CINCINNATI (WXIX) – Both sides of Interstate 75 are down to a single lane this weekend as tens of thousands of people travel Downtown for the annual Cincinnati Music Festival.
Last year’s event drew 84,000 fans to the Queen City.
The highway is being widened from three to four lanes in each direction. The stretch of highway impacted this weekend spans nearly five miles between Paddock Road and the Ronald Reagan Cross County Highway.
From that point, only one lane will be open in each direction the entire weekend until 6 a.m. Monday.
Lengthy travel delays are guaranteed.
Miss Kitty, a server at Damngood Bar and Grill in Sharonville, says she’s shocked by the timing of the construction.
“I-75 is always a mess, but to take it down to one lane during one of the busiest weekends of the year is just ridiculous,” she told FOX19 NOW.
Miss Kitty says she’s worried people may leave the weekend, not able to appreciate all that the Greater Cincinnati area has to offer.
We want people to come to our city and have a good time, and leave and have great things to say. Not sit in traffic and complain because they have to sit in traffic for 45 minutes for a 10-minute trip.”
Highway ramps in the area will also shut down from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday:
Message boards are activated along the highway to warn drivers, according to a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Motorists are urged to detour onto other area highways: I-71, I-275, I-74 and the Norwood Lateral.
Main routes such as Reading Road and Hamilton Avenue are also alternatives to travel north and south through Hamilton County.
This is all part of the I-75/Mill Creek Expressway project to widen and reconstruct the highway in Cincinnati, along with improvements to interchanges and bridges.
The $650 million widening project is divided into 14 phases, with nine already completed.
“Additional work will take place next week to complete the traffic shift on southbound I-75, and by Saturday, August 2, the new lane configurations and extended contraflow lane will be open to traffic, connecting or tying into the existing traffic patterns that are currently in effect on I-75 between as part of the Mill Creek Expressway – Phase 8 railroad bridge replacement project,” ODOT said in a news release.
The traffic shift will be in place for about a year as construction to widen the highway continues.
This weekend’s near-closure of I-75 was initially expected to happen earlier this month, over the weekend of July 11-13, according to ODOT.
However, the contractor changed the schedule.
Some future phases include a project to widen I-75 from Cross County Highway to just south of I-275, estimated at up to $225.9 million.
When asked about the timing, Brian Cunningham of ODOT said that “If we delay it, it has a domino effect on future phases we go into. Unfortunately, with the amount of activity going on in Cincinnati, it’s hard to avoid that.”
Enquirer media partner Fox 19 provided this report.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: I-75 lanes closed this weekend as thousands arrive for Cincinnati Music Festival
Reporting by By Jennifer Edwards Baker and Alexis Martin / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
