The Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) will shut down Interstate 75 in both directions through downtown Cincinnati starting Sept. 25, closing the primary corridor between northern Kentucky and the city for a full weekend.
The closure runs from 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25, through 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 28, weather permitting. Crews from Great Lakes Construction Company need the full highway to position cranes and install nine steel girders for the new Linn Street Bridge over I-75, according to an ODOT bulletin issued Wednesday, Sept. 16.
The shutdown covers I-75 between Freeman Avenue and the I-71/75 split, WLWT reported. Several ramps will close even earlier. Entrance ramps from Fort Washington Way, Fourth Street, Sixth Street and the Western Hills Viaduct begin closing at 9 p.m. that Friday, two hours before the full shutdown, according to the ODOT bulletin.
The Linn Street project carries a $46.7 million contract and is part of the broader Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project, which tops $4 billion. That corridor effort includes rehabilitation of the 63-year-old Brent Spence Bridge, a new companion bridge for I-71/75 traffic and improvements to about three miles of I-75 on the Ohio side, according to the Montgomery-Blue Ash Courier.
Detour routes
ODOT is directing northbound through-traffic to take I-71 North at the I-71/I-75 split, then the westbound S.R. 562/Norwood Lateral. Southbound drivers should use the eastbound Norwood Lateral and I-71 South to reconnect with I-75 at the Brent Spence Bridge. The ODOT bulletin directs heavy trucks to bypass downtown entirely via I-275.
The extra miles add up fast for freight operators.
Jack Wardle, general manager of K.E. Warehouse, a bonded warehouse and trucking operation in Cincinnati, told WCPO on Friday, Sept. 18, that the closure will squeeze his fleet's productivity. "Your idle time, so your fuel cost is going to go up because it's more miles … Plus if you are sitting in traffic or sitting at a dock waiting your turn, that's burning through time that you could be making other deliveries," Wardle said.
Each truck could make fewer deliveries per day, he said.
Longer ramp closure starts Sunday
Separately, the ramp from eastbound U.S. 50 (W. Sixth Street Viaduct) to southbound I-75 will close Sunday evening, Sept. 27, at or after 8:30 p.m. That closure is expected to last about four months, through January 2027, as part of the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project, according to the ODOT bulletin.
The new Linn Street Bridge will include two 10-foot driving lanes with bike lanes and sidewalks on each side. Linn Street is expected to reopen to traffic in fall 2027, with all project work scheduled for completion in late spring 2029.
Drivers can check real-time conditions at OHGO.com during the closure weekend.
