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Abraham Lincoln Bridge
The Abraham Lincoln Bridge viewed from the Big Four Bridge, with the parallel John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge in the background
Coordinates	38°15′52″N 85°44′37″W / 38.26444°N 85.74361°W / 38.26444; -85.74361
Carries	6 lanes of northbound I-65
Crosses	Ohio River
Locale	Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana
Maintained by	Kentucky Transportation Cabinet
Characteristics
Design	Cable-stayed bridge
Total length	2,100 ft (640 m)
Longest span	700 ft (213 m) × 2 spans
History
Opened	December 6, 2015
Statistics
Toll	$2.10 (with E-ZPass/RiverLink transponder) $1.05 frequent user (applies to all trips in calendar month with 40+ trips) $3.16 (with Pay-By-Plate account) $4.20 (Pay-By-Plate with no account)
Location

The Abraham Lincoln Bridge is a six-lane, single-deck cable-stayed bridge carrying northbound Interstate 65 across the Ohio River, connecting Louisville, Kentucky, and Jeffersonville, Indiana. The main span is 700 feet (213 m) (two spans) and the bridge has a total length of 2,100 feet (640 m). It is named after U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, who was born in Kentucky and grew up in Southern Indiana.

History

The Abraham Lincoln Bridge opened on December 6, 2015, and is parallel to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge upstream and carries six lanes of northbound I-65 traffic. Pedestrian and bicycle lanes were in the original plans, but were later removed. The existing I-65 John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge, completed in 1963, was renovated for six lanes of southbound traffic. On October 10, 2016, five lanes of the Kennedy Bridge reopened, at which time the Lincoln Bridge began carrying only northbound traffic after several months of carrying three lanes of traffic in both directions. Both spans opened, with six lanes of traffic in each direction, in December 2016. Tolling on both spans began on December 30, 2016.

A Structured Public Involvement protocol developed by Drs. K. Bailey and T. Grossardt was used to elicit public preferences for the design of the structure. From spring 2005 to summer 2006 several hundred citizens attended a series of public meetings in Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana and evaluated a range of bridge design options using 3D visualizations. This public involvement process focused in on designs that the public felt were more suitable, as shown by their polling scores. The SPI public involvement process itself was evaluated by anonymous, real-time citizen polling at the open public meetings.

On July 19, 2006, the final design alternatives for the bridge were announced. The three designs included a three-span arch, a cable-stayed design with three towers, and a cable-stayed type with a single A-shaped support tower. It was also announced that the projected cost for the bridge would be $203 million.

The structure is an additional bridge in downtown Louisville joining the John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge erected between spring 1961 and late 1963 at a cost of $10 million ($77.5 million in 2015 dollars); the four-lane George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge, constructed from June 1928 and to October 31, 1929, and the Big Four Bridge, which operated as a railroad bridge from 1895 to 1969 and reopened as a pedestrian bridge in 2013.

Some critics say that the Abraham Lincoln Bridge is not being used enough to warrant its cost of construction. The bridge, originally built to ease congestion, is proving to be unused by commuters who do not want to pay the toll. Among the original planners for bridge funding were some who resisted using tolls and the electronic transponder technique of payment without actual toll booths.

See also

• List of crossings of the Ohio River
• Butchertown, Louisville
• Kennedy Interchange ("Spaghetti Junction")
• Ohio River Bridges Project, the highway project of which this bridge is a part

References

1. https://maps.kytc.ky.gov/bridgedataminer/
2. Shafer, Sheldon S. (November 30, 2015). "It's official! New bridge named for Lincoln". The Courier-Journal. Louisville. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
3. "Modern Steel Construction". www.aisc.org. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
4. Coghill, Erica (December 7, 2015). "Abraham Lincoln Bridge officially opens". WLKY. Louisville. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
5. Helmer, Katrina (October 10, 2016). "Kennedy Bridge open 5 lanes of southbound traffic". Louisville: WDRB. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
6. "High demand depletes RiverLink transponders on Ohio River bridges". Jeffersonville, IN: News and Tribune. January 2, 2016. Retrieved 2017-01-03. The Lincoln Bridge carries six lanes of I-65 North traffic, and the Kennedy carries six lanes of I-65 South traffic.
7. Sirianni, Maura; Green, Marcus; Mitchell, Kyle (December 30, 2016). "Tolling begins on the Lewis and Clark, Lincoln and Kennedy bridges". WDRB. Retrieved 2017-01-03. During the first 12 hours of tolling, more than 52,000 vehicles crossed the three toll bridges in the RiverLink system, officials said.
8. "People aren't using Kentucky's new $1.3 billion bridge and highway system". Archpaper.com. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
9. "Abraham Lincoln Bridge". Bridges and Tunnels. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
10. "Tolling on bridges begins Friday: What you need to know". Insider Louisville. 28 December 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
11. "RiverLink | Now We're Moving". Retrieved 11 May 2019.

External links

• Abraham Lincoln Bridge at Bridges & Tunnels

Bridges of the Ohio River
Upstream Big Four Bridge pedestrian and bicycle Abraham Lincoln Bridge Northbound Downstream John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge Southbound

• Bridges in Louisville, Kentucky
• Cable-stayed bridges in the United States
• Bridges over the Ohio River
• Bridges completed in 2015
• Bridges in Clark County, Indiana
• Road bridges in Indiana
• Road bridges in Kentucky
• Toll bridges in Indiana
• Toll bridges in Kentucky
• Tolled sections of Interstate Highways
• Interstate 65
• Bridges on the Interstate Highway System
• 2015 establishments in Indiana
• 2015 establishments in Kentucky