Ohio and Kentucky will finally break ground on a companion span for the Brent Spence Bridge. State and transportation leaders from both sides of the Ohio River will put the ceremonial shovels in the dirt Friday, May 8, at 1 p.m. EDT.
The groundbreaking will take place at the Duke Energy Substation on the Cincinnati side of the future span.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear will be joined by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Federal Highway Administration Administrator Sean McMaster, along with the heads of both states' transportation agencies and other dignitaries.
As WVXU previously reported, the new companion bridge is expected to be complete and open in 2031, with the approach work substantially complete by 2033. The projected total cost of the project is estimated at nearly $4.4 billion, with the cost of construction going forward accounting for $4.05 billion. The previous project estimate, last updated in 2025 before the bridge design was selected, was $3.6 billion.
"From 2020 through 2025, highway construction costs rose nationally by 61%," the Ohio Department of Transportation and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet reported when announcing in March that the groundbreaking would occur this spring.
In a statement, the head of the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI), Mark Policinski, says, "Today, our entire region can celebrate a vibrant new connection, not only across the Ohio River, but to a future defined by greater safety, cleaner air and shared prosperity. This bridge will stand into the next century, and the 2.2 million people who call this region home, along with generations to come, will see their lives made immeasurably better."
Policinski tells WVXU the bridge has been 30 years in the making, calling this day "monumental."
"It just doesn't connect Ohio to Kentucky, it connects Michigan to Miami [Florida]. It's the linchpin of the I-75 trade corridor." He adds, "Sixty percent of all the people in this region live within five miles, and 70 percent of all the jobs in this region are within five miles of the I-75 trade corridor, of which the Brent Spence Bridge is the linchpin. It's incredibly important to the nation, and certainly incredibly important to this region."
OKI notes the bridge was originally built to carry 80,000 vehicles per day, but now handles 170,000, including 10 times the amount of truck traffic it was designed for when it was built in 1963. The agency's most recent estimates project average daily traffic increasing to 217,400 by 2040 and 228,300 by 2050.
According to OKI, more than a billion dollars worth of freight crosses the Brent Spence Bridge each day, and that number is approaching $400 billion.
"We're doing a re-estimate here at OKI in the next year, so we think that number is going to be larger," he adds.
The design for the span — which is a companion bridge, not a replacement of the existing Brent Spence — was unveiled in June 2025. It will be a cable-stayed independent deck bridge with two levels. Both decks will be supported by a cabling system similar to the Abraham Lincoln Bridge in Louisville and Veterans Glass City Skyway in Toledo. Unlike other double-decker bridges, no steel work will connect the two decks.
A big difference from the existing Brent Spence is that northbound traffic will travel on the top deck rather than the bottom deck. That means drivers heading into Ohio from Kentucky will maintain their view of the Cincinnati skyline. The view of the city from atop the I-71/75 hill heading into the city — referred to as the "cut in the hill" — is beloved by many in the Tri-State.
This latest update predicts the project will generate around 6 million hours of work, employing more than 700 skilled tradespeople, with a workforce of possibly up to 1,000 people at peak construction. Wages are expected to start at approximately $30 per hour, the agencies report.
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