Metro Council resolution: Use federal dollars to remove RiverLink tolls

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A new Metro Council resolution urges top Kentucky and Indiana leaders to consider using federal funds to remove tolls on the RiverLink bridges across the Ohio River.

The bipartisan measure is sponsored by seven council members and is on the public works committee’s Tuesday meeting agenda.

It was filed weeks after Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer responded to Kentucky and Ohio’s plan to seek up to $2 billion for a toll-free bridge near the Brent Spence Bridge between Covington, Kentucky, and Cincinnati.

Fischer called for Kentucky and Indiana to use money from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to ease RiverLink costs.

He didn’t suggest removing tolls outright, but the council resolution does, arguing that it would alleviate a “substantial burden on individuals regularly traveling on these bridges” and provide “an additional investment into the Louisville Metro economy.”

“I hope that it can move the needle a little bit,” said Metro Council President David James, one of the resolution’s co-sponsors.

James said he regularly hears from people about tolls on the Louisville-area bridges, which began in late 2016 and are set to remain until the 2050s. They were added to finance the $2.3 billion Ohio River Bridges Project after state officials determined that fuel taxes would not be enough to cover the costs.

“To find some relief to our local residents would be nice,” James said, especially since northern Kentucky could get its project paid for without tolls.

The resolution’s sponsors include five Democrats — James, Markus Winkler, Jecorey Arthur, Keisha Dorsey and Mark Fox — and Republicans Anthony Piagentini and Scott Reed. The Kennedy and Lincoln bridges are in Arthur’s downtown district, while the Lewis and Clark Bridge is in Reed’s eastern Jefferson County district.

“I think that anything that we can do particularly now — with inflation being out the roof — to lower the burden in any fashion to the taxpayer is a good thing,” Reed said in an interview Monday.

He said he plans to discuss the proposal with state legislators and insisted that the council’s resolution is “not symbolic.”

“Occasionally, you will still hear from your constituents that it's a double tax, that you're already paying for roads, you’re already paying for bridges. Why are we having to do this twice? So I think I think he’ll take a good look at it,” Reed said, referring to Beshear.

Fischer suggested using money from the federal legislation, while the council resolution only refers to federal funds and could seemingly encompass other fuel-tax revenue that state lawmakers decide how to spend.

It’s unclear if the states’ share of money from the federal infrastructure bill could be used to retire tolls or even pay down some outstanding toll-backed debt. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said in a statement this month that the rules governing those funds haven’t been finalized.

This story may be updated.