CINCINNATI — ODOT announced on Friday that the southbound lanes of I-471 would fully reopen by Monday, but many Cincinnatians who use the highway regularly quickly found one major entrance to the Big Mac Bridge remains closed.
So, if I-471 south is fully open, why is the on-ramp at Liberty Street and Reading Road still blocked off?
The answer comes down to a project that actually had nothing to do with the fire that seriously damaged the Big Mac Bridge, or Daniel Carter Beard Bridge last November.
The Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati is constructing new sewers and rehabbing existing ones in the area.
We asked MSD when the on-ramp and the lanes around it on Reading and Liberty could re-open. In a statement, MSD said crews are working to expedite its sewer work with the hopes that the on-ramp can re-open by March 1 or sooner.
On Friday, ODOT District 8 spokesperson Kathleen Fuller said it will remain closed through the end of the month and possibly into early March.
In a press release about the project issued in October — before the Big Mac Bridge fire happened — MSD said traffic impacts from its work replacing sewer lines was planned to begin the week of October 21.
The utility company is specifically installing new sewers alone Reading Road and side streets, while rehabilitating existing sewers with a cured-in-place pipe lining process, the press release says.
While the work is going on, Reading Road between Broadway and Spring Streets could be periodically closed as needed, though MSD said access will be maintained for local traffic. As the project progresses, Reading Road between Spring and Pendleton and also between 12th Street and Elsinore Place will be reduced to one lane in each direction.
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