Ouch, indeed: ORBP makes the short list of "awful" transportation projects.

Here are the ones to watch: SunRail (Orlando); METROrail Expansion (Houston); New Little River Canyon Bridge (Alabama); and Bike Missoula (Montana).

The stinkers? That'd be the Jefferson Parkway (Denver); Trinity River Parkway (Dallas); I-269 (Memphis) ... and yes, right in our own backyard ...

4 Great Transportation Projects to Watch (and 4 Awful Ones), by Eric Jaffe (The Atlantic Cities -- Places Matter)

I-265 Bridge (Indiana and Kentucky)

"It is the epitome of a classic highway boondoggle," writes Sierra of the $2.6 billion Interstate 265 bridge that connects Indiana and Kentucky over the Ohio River. Earlier this year the federal government gave the green light to a part of the project that involves tunneling 2,000 feet below historic woodlands near Louisville. Tunnel critic Aaron Renn (via Streetsblog) points out that Indiana taxpayers will be backing a Kentucky road to the tune of $100,000 per foot. Ouch.

ORBP: "Indiana’s worst transportation finance decision since the 1830s epic canal fiasco that bankrupted the state."

Silence remains somewhat other than golden, but let's not drag folks like Diane Benedetti, Kerry Stemler and Ed Clere into a discussion of how Hoosiers are being "thrown under the bus" by St. Daniels.

Wouldn't want them to have to think, or anything uppity like that.

Hey, you on the Bridges Authority ... could you pass the Kool-Aid, please?

Media Finally Wakes Up to Louisville Tunnel Boondoggle, But Misses the Bigger Picture, by Aaron Renn (Urbanophile)

The Indianapolis Star finally did a report this weekend covering the ridiculousness of Indiana taxpayers and motorists paying for a $255 million “tunnel under the trees” in Kentucky as part of the Ohio River bridges project.

Their article is a good one, and reveals that Kentucky officials deliberately listed the property as historic to drive up the cost of the bridge project as a poison pill attempt. Though the headline should better have been phrased as a question: “Why Exactly Is Indiana Paying $255 to Tunnel Under Kentucky’s Trees?” The only answer seems to be because Mitch Daniels wants to ...

... It’s stunning to me that, to burnish his legacy by getting a bridge project done that had eluded both states for 40 years, Mitch Daniels is willing to throw Hoosier taxpayers and motorists under the bus like this. This is a deal that will live in infamy as Indiana’s worst transportation finance decision since the 1830s epic canal fiasco that bankrupted the state. I cannot think of another governor in modern times who so clearly acted contrary to his own constituents’ financial interests in a transportation project.

Ludicrous ORBP, Volume 763: "Kentucky: Where designed obsolescence is boss."

Give 'em hell, Curt ... then again, just tell the truth about the Ohio River Bridges Project and they'll think it's hell.

'We'll take two Tunnels of Death with a side of tolls'- says the Ohio River Bridges Project

Each proposed East End tunnel is planned to be 40' wide.

There is a curious detail hidden in the tunnel construction plans for the Eastern connection of the Ohio River Bridges Project. 

At The Urbanophile: "Indiana’s Bridge Deal Boondoggle, Part 4 – A Better Plan."

Aaron M. Renn's series concludes with the fourth installment, and suggestions for a better Ohio River Bridges Project plan.

Indiana’s Bridge Deal Boondoggle, Part 4 – A Better Plan, by Aaron M. Renn, at The Urbanophile.

In the first three parts of this series, I discussed how Indiana so badly botched its negotiation with Kentucky on the Louisville bridges project that its share of the project went up by $200 million at the same time the total project declined in cost by $1.5 billion, how this will result in $432 million being drained out of regular highway funds to cover a resulting tolling gap, how tolling likely results in Indiana paying even more, and the significant risks Indiana has taken on by agreeing to build a tunnel in Kentucky. Amazing as it sounds, Indiana’s biggest road project is now a $795 million, 1.4 mile highway in the state of Kentucky.

But just because I believe this deal is bad doesn’t mean I think the project itself is all bad. Indeed, I’m a strong supporter of the East End bridge, which is a generational investment for that part of the state. I also think the $1.5 billion in savings identified so far are great and a good start at getting costs under control on this project. But there’s still more we can do. So with that in mind, I’ll outline the changes I’d make to move the project forward:

#1 – Kill the Drumanard Tunnel
#2 – Adopt 8664
#3 – Revisit the Cost and Toll Revenue Allocations

At The Urbanophile: "Indiana’s Bridge Deal Boondoggle, Part 3 – INDOT’s Mini-Big Dig."

Links to the first two parts of the series are included, so click through to The Urbanophile, and join Renn in asking: Does INDOT really know what it’s getting into with this tunnel and this project segment?

Indiana’s Bridge Deal Boondoggle, Part 3 – INDOT’s Mini-Big Dig, by Aaron M. Renn (The Urbanophile)


In previous installments in this series I highlighted how Indiana managed to increase its share of the Louisville bridges project by $200 million even as it bragged that the total price tag had gone down by $1.5 billion, how this led directly to Indiana having to allocate $432 million in regular highway funds to the project, and how tolling puts Indiana at significant risk of paying an even greater share of the project.

Today I’ll highlight how Indiana is stepping into a potential quagmire by agreeing to take responsibility for building a high-risk mini-Big Dig tunnel under a portion of Louisville’s most affluent community.