Tom Warne Report, 30 November 2012
FRANKFORT – Walsh Construction Co. is the apparent winning team chosen to build the Downtown Crossing of the Ohio River Bridges Project, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has announced. The team’s “apparent best value” bid included a projected completion date of December 2016 at a construction cost of $860 million. That is more than a year and a half ahead of deadline and $90 million less than the cabinet’s preliminary cost estimate of $950 million.
Walsh Construction plans to begin construction early next year and complete their work by Dec. 10, 2016. The cabinet had set an absolute deadline of June 30, 2018. Construction will begin early next year on the Downtown Crossing, which includes a new Interstate 65 bridge, a revamped Kennedy Bridge and reconstructed interchanges in downtown Louisville and Jeffersonville, Ind.
The total cost of the Downtown Crossing will exceed $1 billion including expenditures for land acquisition, utility relocation, preliminary design and consulting work, construction oversight, toll system development and other necessary items.