The Kentucky-Indiana Joint Board for the Ohio River Bridges Project today approved the hiring of two contractors that will assist in implementing a toll system.
The board also authorized the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to procure a broker to assist in purchasing business income insurance.
“Our two states are taking necessary steps toward a common goal – a well-designed, well-managed and smooth-running system that will dramatically improve mobility across the Ohio River in this region,” Kentucky Transportation Secretary Mike Hancock, co-chair, said.
Kentucky and Indiana jointly are building the bridges project to improve cross-river mobility between Louisville and Southern Indiana. The project calls for building two bridges – one connecting downtown Louisville and Jeffersonville, Indiana, running beside the Interstate-65 Kennedy Memorial Bridge, and another bridge eight miles upriver, connecting Prospect, Kentucky, and Utica, Indiana.
Once the project is completed, the two new bridges and a renovated Kennedy Memorial Bridge will feature an all-electronic toll collection system – meaning no toll plazas, no slowing of traffic and no waiting in line.
Contracts approved today:
Toll Services Adviser – The states selected eTrans KY Inc., of Louisville, to oversee the work of the eventual toll system provider. The company also will oversee all design and testing of the system to ensure that it works as intended and will monitor the toll system provider to ensure it meets performance requirements. The contract has a limit of $3.45 million.
Revenue Control Manager – The states selected KPMG LLP, whose duties will include working with the toll system provider to design financial procedures for the toll system. Once the system is in operation, KPMG will perform daily reconciliation of toll receipts and ensure that correct amounts are transferred to the states. The company also will procure financial software for the system and assist with audits as needed. The contract has a limit of $2.1 million.
Both contracts will run through June 30, 2016, and can be renewed for up to two additional, two-year periods.
The board also authorized the hiring of a business income insurance broker, whose job will be to help the states find coverage to protect themselves against an accident or other event that renders them unable to collect tolls. Obtaining such coverage is required for Kentucky under the agreement by which it obtained a $452.2 million low-interest loan for the project from the Federal Highway Administration.
“It has been great to see high-quality firms compete to help the Joint Board accomplish the task of designing and implementing the tolling system for the bridges project,” said Jim Stark, INDOT deputy commissioner for innovative project delivery. “The level of expertise of these advisors ensures us that we have put together the right team, and that we will have a successful system.”
The Kentucky-Indiana Joint Board, which was created to facilitate the financing, construction, operation and maintenance of the bridges project, previously selected Kapsch TrafficCom USA, based in McLean, Virginia, to provide transponders and related equipment, and a Louisville company, New West, to provide marketing, branding and communications services related to all-electronic tolling.
It consists of transportation and finance officials from both states – Hancock, Indiana Department of Transportation Deputy Commissioner Jim Stark, Kentucky Finance Secretary Lori Flanery and Dan Huge, newly appointed interim Public Finance Director of Indiana.
Director Huge was appointed following the recent departure from IFA of Kendra York. He is the chief financial officer/chief operating officer of the IFA and recently served as interim Treasurer of State.
From Kentucky Transportation Cabinet