The Harmony Way Bridge could be closer to reopening because of a bill introduced Thursday in both chambers of Congress.
The goal of the Restore the Harmony Way Bridge Act is self-explanatory.
The historic bridge between New Harmony, Indiana, and White County, Illinois, is currently owned by a federal commission.
This bill would hand control of the bridge from that commission to bridge authorities recently created in Illinois and Indiana.
The bill would also remove some restrictions placed on the bridge by federal statute in the 1940s and enables the bi-state commission to look into reopening the bridge to pedestrians or light vehicle traffic.
The entire congressional delegation from Indiana and Illinois has signed on to the bill, including Congressman Dr. Larry Bucshon.
"This’ll be really important for both the people in White County and in Posey County...to have the ability to take back the control of the bridge so they can assess the situation and decide how they want to proceed," Bucshon says.
Bucshon introduced the same bill late last year. It passed the House but didn’t make it out of committee in the Senate. Buschon says senators were simply too busy to pass it.
But this time, he says things are different.
“Now that we have plenty of time in this Congress to work through the process, I’m very optimistic that this will become law," Bucshon says.
The bridge was closed in 2012.