CINCINNATI — The lower deck of the Western Hills Viaduct won't be open to traffic on Saturday between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. while crews conduct routine inspection and maintenance, the city of Cincinnati announced Friday.
In addition to that, the ramp from I-75 to the viaduct will also be closed, to accommodate equipment and crews. Drivers should instead use the Western Avenue exit off I-75.
Spring Grove Avenue between Harrison and Marshall Avenues will also be closed to traffic. Detours will be in place for that.
The closure isn't a new thing — the city closes parts of the viaduct several times a year for routine maintenance and inspections like this one. Most recently, closures happened in May and wrapped earlier than the city anticipated.
During the closures, crews inspect structural components to the viaduct, like its beams, stringers and girders.
The Western Hills Viaduct is slated for an eventual replacement, aided by funding from the same federal infrastructure law that will fund fixes to the Brent Spence Bridge corridor. Also, in 2021, the city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County separately approved $205 million from a voter-passed tax levy for the improvements needed to the viaduct.
An additional $125 million has been set aside by the city and county aside from that fund, and $8.2 million will be allocated from SORTA for the next 25 years.
As of the funding approval in 2021, the plan has been to build a replacement bridge with four lanes of traffic moving in either direction, a multi-use path on one side and a sidewalk on the other. Officials said they planned to build the new bridge next to the existing Western Hills Viaduct, which would remain open during construction.
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