SECOND MEETING OF BRIDGE TYPE SELECTION COMMITTEE SET FOR DECEMBER
December 2006 – The group charged with selecting the final two bridge types is meeting again in December. The Executive Bridge Type Selection Committee met for the first time Nov. 1, 2006.
The 14-member committee includes Governors Fletcher and Daniels, Representatives Northup and Sodrel, Mayor Abramson, Clark County Commissioner Meyer, Secretary Nighbert, Commissioner Browning and six citizens appointed by the elected officials.
In its first meeting, the group called for a public vote on the six alternatives – three for each bridge. The voting occurred at an on-line site, as well as through open houses in four locations held the week of Nov. 13, and through ballots received at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Indiana Department of Transportation offices. The committee will consider those results, and feedback gathered from the public throughout the Bridge Type Selection process. Detailed information about impacts to historic resources, long-term maintenance and constructability and other criteria are also being weighed.
Following the selection of the bridge type, each bridge design team will spend the next 18 months completing design work. This phase will include additional public involvement. Discussions with the community will focus on aesthetic features such as lighting, colors and textures.
The Downtown and East End Bridge consultant teams, led by Michael Baker, Jr. Inc. and Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglas, respectively, began the four-step Bridge Type Selection process in May of last year. KYTC, INDOT and Federal Highway Administration officials and Community Transportation Solutions, the general engineering consultant, provided oversight of the process.
Public input received from stakeholder groups and public meetings, through comment forms and from the project Web site, has been used throughout the process to develop and narrow the bridge alternatives considered for each location.