For whom the Bridge Tolls?
Bridge officials in Louisville have waited until after the Christmas shopping season to begin collecting tolls on two new Ohio River bridges and the Kennedy Bridge – all beginning on Dec. 30.
The tolled bridges include both the new Abraham Lincoln Bridge and the East End Bridge, as well as the renovated Kennedy Bridge.
Tolls will cost from $2 to $12 for drivers each way, depending on the size of the vehicle.
There will be no tolls on the 2nd Street Bridge or the Sherman-Minton Bridge.
The announcement comes five days before the East End Bridge is expected to be open.
The cable-stay bridge will carry Interstate 265 traffic between Prospect, Kentucky and Utica, Indiana. It includes 8.5 miles of new road, and tunnels on the Kentucky side.
There will be no traditional toll booths slowing traffic on the new bridges.
Instead, the all-electronic camera system will charge drivers as they travel under electronic sensors. If drivers don’t have transponders for the RiverLink tolling system, cameras will record license plate numbers, and drivers will be billed at the address on their BMV registration.
Bridges project officials are encouraging drivers to purchase or obtain the transponders before tolling begins, and those with transponders will pay the lowest rates.
