JEFFERSONVILLE — It’s not often that a councilman gets a round of applause at a Jeffersonville City Council meeting. However, Councilman Dennis Julius received that kind of reception Monday night when he introduced a resolution calling on the delay of the downtown portion of the Ohio River Bridges Project.
The project seeks to build two new bridges over the Ohio River, one in downtown Jeffersonville, the other near Utica. The prospect of using tolls to cover the project’s $2.6 billion price tag has remained controversial during the years it’s been discussed.
Julius’ resolution asks the Federal Highway Administration to delay construction of a downtown bridge as further funding options are sought. It cites a recently released economic impact study in saying “the downtown bridge portion of this project creates a huge negative impact resulting in a net loss of jobs while taking hundreds of millions of dollars out of the local economy through tolling.”
Julius clarified the resolution does not ask the federal government not to build the downtown bridge, only to delay it until plans for funding are figured out.
He suggested pushing the toll booths out to Sellersburg in the north and the Gene Snyder Expressway in the south. That way local traffic wouldn’t have to pay the toll but motorists passing through the area would.
Julius said project officials have shot down that idea before because it would delay the project while a new economic impact study is being completed.
“We’ve been waiting for 40 years [for a bridge],” said Julius, “We wait two more years to get it right.”
Further, the resolution touted the east end portion of the project as something that’s promising to economic development.
“I share the belief that if you build the east-end bridge you’ll find out you don’t need a downtown bridge,” said Council President Ed Zastawny.
Prior to taking a vote, a few audience members — including Clarksville resident John Kruger and Clark-Floyd County Convention and Tourism Bureau Executive Director Jim Keith — spoke in favor of the measure.
“Tolling would cause a decrease in business in downtown Jeffersonville,” said Keith, “negative, negative, negative.”
The study does say tolls are expected to negatively impact employment by 1,578 jobs over a 30-year time period, negatively affect personal income by $2.2 billion over a 30-year time frame and negatively affect business output by $5.58 billion over the same period.
However, it also said the negative impact of tolling was outweighed by the overall benefits completing the project will provide.
The resolution passed with a 7-1 vote, as councilman Nathan Samuel dissented. Samuel later explained his reason for voting against it, saying the council already had passed a resolution condemning tolling. Further, he said, he took issue with language that called placing tolls on new infrastructure “flawed policy.”
During its meeting Monday night, the Clarksville Town Council passed a similar resolution. Further, Keith said the tourism bureau’s board would take such a vote later this month.
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