Reported by: Bill PricePhotographed by: Michael BenedicFor a second day in a row, Tri-State drivers experienced two-hour weekend traffic delays as motorists approached the Brent Spence Bridge from Ohio.
Construction on the northern bridge approach continues to bring traffic to a slow crawl.
From the Seventh Street exit of Interstate 75 southbound, it looked more like a busy weekend rush hour evening on the expressway, rather than a Sunday afternoon.
Even at just 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon, traffic along the highway was bumper- to-bumper as it got into lanes to go over the Brent Spence Bridge to Kentucky.
Workers spent the weekend replacing some of the crumbling concrete from the bridge approach overpasses.
Traffic on south I-75/71 was cut from four lanes to just two- one for southbound 75 and the other for southbound 71.
Saturday, that caused backups and even some accidents along the expressway and all that led to delays as much as two hours with South 75 traffic backed-up all the way north to the Paddock Road exit and beyond.
Drivers said they don't like being forced to look for alternative routes during a weekend. "I come over here yesterday to come here. I had to wait over 30 minutes to get across the bridge. I couldn't believe it. So today, I saw the traffic and then I gave up and come over on Harrison Avenue."
Meanwhile others like downtown resident Milton Smith know about the delays and had pre-planned to use alternative routes. Milton said, "I went around by the Justice Center, and then used another bridge to get to Covington. Right now, today, its not that bad getting across the bridge, but yesterday it was terrible."
Around 1:00 p.m. Sunday, Artimis traffic control said delays along 75 South over the Ohio River were running 30 to 45 minutes, with somewhat shorter delays for 71 Southbound. But the delays were expected to increase through the afternoon and evening on Sunday.
Cincinnati Police recommend staying off of South 75 and 71 over the Brent Spence Bridge this weekend and that motorists should instead try to use 471 south to 275 to get around the traffic snarl.
The bridge repair work is expected to keep those lanes closed through 5:00 Monday morning, just before the start of the weekday morning rush hour.
If you must use I-75 South over the Ohio, bring your patience or try to use an alternative route to cross the river.
