost of Ohio River bridges project: $4.1 Billion
As of December 2009, this estimated cost has not been updated by the Ohio River Bridges Project management in over two years, despite a federal mandate to update annually.

Unanswered questions include:
How much will the OH River Bridges Project cost?
How much will the OH River bridges tolls be?
Who will have to pay the tolls?
How many bridges will be tolled?
For how many years will bridges be tolled?
How will our travel patterns change if one or two bridges are tolled?
Will drivers elect to use existing toll-free bridges to avoid a new toll bridge?
How will our travel patterns change if all bridges are tolled?
What effect will tolls have on traffic volumes?
What is the relationship between the tolls & the Scope of the Bridges Study?
What is the formula for sharing the tolls between Kentucky and Indiana?
Will drivers from both sides of the river elect not to shop on the other side of the river with the added cost of tolls?
How much control will Louisville have over the bridges authority?
How many other Louisville companies will relocate to southern Indiana once a new east end bridge is built?
What is the cost to Louisville of the loss of that business relocating to southern Indiana?
If Louisville decides to build more automotive infrastructure (one or more interstate highway Ohio River bridges), are rural KY legislators likely to welcome Louisville's future request for funds to build and operate a decent public transit system?

It is Jackie Green's position that Louisville should consider expanding, moving, building new interstate highways and one or two OH River Bridges, only after Louisville has in place a first class public transit system. Public transit will then inform the decision on bridge need and placement.

Building a bridge or two before building a first class public transit system will: 1) postpone for decades the day Louisville has a good public transit system, 2) move development dollars away from the city, established neighborhoods, blighted neighborhoods and abandoned industrial and commercial sites, 3) destroy our few remaining farms, forests and fields, 4) make us more energy dependent, 5) encourage more driving, 6) weaken our local economy as we increase transportaion fuel consumption & costs, 7) move jobs farther from the city.