Go Green Campaign News

Three candidates on Ohio River Bridges Project

Fischer & Heiner still supporting project that will widen I-64 through Cherokee Park & subject Butchertown to 23 lanes of asphalt

WDRB 41 - September 14, 2010

The fourth debate of the three candidates for the position of Louisville mayor was held at the Olmsted Monday afternoon.

The debate was moderated by Fox 41's Elizabeth Woolsey.

Democrat Greg Fischer, Independent candidate Jackie Green, and Republican Hal Heiner were all in attendance and answered several questions posed by Woolsey. There was also a "speed round" in which they had ten seconds to answer rapid-fire questions about their personal lives.

Fischer said if elected, he would create an Office of Innovation to encourage entrepreneurship. "That office is designed to promote our unique strengths as a city, because that is what will grow our jobs and defend our jobs, as well," said Fischer.

Republican Hal Heiner promised as mayor to devote more time to attracting new businesses to the community. "What I am seeing in these other cities that are successful is that the mayor is involved every day and being the chief economic development officer for that community," says Heiner.

Both Heiner and Fischer repeated their support for the Ohio River Bridges project, but said any tolls should be as low as possible. Fischer said fifty percent of the traffic crossing the current bridges is just passing through. " I support the passing through traffic paying a higher toll," he said. "It's not acceptable for our commuters to be economically disadvantaged crossing the bridge so we do need a low toll if we are going to have tolls at all."

Heiner says maybe part of the project can be scaled back. He adds, "We need that second bridge, it's a safety problem, we need to look at Spaghetti Junction on how we can use a lot of that existing infrastructure to get those toll down to where it's under a dollar."

Independent candidate Jackie Green said instead of two new bridges, the community needs what he calls a world class public transit system and that the entire bridges project should be scrapped. "I've decided this project is no longer on the ropes, it's on the mat, and the ref is counting. This project is over, it's unfundable."

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