GREENDALE, Ind. — For over six months, WCPO 9 has reported on construction on the Carroll Cropper Bridge, which connects Kentucky to Indiana, and the traffic headaches it has caused residents.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is now saying the project will be completed this fall, meaning the light at the end of the tunnel is near for residents.
Will’s Grill has been an institution and crowd favorite in Greendale, Indiana, for over 20 years, but they say the last nine months have been challenging due to the bridge construction.
“People probably not even wanting to make the trip over here just because they don’t know if they’re gonna be able to get here or when they’ll be able to get here,” said co-owner Skyler Yelton. “The trip itself has probably, at least, doubled in time. and that’s maybe on a good day.”
Hear what needs to be done, and how construction is impacting residents:
In December, KYTC put lane restrictions on the I-275 connection between Indiana and Kentucky because engineers found deterioration in some of the steel during an inspection. Since then, one lane on each side of the bridge has been closed to prevent excessive weight from being placed on the bridge.
“The one thing that we wanna make sure is that it’s safe when we reopen, fully reopen it. and that everyone gets home,” said Bob Yeager, KYTC’s chief district 6 engineer.
Yeager said that crews will soon begin installing scaffolding to repair the floor beams, one of the final steps in reopening the bridge.
“Once that gets started, I will have a better plan on how long it’ll take, cause you know you have to make sure everything's in place before the contractor can get an assessment,” Yeager said.
The project will still be completed this fall, according to Yeager, but he doesn’t have an exact date yet.
“There’s a substantial amount of work to be done, and we’ll work on that as quickly as we can,” Yeager said. “We know we’ve been out there a long time and we’ve inconvenienced the public more than I’d like for sure.”
On Monday, around 11 a.m., I crossed the bridge, and it took me around 1 minute to get across with no traffic. I crossed it again around 2 p.m., and there was a little traffic then, but I was still able to make it over in about 5 minutes.
However, residents say during rush hour, it can be much longer.
“Half hour, 45 minutes sometimes,” said Lawrenceburg resident Denis Carr. “You never know how long you’re gonna sit in traffic.”
Because of this, many have stopped going places that require them to take the bridge, just like Yelton and his customers.
“The trip is way longer than it needs to be, so it’s just not worth it. In a sense, just don’t do it,” Yelton said.
While residents hope the construction ends soon, they say they’ll believe it when they see it.
“It’s gonna take a while, probably. I hope it doesn’t, but it probably will,” Carr said.
To see KYTC’s updates on the Carroll Cropper Bridge, you can visit their website.
