CINCINNATI — Westbound lanes of Elberon Avenue, one of the main thoroughfares from Cincinnati's West Side to downtown, will remain closed until at least January 2020. The city plans to spend a minimum of 90 days constructing a $600,000 retaining wall that will help maintain the road’s sliding northern hillside.
The westbound lanes of Elberon closed Monday just east of Mt. Hope Avenue. So did the Sixth Street Expressway, which leads to Elberon from downtown.
Elberon’s eastbound lanes entering downtown Cincinnati will remain open.
For Brooke Bluestein, who lives nearby in the Incline District, the project is a necessary nuisance — a little traffic headache now to prevents a bigger one later.
"We don't want houses slipping down and the sorts of things you hear about happening over on the East Side,” Bluestein said Monday. “There have been times where they've had one of the lanes closed down because it's coming down far enough into the road."
City spokesman Casey Weldon identified Elberon as among Cincinnati’s most vulnerable spots in February; like Columbia Parkway, which also made the list, Elberon experiences occasional landslides that can disrupt traffic for days.
“That has made us a little nervous,” said Saira West, who also lives near the construction. “That’s kind of nice that they’re going to work on that and make that safer for everybody.”
West, who is pregnant and due soon, said she was slightly anxious about ensuring friends and family could reach her home during the construction.
“It’s just not nearly as easy anymore,” she said.
