The Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority’s finance and construction committee was scheduled to meet this week to review the results of a two-day industry forum held in February that drew many international firms involved in public-private partnerships, as well as top investment banks.
Eight large developers had one-on-one meetings during the forum, but due to greater interest in the sessions the authority has scheduled two additional days of meetings with developers in April.
To finance a $4.1 billion bridge and road mega-project, officials are eying a public delivery model that would include the use of tax-exempt revenue bonds as well as state and federal funding. A second option is an alternative delivery model with the private sector where financing would include tax-exempt private-activity bonds, bank debt, other forms of credit assistance, and equity.
Approximately $163 million has been spent on the project so far with designs in various stages of completion. The undertaking includes rebuilding a major interchange in Louisville and building two new bridges across the Ohio River between Louisville and southern Indiana.
To support various funding mechanisms under consideration, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has submitted a letter of interest to the U.S. Department of Transportation for a low-interest loan through the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act.
A $1.3 billion direct-loan application has been filed, which represents 34% of the total project cost.
