COVINGTON, Ky. – Northern Kentucky businesses say they want state lawmakers to consider legislation that would allow private funding options for a new Brent Spence Bridge.

The bridge linking downtown Cincinnati and Covington is considered functionally obsolete by federal standards, with traffic way over its capacity. A current timetable calls for completion of the $2.4 billion bridge project in 2022, but businesses are campaigning to get it done earlier.

The Kentucky Enquirer reports the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce met with state lawmakers Thursday to discuss legislative priorities in advance of the 2012 General Assembly and the proposal topped its list.

“If we don’t solve the problem now, things will only get worse,” said Tom Voss, chairman of the chamber’s transportation committee. “People’s everyday lives will change. We will literally choke on our own congestion.”

Many lawmakers said they would need assurances that tolls wouldn’t be used.

Chamber officials said tolls aren’t inevitable. Lawmakers, however, expressed skepticism.