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SB471 construction means downtown ramp closures and restrictions

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

If you work in downtown Cincinnati and drive home in the evening on southbound 471 get ready for delays next week or select another route for your commute. 

Construction crews are ready to start work on resurfacing the Daniel Carter Beard, or Big Mac, bridge. 

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokeswoman Nancy Wood said that will mean ramp closures and restrictions on the Ohio side of bridge starting Friday at 7 p.m.  Those this will continue through early August.

  • The westbound Columbia Parkway (US 50) entrance ramp to I-471 southbound will close.
  • The East Fifth Street Entrance Ramp in downtown Cincinnati to I-471 southbound will close.
  • The two lane I-471 southbound entrance ramp from eastbound Fort Washington Way (US 50) will be reduced to one lane.
  • Traffic from I-71 southbound in Ohio will be reduced to one lane approaching the Ohio River Daniel Carter Beard Bridge.

Crews are removing deteriorated concrete pavement and replacing it with new asphalt.  All ramps and bridge decks will also be rebuilt.  Plus a second ramp lane will be added from southbound 471 to westbound 275. 
A similar project was completed last year on the northbound side.

The southbound 471 project is the last piece of the "Revive the Drive, N-K-Y" initiative that started in 2010.  It's goal was to rehab all the major interstates in northern Kentucky.

Jay Hanselman brings more than 10 years experience as a news anchor and reporter to 91.7 WVXU. He came to WVXU from WNKU, where he hosted the local broadcast of All Things Considered. Hanselman has been recognized for his reporting by the Kentucky AP Broadcasters Association, the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and the Ohio AP Broadcasters.