CINCINNATI — Drivers tell us they've become all too familiar with heavy traffic spots along I-75 in the Tri-State.
"Oh, right now, I avoid (the highway) ... like the plague," Barry Kendall said.
The Ohio Department of Transportation said that about 150,000 motorists travel I-75 from the Norwood Lateral to the Ronald Reagan Cross Country Highway daily.
We reached out to Kathleen Fuller, ODOT Public Information Officer for District 8, to ask about the projects seen up and down I-75.
Watch to learn more about ODOT's work on I-75:
"Basically, there are actually three projects happening," Fuller said.
Fuller broke down each project to me and explained how they may or may not be impacting drivers.
ODOT is currently in Phase 8 of its plan, which includes widening I-75 between the lateral and Ronald Reagan, as well as reconstructing the interchange of the lateral and other smaller projects.
One current project, according to ODOT, is replacing three railroad bridges over Prosser Ave, over I-75 and over the Norwood Lateral.
Another is widening for additional through lanes from Regina Graeter Way to Ronald Reagan/Gailbrath Road.
Fuller told me both of those projects are impacting traffic and are set to be completed in 2027.
The third current project is the construction of a new pump station and combined sewer overflow. Fuller said that the project doesn't have much of an effect on traffic and is scheduled to be completed in 2028.
The fourth project in ODOT's Phase of its Mill Creek Expressway is to reconstruct and widen I-75 from the Norwood Lateral to Regina Graeter Way. Fuller reported that the fourth project is set to start in 2027.
You can read about each current project here:
"We're building for future traffic demands, but we're also building for current traffic demands, so demands for traffic are already there, we have a lot of congestion. And with congestion comes safety issues, and so we're going to alleviate some of the congestion with these projects, with the widening and adding of that additional lane on the I-75 corridor," Fuller said.
This map shows some of the phases of the project and where construction is being done.
