State allocates $8.9M to 'Blue Bridge' project
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The state road budget approved by lawmakers during this year’s General Assembly session does include funds to replace decking on the Glover H. Cary Bridge.
When that project will begin, and how long the work will close Owensboro’s downtown
“Blue Bridge,” however, has yet to be determined, state highway department officials say.
The road budget includes $8.9 million for the deck project, which will be performed in conjunction with the Indiana Department of Transportation, according to project documents included in the budget bill. That’s just part of the $63 million the state has allocated for Daviess County projects over the two years of the road budget.
But when the project will begin has yet to be determined, Matt Hughes, a public information officer for the state Highway Department’s Madisonville office, said Wednesday the project has yet to be bid, and that a date to bid the project has not yet been set.
The hope is to start work in the fall, Hughes said in a prepared statement.
“We anticipate requesting contractor bids this summer, with plans to begin the work this fall once a contract is awarded,” Hughes said in the statement.
Hughes said in an interview Wednesday he had few details about the project at present.
“Until you have the bid awarded, anything can change,” Hughes said.
The work will close the “blue bridge” for a time, because it will not be possible to do the work while keeping one of the travel lanes open, Hughes said in the statement. How long the bridge will be closed once work begins will be determined after a contractor is hired for the project, Hughes said.
“Details about the closure length will be finalized once a contract is awarded and Transportation Cabinet engineers coordinate with the contractor,” Hughes said in the statement.
“Reducing the closure to minimize impacts to travelers will be a priority,” Hughes said.
Other projects in the road budget for Daviess County include another joint project with Indiana transportation officials on the William Natcher Bridge, other bridge, road widening and safety projects, and a feasibility study on an additional interchange on I-165 south of Owensboro.
