Bids sought for preparatory work
INDIANAPOLIS (May 30, 2012) – Indiana will break ground in August on the East End Crossing of the Ohio River Bridges Project, Gov. Mitch Daniels said Tuesday.
The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) will advertise for bids beginning Wednesday to construct a portion of the project — a $5.5 million road extension that will ultimately connect the River Ridge Commerce Center to State Road 265 and the future East End Bridge.
The contract involves constructing a 3,000-foot extension of Old Salem Road and a 170-foot two-span bridge, which will cross over the proposed SR 265 extension leading to the East End Bridge. The bridge will be designed to accommodate heavy trucks that serve the nearby Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville and the River Ridge Commerce Center.
“This bid letting is an important first step toward completing the East End Crossing by 2018,” Daniels said. “When Gov. Beshear, Mayor Fischer and I said last year that we intended to start work as early as possible we weren’t kidding.”
Bids will be opened on or about July 11, with groundbreaking in August. Work on this preliminary phase will be completed by June 2013.
When the East End Crossing of the Ohio River Bridges project is finished, Old Salem Road will connect with an interchange at SR 265, which will be the first Indiana exit north of the new East End Bridge.
This design-build contract does not include any work on the proposed interchange. Limiting the scope of the early work streamlines permitting issues and provides more flexibility to the future contractor building the rest of the East End Bridge approach, according to INDOT.
Discussions will continue between River Ridge, the Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville and local officials about the best way to connect the two developments — by a heavy haul road as well as by rail.
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