CINCINNATI — Pete Rose Way/Riverside Drive has reopened as inspections wrap up on the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge's repairs, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) announced.
ODOT said crews removed barriers and Pete Rose Way/Riverside Drive reopened to traffic late Saturday afternoon. While the roadways and their sidewalks have reopened, the parking lot underneath the "Big Mac Bridge" will remain closed to keep the area secure for safety reasons, ODOT said.
“There’s very, very severe damage to this structure," Kathleen Fuller, spokesperson for ODOT, told WCPO 9.
The reopening of the roadways comes 15 days after a massive fire broke out underneath the bridge early Friday, Nov. 1. The fire started at the 1,000 Hands Playground at Sawyer Point Park and caused damage to various materials on the bridge, including steel beams. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced a state of emergency last week "due to the dangerous conditions and damages."
Fuller says completing up-close inspections is a big step.
“This allows us now to move forward with getting into that design and what that’s going to look like for reconstruction," Fuller said.
The big question everyone is asking, though: how long until everything is fixed?
Fuller says, right now, ODOT doesn't have that answer.
"I wish we did, I wish I could because I would like to answer that for everybody," Fuller said.
Fuller says the timeline and when construction starts will depend on the post-inspection analysis. She says that could take "some time."
The cause of the fire is still unknown as the Cincinnati Fire Department continues its investigation.
All southbound lanes of I-471 remain closed on the bridge, with one northbound lane also shut down for safety reasons.
Crews also removed the damaged sign truss in the southbound lanes Saturday.
Happening RN: Crews are securing the highway sign on the Southbound side of the Big Mac Bridge - gearing up for removal. @WCPO https://t.co/UKlFtz2DqY pic.twitter.com/CRvc4peETy
— Krizia Williams (@krizia_williams) November 16, 2024
On Friday, ODOT said Cincinnati and KYTC made changes to other traffic patterns to help with the increased flow of traffic on roads due to detours.
ODOT said Cincinnati adjusted traffic signal timing at "key intersections" and that engineers in Covington also made some signal adjustments. Those changes can be found here.
Here's what you should avoid if you're coming in or out of Cincinnati:
Ohio closures:
- I-71 Liberty Street access to I-471
- 5th Street access to I-471
- US-50 East and West access to I-471 (U.S. 50 remains open to thru traffic.)
- Pete Rose Way/Riverside Drive under the approach
ODOT is diverting southbound I-471 traffic from Ohio by way of I-71 and I-75 South.
RELATED | Traffic study: 33,000 vehicles added to nearby bridge traffic after Daniel Carter Beard Bridge fire
Regarding the bridge's construction, ODOT said engineers finished their up-close inspections of the bridge Saturday after several shoring towers were installed to assess the repairs. ODOT said its team will now review the inspection findings to determine how much of the damaged area needs to be removed or replaced.
Kathleen Fuller, spokesperson for ODOT, told WCPO 9 on Saturday that the post-inspection analysis will "take some time," but she didn't specify how long. That analysis will give a timeline for the entire construction process, as well as when construction begins.
Fuller previously said the bridge is ODOT's "biggest project" right now.
"All of our efforts are concentrated on repairing the bridge and getting it reopened to traffic," Fuller said.
