Kentucky-Indiana Joint Board to meet Tuesday, June 16, 2020 via web

The purpose of the Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Project is to increase cross-river mobility by improving safety, alleviating traffic congestion and connecting highways. The project will stimulate the economy of the entire Louisville-Southern Indiana region. According to the Federal Highway Administration’s Record of Decision, to meet these needs two crossings were necessary – one in the downtown area and one eight miles upstream in the metro area’s growing East End.

The Downtown Crossing (Abraham Lincoln Bridge) connects downtown Louisville and Jeffersonville, Ind., running parallel to the Kennedy Bridge. The East End Crossing (Lewis and Clark Bridge) is located eight miles upstream and connects Prospect, Ky. and Utica, Ind.

Downtown Crossing

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) took the lead on financing, designing and constructing the Downtown Crossing. Walsh Construction Co. of Chicago was awarded the job of completing the design and building the Downtown Crossing.

Innovations by the Walsh Design Build Team resulted in completion of the project in 2016 – exceeding KYTC expectations. Work included:

Building a new I-65 bridge with six northbound lanes

Reconfiguring Spaghetti Junction (I-64, I-65 and I-71)

Reconfiguring Indiana roadways and bridge approaches

Rehabbing the Kennedy Bridge (I-65) with six southbound lanes

Project Links

Lewis and Clark Bridge (East End Crossing)

INDOT, in conjunction with the Indiana Finance Authority (IFA), was responsible for overseeing the financing, design and construction of the East End Crossing. WVB East End Partners was awarded the job of constructing the project along with completing the design and financing. Highlights of the East End Crossing included:

Building a new East End bridge eight miles upstream from downtown Louisville

Extending the Snyder Freeway (841/265) in Kentucky to the new bridge, including a 1,700-foot tunnel under the Drumanard Estate in Prospect

Constructing a four-mile new-terrain highway in Indiana, extending the Lee Hamilton Highway (62/256) to the new bridge

Lewis and Clark Bridge Website