In a surprise announcement, the Ohio Department of Transportation says the Daniel Carter Beard/Big Mac Bridge will reopen Sunday, Feb. 9.
The southbound side of the bridge has been closed since an early morning fire beneath the span on Nov. 1. The reopening comes 100 days since the closure.
RELATED: The latest on the I-471 bridge repair
"Emergency projects require a lot of very quick action and around-the-clock work," said Director Pamela Boratyn in a statement. "I am extremely proud of the efforts put in to getting this bridge and highway fully reopened."
As of Friday, crews were putting finishing touches on the repairs, including doing some final welds, grinding and grooving the deck, and pavement striping. An exact reopening time on Sunday isn't confirmed, but a release from the state suggests it will be in the evening.
ODOT District 8 spokeswoman Kathleen Fuller says the on-ramp from Liberty and Reading will stay closed for a while longer. "The city of Cincinnati does have a project going on. They were taking advantage of the closure to do a sewer construction project."
Fuller says that ramp will probably stay closed until early March.
ODOT still has to install a new sign truss that was damaged by the fire.
"We'll probably do an overnight closure," says District 8 Deputy Director Doug Gruver. "That's a three-, four-hour job."
He says that is likely to happen in March, too.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says engineers will start adjusting signal timing on traffic lights in Covington and Newport about two or three hours after the reopening. They had been adjusted to help ease congestion caused by people seeking alternate driving routes.
"KYTC is committed to continue to monitor traffic flow patterns after the reopening to determine if further adjustments can be made to move traffic more efficiently through the Newport and Covington corridors," the agency said in a release.
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The Cincinnati Department of Transportation and Engineering also will make traffic signal and lane adjustments prior to the opening. Commuters should expect the following changes by Monday morning:
Traffic signal timing:
- Taylor Southgate Bridge/Broadway/Pete Rose Way
- Broadway/Pete Rose Way/2nd
- Hopple Street/ I-75 SB ramp
- Eggleston/Reedy
- Changes to the left turn lane and signal timing at Liberty/Reading/I-471 ramp upon completion of sewer construction estimated to be complete by the end of February.
- Travel lane reconfiguration at the 2nd Street ramp to Pete Rose Way
ODOT had projected the bridge would reopen in March. The fire that closed the span burned at extremely high temperatures, warping the steel girders. Four people have been arrested in connection with the fire, which started around a playground under the bridge.
As of mid-January, the projected cost of the repairs was $10.5 million to $10.7 million. The agency will apply for federal reimbursements once the bridge work is completed.
