The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Indiana Department of Transportation submitted the application for funding under the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The two states propose to put up $513 million from other funding sources if the grant is approved.
The states already have obligated $265 million toward environmental studies and construction of the first section of the project in Henderson.
The $1.4 billion project, which has been branded I-69 ORX , has three sections:
- the Kentucky approach, extending I-69 by six miles from where it ends at the Henderson Bypass to the Ohio River. Ground was broken in June of 2022.
- a new four-lane Ohio River bridge. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027 and finish in 2031.
- the Indiana approach, scheduled to begin in 2024 and be completed by 2026.
Henderson and Evansville are currently connected by way of US 41, which crosses the Ohio River on two bridges that were not designed for interstate travel. The northbound span was built in 1932. The southbound bridge was added in 1965.
Both spans are rated "adequate" for their legal load requirements but becoming increasingly costly and difficult to maintain, hurting the corridor's reliability for freight movement.
I-69 ORX is one of three mega-projects at the top of Kentucky's transportation priority list, along with the $3.6 billion Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project linking Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati and the $400 million expansion and extension of the Mountain Parkway through eastern Kentucky.
On the Net:
Ohio River Crossing project website
