Detour messages and traffic cameras: Cincinnati and ODOT share new efforts to alleviate Big Mac Bridge traffic

CINCINNATI — The city of Cincinnati and the Ohio Department of Transportation are sharing new efforts to mitigate the traffic congestion caused by the closed southbound lanes of I-471.

The Daniel Carter Beard Bridge was damaged in a fire on the night of Nov. 1, forcing more than 50,000 drivers to find an alternative route.

Last week, Cincinnati’s City Council passed a motion to urge the administration to find additional solutions to alleviate gridlock during rush hour.

Now, local agencies are sharing additional proactive steps to improve travel conditions for motorists.

Traffic Cameras Deployed

Five traffic cameras are now publicly available to help drivers monitor congestion near the river.

“This is really focused on the motorists to try and help them in real-time to know where the congestion is,” said Kathleen Fuller, ODOT District 8 spokesperson.

The cameras are located at key intersections that have seen major backups:

• Third Street at Vine Street 
• Second Street at Elm Street
• Pete Rose Way at Broadway/Second Street 
• 3rd Street at Sycamore Street 
• East Pete Rose Way and Broadway Street approaching the Taylor Southgate Bridge

I-275 Traffic Diversion

ODOT is now encouraging through traffic to use I-275.

Digital message signs along southbound I-75 and I-71 are instructing motorists to use eastbound I-275. The department is branding the campaign as "if you're not downtown bound, go around."

ODOT said it has communicated with the trucking industry to promote the detour strategy, aimed at alleviating downtown traffic.

Ray Pfeffer/WCPO

The message boards indicate eastbound I-275 as a detour. Currently, westbound I-275 has its own traffic troubles because of steel deterioration on the Carroll Cropper Bridge.

The redirection of through traffic was incorporated into city council’s traffic motion after an amendment by council member Mark Jeffreys.

“Even if you could divert a quarter or half of it, that would be a huge help to freeing up the bottleneck in the bridges by the river,” Jeffreys told WCPO on Dec. 17.

Fuller said they will be monitoring traffic counts to see if the new signage and truck notifications are making any meaningful difference.

Signal Timings Adjustments

Adjustments have been made to signal timings at several intersections around downtown Cincinnati, Newport and Covington.

Many of those adjustments were made two weeks following the fire.

At a city council committee meeting Nov. 19, John Brazina, director of Cincinnati’s Department of Transportation and Engineering, expressed concerns about the effectiveness of signal changes.

"There's way more traffic volume than the streets and the signals can handle. So it really doesn't matter what we change the signal timing to, there’s going to be significant backup," Brazina told the committee.

Local agencies continue to encourage drivers to plan ahead and allow extra travel time during this construction period. They say they are actively seeking additional solutions to improve the daily commute for thousands of motorists in the region.

Council member Seth Walsh said on Dec. 17 that the city will be monitoring the effectiveness of its new strategies when drivers return to normal commuting patterns in the New Year.

Construction Enters a New Phase

Crews are still on schedule to complete at least $10 million in repairs to the Big Mac Bridge by March.

Fabrication of custom steel girders began Tuesday morning at a facility in Bowling Green, Kentucky.