It's still years away from spanning the Ohio River, but an agreement signed by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin Thursday is the first step in rebooting plans for an Interstate 69 bridge from Evansville to Henderson.
The states agreed to spend a combined $17 million for an environmental and design study to figure out how the two states can pay for the bridge and where it will run.
Indiana and Kentucky have been through this whole process before — a multimillion dollar study with design plans and several contentious public input meetings all took place in the 2000s.
The study was commissioned in 2001 and a preliminary report in 2004 put the cost at $1.4 billion — a price tag that essentially killed the bridge portion of the project.
In 2014, lobbying and advocacy group BridgeLink developed an alternative route and design for the bridge, which put the cost in the $850 million range by shaving off the number of proposed lanes.
At a ceremony on the Ellis Park parking lot in Kentucky, an eager and unscripted Bevin said now is the "time we fill this hole."
"When I heard about it, I said, 'Why would we not take advantage of straightening out what has the ability to be an extraordinary powerhouse," he said.
It's still months until the state issues a request for proposals to select a firm for the study. And then it will take at least three years to complete a preliminary design and an environmental review.
Pence hopes to expedite the process.
"We're going to try to work and accelerate that and move forward as quickly as possible," he said to reporters following the event.
One potential funding source, other than the federal government, are tolls on the bridges. Indiana Department of Transportation Commissioner Brandye Hendrickson said the study will consider all funding sources.
"Nothing's off the table at this point," Hendrickson said.
Tolls for major construction projects such as the future I-69 bridge are common. For instance, tolls will be used to pay for the $323 million Interstate 65 bridge from Jeffersonville, Indiana, to Louisville.
Dennis Faulkenberg, a transportation lobbyist and former INDOT deputy commissioner and chief financial officer, has advocated for tolls and increases to gas and diesel taxes to fund the bridge and other road infrastructure programs.
Per the agreement, the initial project costs are being split between the states evenly, but Indiana is taking the lead on the plan.
Bevin said Pence's transportation cabinet has more experience.
"Indiana, without question, has the most experienced department with doing these types of projects. Ours is a new administration. While we have stellar people … Indiana has been doing this year after year," he said.
The final leg of I-69 to fully connect Evansville with Indianapolis is inching closer, with Indiana 37 chosen as the preferred route. The fifth leg from Bloomington to Martinsville is under construction now, and is a $394 million project.