East End Bridge Concepts to be Presented at Open Houses
December 2005 – Next week, the East End Bridge design team will present sixteen
bridge concepts for public review and feedback. Two identical open houses – part
of Step Two in the Four-Step Bridge Type Selection Process – will be held Tues.,
Dec. 13 and Thurs., Dec. 15. (See the following fact sheet for more open house details.)
At 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. on both nights, members of the East End Bridge design
team will present the preliminary concepts to the public and ask for feedback on
preferences. Before and after the presentations, attendees will be able to ask questions
of project team members and tour the meeting area to view boards of the concepts
and boards about the bridge location and design parameters.
“These open houses are very important because the comments we receive will help
us understand why people prefer one concept over another. That feedback will be
used along with other information like cost, long-term maintenance and constructability,
to create detailed bridge design alternatives.” said Dan Carrier, an engineer with
Parsons Brinckerhoff, and section design manager for the East End Bridge. “We hope
the public will take advantage of this opportunity to contribute to the creation
of this new bridge.”
More open houses will be held throughout the Bridge Type Selection Process. Step
Three open houses will be held early next year.
The one-year Bridge Type Selection Process consists of four steps, which include
numerous opportunities for community input. During each stage of the process, the
design teams will present their work for comments at public meetings and at meetings
with a Regional Advisory Committee and Area Advisory Teams, which are groups of
stakeholders on both sides of the river. The general public is encouraged to comment
throughout the Bridge Type Selection Process at the various public meetings, on
written comment forms submitted to the project office or through the on-line comment
form on the project’s Web site.
The Ohio River Bridges Project addresses the long-term, cross-river transportation
needs in the Louisville-Southern Indiana region. In 2003, the Federal Highway Administration,
Indiana Department of Transportation and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet agreed
that the only feasible way to meet cross-river transportation needs was to construct
two new bridges and rebuild the Kennedy Interchange. Of a variety of options studied,
the alternative selected would best achieve the transportation needs with the least
amount of impact on environmental resources and the communities.
The Bridges Project is currently in the design phase with construction tentatively
scheduled to be complete by 2020.