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What's Next For Permanent Brent Spence Improvements?

brent spence bridge
Al Behrman
/
AP

The Brent Spence Bridge has its traffic restricted once again, this time for an overdue maintenance project expected to last until the fall.

The associated delays on the I-71/75 corridor come just a couple months after the bridge reopened following a fiery crash involving a pair of semis that shut it down completely for six weeks, causing widespread traffic disruption across the Cincinnati metro area. 

For more than a decade, there have been talks about a serious and possibly permanent project to ease the overcrowded span that connects Cincinnati to Covington via the interstates. 

But not only have those talks stalled, Kentucky lawmakers in recent years expressly prohibited any use of tolls to fund the project, eliminating one of the methods by which proponents of the project had hoped to fund it. 

Now, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is joining its local chambers in calling for action on the bridge, while a Northern Kentucky lawmaker sees a possible path to more infrastructure funds by raising the gas tax.

Joining Cincinnati Edition to talk about it are U.S. Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Transportation and Infrastructure Ed Mortimer, Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Brent Cooper, and State Representative Sal Santoro (R-Florence).

Listen to Cincinnati Edition live at noon M-F. Audio for this segment will be uploaded after 4 p.m. ET.

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Michael Monks brings a broad range of experience to WVXU-FM as the host of Cincinnati Edition, Cincinnati Public Radio's weekday news and information talk show.