CINCINNATI — The eastbound side of the Norwood Lateral, also known as State Route 562, will close Sunday evening and remain closed for 80 days.
The project seeks to rehabilitate mainline bridges between the Paddock Road and I-71 interchanges, including bridges over Paddock, Reading Road and Ross Avenue. The rehabilitation process will include replacing joints and barriers, painting and sealing the structures.
In addition, crews will be resurfacing SR-562 between Paddock and I-71.
On Sunday, March 10, all eastbound lanes on the Norwood Lateral will be closed during the night. That means Monday morning that side of the lateral will be completely inaccessible for drivers.
After that's completed, crews will move to the westbound lanes, which will then close for 80 more days. In total, lane closures on the Norwood Lateral is projected to span 160 days — meaning closures of some kind could last through the summer and into August.
During the closure, southbound I-75 traffic to SR-562 will detour by way of Fort Washington Way and I-71 north. Northbound I-75 drivers will be detoured to SR-126 or Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway and I-71.
ODOT Public Information Officer Kathleen Fuller explained the meat of the project involves rehabbing three bridge structures that makeup the lanes of the lateral.
“We’re going to be doing things like replacing the joints, the barriers, the bearings, concrete work will be done, new steel is going to be installed,” Fuller said. “So there’s pretty much every component of each one of those structures will be repaired.”
Fuller said the full closure of the Lateral is important to maintain safety for crews while they work on the roadway, which has seen more than 700 crashes since 2019, according to the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
“We have a minimum lane width we have to be able to maintain safely through the construction zone and allow for the contractors to be on their side of the barrier and also have traffic flowing through,” Fuller said. “We cannot meet the design standards we have in place so it’s really simply, we have no choice but to close it.”
Once the bridge work is complete, Fuller said the entire stretch will be repaved.
