Kentucky, Ohio get $1.6B to fix overloaded bridge, add span

CINCINNATI (AP) — Kentucky and Ohio will get more than $1.6 billion in federal grants to help build a new Ohio River bridge near Cincinnati. They money announced Thursday will also be used to improve the existing overloaded span there along a heavily used freight route connecting the Midwest and the South. Congestion at the Brent Spence Bridge on Interstates 75 and 71 has for years been a frustration for travelers. A bottleneck on a key shipping corridor, it has also becoome a symbol of the nation’s growing infrastructure needs. With the grants announced Thursday, the two states say they can move ahead toward construction.