CINCINNATI — Closures to the bottom deck of the Western Hills Viaduct for a scheduled inspection are over, the city of Cincinnati announced on Friday.
The bottom deck alone was affected — the top deck remained open to traffic. The closures happened between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. from May 15 through May 18. Previously scheduled closures for Friday, May 19 and Saturday, May 20 have been canceled since crews finished the inspections earlier than anticipated.
Western Hills Viaduct: Good news! Crews finished scheduled inspections. Viaduct is fully reopened. The bottom deck closure scheduled for tonight and Saturday are cancelled.@CityOfCincy @ODOT_Cincinnati @Local12 @WLWT @FOX19 @WCPO @Enquirer @917wvxu @700wlw @BillGRinehart
— We Move Cincy (@WeMoveCincy) May 19, 2023
While the closures were happening, the exit ramp from I-75 south was also be closed to accommodate for the crews and equipment. Drivers were told to use the Western Avenue exit off of I-75 south as a detour.
During the closures, crews inspected structural components to the viaduct, like its beams, stringers and girders. The inspection was part of the city's routine maintenance.
The Western Hills Viaduct is slated for an eventual replacement, aided by funding from the same federal infrastructure law that will fund fixes to the Brent Spence Bridge corridor. Also, in 2021, the city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County separately approved $205 million from a voter-passed tax levy for the improvements needed to the viaduct.
An additional $125 million has been set aside by the city and county aside from that fund, and $8.2 million will be allocated from SORTA for the next 25 years.
As of the funding approval in 2021, the plan has been to build a replacement bridge with four lanes of traffic moving in either direction, a multi-use path on one side and a sidewalk on the other. Officials said they planned to build the new bridge next to the existing Western Hills Viaduct, which would remain open during construction.
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