By Sheila AshConstruction will soon begin on a new Ohio River bridge connecting Kentucky and Indiana that will replace an 81 year old span. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood joined Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear to break ground for a new Milton, Kentucky-Madison, Indiana bridge.The project was awarded a 20 million dollar federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery or TIGER grant.LaHood says the bridge will improve the quality of life for area citizens. "Your tax dollars are being well spent because it not only fixes up aging infrastructure and an aging bridge and replaces it, but it puts your friends and neighbors to work in good paying jobs," he said.The new, wider bridge will feature accommodations for bicyclists and pedestrians. The 103 million dollar bridge is expected to be completed by September 2012.(Illustrations of new bridge courtesy of the Milton-Madison Bridge Project)
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.