Ohio River Bridges East End Crossing

Close

The East End Crossing project includes a new bridge facility across the Ohio River, and associated roadway, tunnel, and facilities, connecting Clark County, Indiana and Jefferson County, Kentucky, approximately eight miles east of Louisville. The project is one half of the bi-state Ohio River Bridges project, which also includes the new Abraham Lincoln Bridge that expands the capacity of I-65 across the Ohio River into downtown Louisville and the reconstruction of the Kennedy Interchange between I-65, I-64, and I-71. The State of Indiana leads the East End Crossing project, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky leads the Downtown Crossing project. The East End Bridge will be an approximately 2,500-foot-long cable-stayed bridge featuring two convex diamond towers, two lanes in each direction, expandable to three, and a 13-foot-wide pedestrian and bicycle path. The Kentucky approach will be an extension of I-265 (Gene Snyder Freeway) from U.S. 42 to the new bridge, 3.3 miles long and two lanes in each direction, including a 1,680-foot tunnel under U.S. 42 and a redesigned interchange at U.S. 42 to allow traffic to enter and exit KY 841. The Indiana approach will be a 4.1-mile extension of I-265/SR 265 (Lee Hamilton Highway) from IN 62 to the new bridge. The extension will be two lanes in each direction and include the addition of a new full interchange at Old Salem Road and reconstruction of the I-265/IN 62 interchange. The East End Crossing project will complete the I-265/KY 841/SR 265 corridor in the eastern part of the Louisville metropolitan area. The East End Crossing project is being delivered as an availability-pay design-build-finance-operate-maintain concession with a four-year construction and a 35-year operation term. The concessionaire will be responsible for the operations and maintenance of the project with the exception of the Kentucky approach's tunnel, which will be maintained by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The East End Bridge (and Abraham Lincoln Bridge) will be tolled, with operations and toll collection managed by the State of Indiana. The concessionaire will be compensated with milestone payments during construction and availability payments during operation of the facility supported by tolls and traditional state revenues.

High