This weekend road crews will remove the rest of the Conrail bridge, which is just north of the Martin Luther King Drive overpass.
Work to dismantle the old railroad bridge will require a full closure of northbound I-71 between the Reading Road/Gilbert Avenue and Dana Avenue exits. This closure will be in place from 10 p.m. Friday, April 17 through 6 a.m. Monday, April 20. Traffic will be detoured to northbound I-75 to eastbound SR 562 to I-71.
During demolition, the left lane of southbound I-71 between the Dana and Taft exits will be closed. Once the bridge is dismantled and removed from the site, various lane closures will be in place on southbound I-71.
The following exits to northbound I-71 will also be closed this weekend: I-471, Second Street, Fifth Street, Gilbert/Reading and McMillan. Detours signs will be in place.
Also, the right two lanes of northbound I-71 through the Lytle Tunnel will be closed. The left lane will remain open with traffic diverted to northbound U.S. 42 (Reading Road) to the Norwood Lateral/SR 562 to I-71.
Motorists attending events in downtown Cincinnati the weekend of April 17 - 20 are advised to plan accordingly, according to the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT).
Road crews will place arrow boards and/or signs to alert motorists of the upcoming road and lane closures.
To help ensure the safety of the construction workers as well as the traveling public, motorists should remain alert, reduce their speed and watch for stopped traffic while passing through the work zone.
More About The Project
The goal of the new interchange is to improve access into, out of and through Cincinnati's second largest employment center. ODOT engineers believe the new interchange will improve travel conditions for the more than 45,000 residents and 50,000 employees in the surrounding neighborhoods.
Another goal of the project is to contribute to business retention, expansion and attraction in the city, according to ODOT. The Uptown area is home to the Cincinnati Zoo and Biological Gardens that annually welcomes more than 1.4 million visitors.
ODOT says the increased accessibility offered by the new interchange will also reduce travel times to the region's only two Level 1 trauma centers – Cincinnati Children's Hospital and University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
An estimated completion date for the overall project is September 2017.
You can follow updates on ODOT's website.