Parsons’ Ohio River Bridges East End Crossing Project opened to traffic

Pasadena, Calif. — Parsons announced that the Ohio River Bridges East End Crossing — now named the Lewis and Clark Bridge — opened to traffic on Sunday, Dec. 18 to connect SR 265 in Indiana with the Gene Snyder Freeway in Kentucky. The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 2,500-foot-long cable-stayed bridge was held the same day and marked the substantial completion of the $2.3 billion Louisville Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges project, which included the Downtown Crossing — now named the Abraham Lincoln Bridge.

Parsons was the lead partner in the Community Transportation Solutions joint venture (JV). The JV served as the overall project’s general engineering consultant and was responsible for contract scope and budget development, design review, and coordination of the six section design consultants. In addition, Parsons was the technical advisor for the implementation of the East End Crossing’s award-winning public-private partnership (P3), which consisted of the development, design, construction, financing, operation, and maintenance of the bridge and approaches in each state. Parsons also served as the project’s toll system advisor.

“Parsons is proud to have served the Indiana Department of Transportation and the Indiana Finance Authority in bringing this important regional project to completion,” said Michael Johnson, Parsons Group President. “Together, we have set a new standard of efficiency, bistate collaboration, and cost-saving solutions for infrastructure projects.”

Indiana Governor-Elect Eric Holcomb commented that Indiana’s innovative P3 helped take the East End Crossing from wish to reality.

“After decades of discussion and stalled progress, many people thought we’d never see this moment,” Holcomb said. “Now, communities on both sides of the Ohio River will reap the benefit of improved, safe interstate access.”

The Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges project is a long-planned, joint collaboration between the State of Indiana and the Commonwealth of Kentucky to improve cross-river mobility in the Louisville metropolitan area, improve safety, alleviate traffic congestion, and connect highways, all while stimulating the economy of the entire Louisville-Southern Indiana region.

In addition to the new cable-stayed bridge, the Lewis and Clark Bridge project features a shared use pedestrian and bicycle path, 8 miles of new terrain highway, and twin 1,700-foot twin bore tunnels under a historic property. The project recently received an Envision® Platinum Sustainability Award from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure for the project’s exceptional achievements in sustainable infrastructure design, construction, and operations. The Lewis and Clark Bridge is approximately half of the Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges project — the largest bistate transportation project ever undertaken by the two states.

For more information on Parsons’ role on this project, visit Parsons’ Ohio River Bridges featured project page at https://www.parsons.com/projects/Pages/orb.aspx.