The Louisville Metro Council is requesting four public hearings be held prior to the creation of a bi-state authority for the Ohio River Bridges Project.The meetings will be held in between the creation of a study group for the authority and the appointment of authority itself. Proponents of the legislation passed Thursday night by the council say those meetings could influence the council's decision to approve or reject mayoral appointments to the authority."We'll be able to present all of the information, all of the studies that've been done, what the traffic actually is and what the problems actually are," says Councilman Kevin Kramer. "Then the public will have the opportunity, again, to say they're interested in moving this community forward with better roads."
Councilwoman Tina Ward-Pugh says the creation of the authority is being pushed through without enough direct public input, and she'll soon begin looking for ways to make hearing that input mandatory earlier in the process."We will be working with the county attorney's office to see if there is some legislation that can be introduced that requires or binds the Metro Council to these things and defines those," she says.Mayor Jerry Abramson now has the authorization to appoint a study group, as requested by the Kentucky General Assembly.
