COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signaled in his inauguration address that he wants to work with Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin on a new Brent Spence Bridge.

  • DeWine appeared committed to building the bridge in his inauguration speech
  • Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin said tolling a new bridge appears likely for both states
  • The new bridge would still need some type of financial commitment from the federal government

“You and I have work to do,” DeWine said in his speech. “We have a little bridge we need to build, right Governor? We're going to do it. We're going to do it.”

The comments drew applause from the crowd at the Capital Rotunda in Columbus on Monday.

Bevin was in attendance and applauded and nodded in approval as DeWine spoke.

Ohio has said it will consider tolling the new bridge to pay for the project. Estimates peg a new bridge between $2.5 and $3 billion. It has been discussed for nearly 20 years, but politics and a lack of funding have stalled the project.

The Brent Spence Bridge connects Cincinnati with Northern Kentucky and is one of the most congested corridors in the country.

The bridge is owned by Kentucky but Ohio has handled much of the preliminary design and engineering work. An ODOT spokesman told Spectrum News 1 in December that Ohio has already started securing right-of-way for a new bridge.

Kentucky, on the other hand, has not.

Bob Yeager, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 6 Chief Engineer said last month the state hasn't done much work because of a lack of funding.

Three years ago, shortly after Bevin took office, he signed a bill that would prohibit tolling on a new bridge. But last week, he told reporters tolling would be an option.

"There's a good likelihood that tolling will be part of that solution," Bevin said, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

It's not clear how Kentucky would reverse the legislation to allow tolling or when that might occur. Bevin is up for reelection this year and is expected to face opponents in the Republican Primary.

The project would likely need financial assistance from the federal government. But partisan politics in Washington, D.C. has prevented an infrastructure bill so both Ohio and Kentucky don't know what the federal government would provide.

“We're not in a situation where the federal government is going to pay for all of this,” DeWine said after his speech to a group of reporters. “That's just not going to happen. But, we're going to ask the federal government to be partners in this.”

Both republican governors seem to have a friendly relationship. Something Bevin and former Ohio Governor John Kasich did not.

“He is very optimistic and I am optimistic that we can work our way to get a bridge,” DeWine said. “And do what we have to do. I think anybody who has looked at this, anyone who is southwest Ohio, anyone who understands economic development understands we have to have that problem fixed.”

The new project would build an existing bridge next to the current span. The current bridge was deemed obsolete decades ago because twice as much traffic crosses it every day than was originally intended.

The bridge is safe, but the congestion of the interstates, state roads, and local roads that all feed into the bridge can be a nightmare for motorists. Traffic crashes and disabled vehicles on the bridge can dramatically slow response times by emergency officials because there are no emergency shoulders.

The new bridge would likely carry local traffic in certain lanes and pass-through traffic in others to allow for better flow.

Still, work on the bridge will take time and it could 5 to 10 years before construction starts.