Two years ago this week, Gov. Steve Beshear and leaders broke ground on the Downtown Crossing portion of the Ohio River Bridges Project. Decades of talking about building the new bridge ended and the real work got underway.
If you haven’t been in downtown Louisville or Jeffersonville lately, you’re missing quite a show. The landscape is changing quickly – sometimes on a daily basis. One of the largest transportation projects underway in the country is happening here and the hundreds of thousands of people moving through our community each week have a front row seat.
For many, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It’s been more than 50 years since the last bridge was built across the Ohio River in Louisville. The John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge was named just days after President Kennedy’s assassination and opened to traffic in December 1963.
Fast forward to this winter when the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Walsh Construction will open the cable-stayed bridge to carry two-way traffic. If this production has a fast-paced action sequence, you’re getting ready to watch it.
This drama started largely out of sight two years ago, with foundation work happening 30 feet underwater. The action has now soared 280 feet into the air, where the tallest tower has reached its finished height. Coming attractions include more stay cables and structural steel as crews work toward making critical connections as the pieces all come together.
We will keep sharing the construction progress with updates through emails, social media, the project website and media updates.
For those without a front-row seat, check out the progress on one six webcams offering two-dozen views of the action, www.kyinbridges.com. For those who are in the area, enjoy the view. Soon you will be seeing the region from a new perspective and downtown will have a new landmark for our skyline.
Mindy Peterson
C2 Senior Strategist
