By James Pilcher
The Cincinnati Enquirer

About 100 political and business leaders have joined a new coalition to help push for a replacement for the aging Brent Spence Bridge, and about half are from Ohio. They plan to start their mission soon, especially with the fate of funding a new bridge to be decided in the next few months.

Formation of the Bridge Task Force was announced in November at a summit of the region's chambers of commerce, and coalition co-chairman Dennis Cuneo says he is pleased at the initial response, especially from Ohio.

Kentucky owns the 40-year-old bridge. Initial estimates for a replacement are approximately $750 million, including $250 million for Ohio alone.

"We haven't had anyone we've asked to participate decline the invitation," said Cuneo, senior vice president of Toyota Motor North America. "And we're really happy to have so many people from throughout the region. That just shows that this is a regional issue."

Both the Ohio and Kentucky congressional delegations are gearing up to push for some, if not all, of the funding for the bridge over the coming weeks.

A federal authorization bill for major transportation projects, which is usually approved every six years, could come up for debate as early as next month.

Preliminary studies show that the bridge has less than 15 years of structural integrity left if nothing is done.

"This is a critical piece of infrastructure not only for Kentucky and Ohio, but the entire Midwest, if not the entire nation," said Gary Conley, president of TechSolve Inc. of Bond Hill, a manufacturing trade group and training agency, and one of the Ohio members of the new coalition.

Also on board: the Ohio Trucking Association.

"We see it as a huge bottleneck, and we definitely support anything that doesn't involve another tax increase by the state," said association president Larry Davis, referring to Ohio's gas tax and license fee increases put in place last year to pay for road improvements.

E-mail jpilcher@enquirer.com